the thing about chiffon cake...

I have heard so much about how difficult it is to bake a chiffon cake... I was pretty nervous when I was folding my egg whites into the yolks mixture, dreading the outcome whether it would collapsed on me? But thank goodness the cake turned up quite fine... Though its not perfect, shrink & caved in a bit at the top sides (before inverted), I'm pretty happy for my maiden attempt. Texture is soft & fluffy yet not dry!! The cocoa flavor is strong but not too sweet just nice for my family. =) To me a well-made chiffon is one that is soft like cotton, light as air & fluffy like clouds! I have seen so so so many different flavors of chiffon cake recipes around. Mastering this cake would open the door to the whole new world of chiffon cakes – sky's your limit.

Moist Chocolate Chiffon

(by 小雨伞, adapted from Helena's Kitchen)

Ingredients:

(A) 

50 gm hot water

30 gm good cocoa powder (I use valrhona cocoa)

1 tbsp Kahlua (omitted)

(B) 

90 gm 4 egg yolks (I didn't measure just use 4 60gm eggs)

30 gm caster sugar

1/2 tsp salt

(C)

50 gm corn oil (I use canola oil)

50 gm milk

(D)

90 gm cake flour

10 gm corn flour

(E)

4 egg whites

65 gm brown sugar

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (omitted)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.

2. Mix ingredients (A), set aside.

3. Mix together ingredients (B), then add in (C), mix well & add into (A) mixture.

4. Sift in ingredients (D) to (A) mixture & mix well with hand whisk. Do not overmix. 

5. Beat egg whites using medium speed until foamy, gradually add in caster sugar. Beat to stiff peak. 
Change to lowest speed & continue to beat for 10 secs to minimize air bubbles in the cake.

6. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk batter, use cut & fold method until well blended. 
Then pour the batter back to the rest of the meringue & fold until well incorporated. Do not overmix!!

7. Pour batter into chiffon tin, tapped a few times on the table to release air bubbles.

8. Bake in oven @ 150°C for 35 mins. Remove from oven, invert cake onto table until completely cooled.

p/s: came across this blog which has very good troubleshooting & tips for baking chiffon cakes. So if you are still frustrated over your last failure attempt do drop by & take a look. =)