Life is Great

The Delicious Appreciations of Pick Yin

Not exactly predictable.
Has enough brains for codes
(but can be completely clueless on other more important matters).
Likes her Joe (and her man?) black, her chocolate dark and her food spicy.
“Quam bene vivas refert, non quam diu.” — Seneca

Total Posts   191      Last Updated   23 November 2015 12:00 PM (GMT +8)

Tuesday, March 15, 2011


Pandan Chiffon Cake


As much as I love this cake to bits I've not baked it since I was still in school, more than 10 years ago. You tend to cook and bake for the people you love and Vijay is not particularly passionate about anything primarily pandan or cakes as light as chiffon. So whenever I feel like downing a few pieces of this aromatic green fluff, I resort to buying them from Bengawan Solo for my lonely consumption, void of any fanfare and the joy of observing the same cake-love from my other half. Then my regular pandan chiffon habit stopped after this one time I got a little carried away, bought an entire cake for myself and finished it all in three days.



But one would never swear off a cake, not when one has eaten and baked the cake since she was wee and all she can remember every time she savors a piece of pandan chiffon are those precious moments when the cake rose steadily in the oven and the smell of the intoxicating dark green pandan leaves melded with a hint of coconut milk filled the air of her childhood home. When I saw the cake at my office canteen a few weeks ago, I couldn't help myself and bought a piece, even though it's made with fake flavoring and food coloring, dry and in short, a far cry from the real deal. My colleagues then asked if I can make this - my baking stunts have been made known to them after the Chinese New Year pineapple tart craze - and, when I said yes, proceeded to request that I bake one for them. No need to worry if Vijay doesn't eat any, just bring them the entire cake, they persisted.



Finally! A chance to bake this and not having to eat it up all by myself. I got Mum to email me (yes, Mum is technologically inclined even well into her sixties) her recipe from her little green (no pun intended) book and went out to get myself a chiffon cake tin, even as my tiny kitchen is running out of space for yet another humongous bakeware - when cabinet estate is limited, anything measuring 10-inch is deemed huge and best avoided.



While paying for my purchase at Phoon Huat, a lady asked the man at the till if he could tell her why her chiffon cakes fall out every time she turned them upside down to cool. The man couldn't help her but instead pointed to me, the lady with a huge aluminum chiffon cake tin in her bag. I tried my best but couldn't recommend any concrete solutions as there were no recipes to refer to and other possible factors for her repeated disasters. On retrospect I should've probably asked for her contact to follow up but at that moment this avenue of assistance completely escaped me. Now whenever I bake a chiffon cake that poor lady will come to my mind.



I'm lucky enough to have never experienced a collapsing chiffon, unlike my mother. An avid baker in her heydays, she would come home after work, prepare the ingredients for a good meal from scratch, fix us kids a nutritious and tasty dinner, do the dishes, clean the kitchen spotless and then proceed to whip up a cake. Failures or flops didn't deter her from trying again (and again) if she had to. She would phone up her school friend (the source for most of her recipes and another baking mum) as she watched her chiffon falling flat, demanding to know the reason and how she could fix it. If she had time (before my dad came home) and enough ingredients, she would start all over again the same night.



By the time I was old enough to hold a wooden spoon and not mess up her cake batters, Mum had already ironed out all her baking issues and things like caved-in chiffon cake dramas were history. As I graduated from mixing the flour batter to beating the meringue and eventually to folding together the final batter, our chiffon cakes came out perfect and tall every time. Even when I made a cake all by myself for the first time after years of playing those assistant roles, under the watchful eyes of Mum everything turned out alright. Having not faced those daunting baking accidents, I was a bit nervous when I set out to bake this cake last Sunday morning - after all one can only truly learn from one's mistakes. Alas, everything turned out alright as the cake swelled upwards in the oven, giving me the cause to make little jiggy dances around it (yes, if you don't know already, I do this when no one's looking and my cakes are on the pathway to success) and after that staying put in the overturned tin while it was chilling out.



As for the upside down cooling method, I received a few queries over Twitter and Facebook when this following photo went up. Some were curious as to why it must be upside down - this is to prevent the cake from collapsing on its own weight as it is trying to reach a stable structure while its temperature is dropping. Others couldn't make out what the tin was standing on. I used a plastic funnel - I explained why in the recipe.



Back in my parent's home in Kuala Lumpur, we used to have a pandan leaf plant my late father grew for Mum specifically for her to make this cake regularly. I missed the superior quality of pandan leaves I took for granted back then when I tasted this cake. The possibly mass produced and less fresh leaves from markets here didn't deliver that intense taste and color I was looking for. I might just up the quantity of leaves the next time and see how that will work out.



Ending on a different note, I believe right now Japan is currently in most of our hearts. As I'm writing this my utmost respect goes to her people for maintaining incredible composure and dignity even when faced with such tragedy and for some still ongoing challenges. I hope that they will remain tall like this cake regardless of the collapsed buildings around them and that we food bloggers unite to do what little we can to help.



Makiko Itoh of the long time Just Hungry has informed us of ways to assist while actively posting updates translated from trusted sources of the Japanese media.

A virtual bake sale is going on at The Tomato Tart (thanks Irvin) with proceeds going towards the similar plight.

Updated 17/03/2011:
Chika of She Who Eats is currently running a fund raising through a giveaway of three beautiful sakura sets for the purpose.

Updated 16/03/2011:
For people in Singapore, check this out for ways to donate - main avenue is Singapore Red Cross. In Malaysia, you may donate through Groupon to the Malaysian Red Crescent - (thanks SweeSan). People in the San Francisco Bay Area may want to check out this Bakesale for Japan organized by Samin Nosrat happening on April 2nd in three locations (via The A+M Blog).

If you know of other activities run by food bloggers for this purpose, kindly drop a comment and I will update this section.
Pandan (Screwpine) Chiffon Cake
Recipe from my mother's friend, original source unknown, makes a 25cm 5-inches tall cake.

Notes: I didn't have any self raising flour as I don't often bake with it so I made my own by using 180 grams all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder and a ¼ teaspoon salt, based loosely on the conversion method at Deb's Smitten Kitchen. This recipe has over 80% of flour over liquid ratio so it is a very stable chiffon. It is kept soft and moist with the equal amount of egg yolks used as opposed to the whites.

I realized after speaking to a few friends wanting to make this cake that many do not own a 25cm bundt or angel food cake tin. There are two ways you can handle this situation without getting a bigger tin. The first is to make the entire recipe, pour enough batter into ¾ of your tin and bake the rest in lined muffin tin(s) for about 30 minutes. The muffin-sized cakes will be more dense but will still be great. Alternatively use the following tin size-number of eggs conversion to modify the recipe.

14cm tin - 1 egg
17cm tin - 2 eggs
21cm tin - 4 eggs
23cm tin - 6 eggs
25cm tin - 8 eggs

    For the ½ cup pandan leaf juice:

  • 10-12 pieces pandan leaves *
  • 3-4 tablespoons water
  • 2 tablespoons coconut milk (optional) **
    For the flour batter:

  • 180 grams self-rising flour
  • 100 grams castor sugar
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 6 tablespoon corn oil
  • ¼ teaspoon baking of soda
    For the meringue:

  • 8 egg whites
  • 100gm castor sugar
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Pre-heat oven to 170°C and position a wire rack at the lower third rack. Prepare a clean 25cm chiffon cake tin, do not grease.

Wash and cut the spears of pandan leaves into ½ inch pieces. Place into a blender and add 3 tablespoons of the water. Blend to form a thick paste, add another tablespoon of water if it is difficult to blend. If you have a mortar and pestle, pounding the leaves will be easier and less water will be required. Remove and squeeze out all the liquid from the paste through a fine strainer. You should be able to yield close to ½ cup of liquid. To top up and make exactly ½ cup, you can either add some coconut milk, which will go nicely with the pandan flavor, or add more water.

Sift the flour and baking soda into a small bowl. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the corn oil to form an emulsion. Add the pandan leaf juice or pandan leaf juice plus coconut milk mixture. Mix well before adding the sugar and whisk till sugar has melted. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk well into a smooth batter, there should be no lumps. Set aside.

On high speed of a stand or hand held mixer, whisk together the egg whites and cream of tartar. Start adding the sugar once the egg whites begin to foam, gradually in 3 additions. Beat till the meringue is smooth and glossy, with stiff peaks. Be careful not to overbeat the egg whites.

Immediately stir in approximately 1/3 of the meringue into the flour batter. With a flexible rubber or silicon spatula, fold in the meringue gently and mix well. Once a roughly homogenous mixture is achieved, add the rest of the meringue and repeat the gentle, light-handed folding process till the cake batter is well combined. Scoop from the bottom of the bowl to ensure no meringue or flour batter is left unmixed. Do not beat or overwork the batter as this will knock out the air you've put into the meringue.

Pour the cake mixture into the cake tin. Using your spatula, dip it into the batter right to the bottom and make circles around the tin twice. This is to remove any large air bubbles possibly trapped while pouring in the cake batter.

Bake at 170°C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 160°C and bake for another 45 to 50 minutes or until cake is done. The cake tester should come out clean. Don't fret if the top of your cake cracks a little, this is normal.

Remove the cake from the oven and immediately overturn it to cool completely, up to 2 hours. I like to do this over an upturned funnel as the legs of the chiffon cake tin are not long enough to avoid the top of the cake touching its resting surface - the cake should rise to the same level or slightly higher than the center tube. You can also use a narrow necked bottle but ensure that it's stable enough to support the weight of the cake.

Release the cake by running a sharp, thin knife along the sides of the cake tin and subsequently the bottom of the tube. The cake is meant to be served upside down as it is heavier on the top - you have no idea how many times that single piece of cake toppled as we took photos.

Cake keeps well chilled in an airtight container or cling wrapped up to five days (three if using coconut milk).

* For a better recipe, I will update this amount in weight once I make the cake again (it totally escaped me on a Sunday morning). Pandan leaves can be found fresh at Asian markets. For best results use the longest and darkest leaves you can find. Where fresh leaves are not available, some Asian markets stock frozen leaves or pandan paste, which are the next best alternatives. If using the paste, dilute 1½ tablespoons with water to make ½ a cup of liquid.

** Coconut milk is optional and will enhance the pandan flavor of the cake. I used freshly squeezed first press from a few handfuls of grated coconut flesh. If using coconut cream, dilute a tablespoon of coconut cream with a tablespoon of water.

Related Posts:


Raspberry Rose Soufflé

Dark Chocolate Soufflé

Heavenly Pavlova

posted by PickYin @ 3/15/2011 01:07:00 PM

87 Comments on Pandan Chiffon Cake

Your cake is gorgeous with a capital G!!!

Posted by Anonymous Ju (The Little Teochew), at Feb 2, 2012, 3:28:00 PM  

Pickyin, your cake is absolutely beautiful! I am going to try out your recipe!

Posted by Anonymous shirley@kokken69, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:28:00 PM  

Your cake is so gorgeous! I can't believe how tall it is. It looks perfect. I love trying out different chiffon recipes and pandan is definitely my favorite flavor, though I have trouble finding fresh pandan leaves. I'll have to try out this recipe soon.

Posted by Anonymous kirbie, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:29:00 PM  

they looks delicious and beautifully baked!!

Posted by Anonymous Kankana, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:29:00 PM  

Beautiful chiffon texture!! I usually just rest it on the three legs at the side of the pan, or if the cake is too high, I put a few stacked inverted mini tart shells and support the middle tube.
The Japanese are such calm beings and they still remain such composure while queueing for train even if they had to wait for hours! I doubt MYns would be able to do that if such things were to happen here.

Another way of donating is via Groupon Malaysia. link: http://www.groupsmore.com/cities/multiple/deals/malaysian-red-crescent

Posted by Anonymous Swee San @The Sweet Spot, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:29:00 PM  

Wonderful post. I absolutely love the Bengawan Solo Pandan Chiffon Cake. Will definitely try this recipe out when I have a better kitchen to work with!

Posted by Anonymous Jen, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:30:00 PM  

This looks super. Really! I've never actually made anything with pandan before but I'm so curious to try. Your cafe looks so pretty and light and unlike your friend, I love light cakes like chiffon so this is ideal. :)

Posted by Anonymous Sarah, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:30:00 PM  



Ju: Thanks, there's room for improvement though, still got some uneven bubbles. (Yes I'm anal!)

Shirley: I would be trying your chiffon recipes too, now that I've got myself a tin which I still can't find a place to store. Do let me know how this turn out for you.

Kirbie: I so love your Purple Yam Chiffon Cake which I will try once I get my hand on some of those yams. I thank God for fresh pandan leaves here, you can use pandan paste as a replacement. I use large eggs for this recipe. You should be able to get this height as well with the correct tin size vs eggs recipe.

Kankana: Thanks.

SweeSan: Thanks for the donation link, I update my post. I used to cool my cake using the tin's legs and end up having the cooling rack's marks all over the cake's beautiful crust. The tart shells idea is good too.

Jen: Bengawan Solo's pandan chiffon is not bad for what you can get from a shop, they also keep it fresh and moist. Hope you will be able to try this soon!

Sarah: Do try it. Pandan is very widely used for Asian desserts (kuihs) and cakes because of its distinct aroma and beautiful green color.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:31:00 PM  

Thank you thank you THANK YOU so much for the tips for making chiffon! I love chiffon cake and I love i tell you LOVE pandan chiffon. thank you so much again.

Posted by Anonymous carine, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:32:00 PM  

Thanks for all the tips! I shall keep that in mind when I bake it next time!

Posted by Anonymous pigpigscorner, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:32:00 PM  



Carine: You're welcome, hope you'll make it soon.

Ann: You're welcome. I'm going to try your kek lapis soon!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:33:00 PM  

Pick Yin, I have to say this is the most perfect chiffon cake I have ever seen! The colour, texture, everything just shout PERFECT to me! Beautiful clicks!

Posted by Anonymous Ellie (Almost Bourdain), at Feb 2, 2012, 3:34:00 PM  

Thanks Ellie, I was quite mesmerized by yours as well, soft and fluffy. I have a feeling I might be making this very often.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:34:00 PM  

I am such a big fan of chiffon cake! And pandan is the greatest flavour!

Posted by Anonymous anh@anhsfoodblog.com, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:34:00 PM  

Anh: I can see that, you've baked a few types of chiffon yourself. I'm going to bake a chocolate one next, one that my better half would love to eat.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:34:00 PM  

Hi Pick Yin, can I just ask re the number of eggs and the amount of other ingredients? When you reduce the number of eggs based on size of baking tin, do you have to reduce the other ingredients proportionately?

I'm really looking forward to try this out! Craving for some panda chiffon cake in Melbourne! Thank you!

Posted by Anonymous Peggen, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:34:00 PM  

Peggen: Unfortunately chiffon cake recipes cannot be reduced propotionately according to tin size and I don't have this recipe for the reduced eggs. How big is your tin? If it's not very much smaller I'd suggest that you follow this recipe and bake the rest of the batter in cupcake liners (the cupcakes takes about 15-20 mins and are delicious!). Otherwise it's better of you follow recipes meant for the number of eggs you wish to use.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:35:00 PM  

That makes much sense!!! Thank you!! Fingers crossed mine will turn out well!

Btw love your blog! Will be following fr now on!!! :)

Posted by Anonymous Peggen, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:35:00 PM  

Peggen: All the best, let me know how yours turns out!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:35:00 PM  

Tried making it twice, once halving ingredient, second time using left over for a smaller cake tin. Both times it collapse a bit, starts with big cracks and the top sides comes in when cooling. Thought I failed first time round it was SO FLUFFY. So can't resist and tried again. Same result, ugly top, but lovely insides. A keeper recipe but I just wish the cracks will go and the top not looking so ugly - like a volcano! Time to invest on a oven thermometer. :D

Posted by Anonymous VC, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:35:00 PM  

VC: Don't half the recipe as the amounts are not meant to be proportionate like most cakes. Regarding the cracks, they're common in chiffons but the top becomes the bottom so don't worry too much about it. Even mine cracked a little too. That said, an oven thermometer is a good investment. I always check mine even though my oven is still new and quite accurate. Get the cake upside down as quick as humanly possible once out so that it has no chance to cave in. If your meringue is at the right texture, the cake should stay up well for this recipe. Glad you liked it despite some kinks!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:36:00 PM  

Surprisingly halving did work, still tasted great just not enough for the pan. Though I wont next time, as I don't mind making more too Yum! Wonder if I can use the same ingredient but as other flavours, green tea, choco, plain vanilla, etc. Ran out of eggs, it not I would have given it a go now!

Posted by Anonymous VC, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:36:00 PM  

VC: Glad it worked out for you. For the chocolate chiffon you can try my other recipe or go with another chocolate chiffon recipe. This recipe you can sub the flavor with fruit purees and green tea. For vanilla probably it's best to replace the pandan juice with vanilla bean steeped milk and some vanilla paste.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:36:00 PM  

Hi just wondering is the Baking Soda and Tar tar meant to be teaspoon?

Posted by Anonymous Ee, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:36:00 PM  

Ee: These are in tablespoons. Teaspoons would not be sufficient for this big cake.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:36:00 PM  

Hi thanks for replying so soon.
I tried out your recipe and half the recipe and also half the baking soda and cream of tartar in teaspoon too :)
Ermmmm, It turn out quite ok too, haha for my standard la. I just started baking

Thanks for sharing the recipe, the cake turns out great ...

Posted by Anonymous Ee, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:37:00 PM  

Ee: That looks good. So you used 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon tartar? The measurements will be good for others who wish to half the recipe. Thanks and enjoy the cake!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:37:00 PM  

Hello Pickyin!
Can I just ask if a bundt pan would work the same as a chiffon cake tin? :)

Posted by Anonymous Jin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:37:00 PM  

Jin: If your bundt pan comes in a removable base and side like an angel/chiffon cake tin then yes. However, if your tin is heavily grooved or patterned on the sides, I'd suggest getting a plain tin. Since the pan is not greased, you'd have a hard time getting the cake out once it's cooled.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:38:00 PM  

Hi pick yin

I woke up this morning and was madly motivated to bake your pandan chiffon so I went ahead w my bundt pan that was exactly what u described- heavily grooved w/ removable sides and bottom!! It's now cooling.. And I am just waiting to see how much of a disaster it's gonna be thanks for inspiring me!! Am a big fan of deb at smittenkitchen too but my cakes don't turn out like yours!! you're awesome!!!

Posted by Anonymous Jin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:38:00 PM  

I meant w/o removable sides and bottom!

Posted by Anonymous Jin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:38:00 PM  

Wow, you must really wanted the cake a lot. Hope it turned out well for you. If all else fail, you could eat it out of the pan!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:38:00 PM  

Looks delicious. Would love for you to share your pictures with us over at foodepix.com.

Posted by Anonymous Jo, at Feb 2, 2012, 3:39:00 PM  

Thank you for the very detailed recipies. I will try it out and hope that I will be sucessful this time as I have failed for so
many times with other link recipe.

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Apr 17, 2012, 9:41:00 PM  

Hello! I have the same chiffon pan as yours, and was wondering, could I remove the removable base right after i take the cake out from the oven? Or it has to be fully cooled first? And this is the 25cm pan yes? Could you share some tips on folding in the meringue? My chiffon cake doesn't have the light texture and I've no idea why!! Thanks!!!

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Jun 26, 2012, 12:29:00 AM  

Anon: Remove the base after cake has cooled completely, as per the instructions in the recipe. Yes, this is the 25cm pan as per stated.

Fold the meringue with a rubber spatula, keeping your hands light. Start scraping from the sides of the bowl in a circle towards the center. Turn the bowl slightly, repeat.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Jun 26, 2012, 3:16:00 PM  

i like your blog so much! the cakes look so tempting on the photos! btw, i am trying this recipe, my pandan chiffon cake is resting on the wire rack, can't wait to try it.

thanks for sharing!

Posted by Blogger 女飞侠, at Jul 2, 2012, 11:50:00 AM  

I baked the cake at 150 degrees for 40 mins and the top cracked. Should I only use bottom heat?

Also when cooling down, my cake shrinked and the surface appeared wrinkled instead of smooth. Why is that so?

Thanks!
Pandan Girl

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Jul 3, 2012, 9:29:00 PM  

Pandan Girl: To advice on top/bottom heat, I need to know what oven are you using.

May I ask why did you bake it at 150°C instead of the instructed temperature? That would've caused the cake crust to not form properly and wrinkle as it cools.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Jul 6, 2012, 10:28:00 AM  

Hi there! I tried replacing the pandan flavour with orange: 100ml orange juice, 1 teaspoon of orange flavour. I think it turned out well for the taste, but the cake isn't as tall as i wished it was. Any advice on this? I followed everything else in the recipe, and indeed it is softer than what I've tried achieving previously, but still kind of loosing the light and fluff a good chiffon cake has. Would really appreciate some help! I'm wondering does how well my meringue is beaten affecting it?

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Jul 9, 2012, 1:17:00 AM  

Anon: If your cake turned out less soft and fluffy, you've probably over-mixed it when folding in the meringue. Hope this helps.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Jul 9, 2012, 9:43:00 AM  

This recipe is great! Quite pleased that my cake came up fluffy and was pleasantly surprised how moist it was. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Posted by Blogger Unknown, at Jul 22, 2012, 6:31:00 PM  

Nathanael: Glad you gave it a go and it turned out great for you, me pleasure to share!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Jul 24, 2012, 9:16:00 AM  

Hi.i also use 150 degree n top still crack.i start by 170 fail than 160 now 150 still crack..any advise?using a toyomi rc2828 top and bottom heat.sld i just use bottom hear?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 27, 2012, 1:41:00 PM  

Keroppi Koh: If your oven is a table top, chances are the cake will crack slightly due to it being very close to the heating element.

You have to cook the cake with top and bottom heat. It doesn't matter if the top cracks a little, the cake is served upside down. ;)

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 27, 2012, 1:59:00 PM  

If i want to make one 17cm tin and another 21 cm tin.besides the egg,do i need to reduce the other ingredient or keep it as it is?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 27, 2012, 5:46:00 PM  

Keroppi Koh: You will have to reduce all the other ingredients accordingly.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 28, 2012, 10:12:00 AM  

Thanks.i notice that u have a lower third rack which i dont have.i only have top middle and bottom.which rack sld i use?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 28, 2012, 10:23:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: When I used to bake with a table top oven, if the cake is tall (in this case it is considered a tall one) I'll use the bottom shelf. Then towards the last 10 minutes of the total baking time, cook with only top heat.

Table top ovens are more tricky to deal with, you will have to experiment with different combinations and see what works for you.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 28, 2012, 4:26:00 PM  

Cook with only top heat last 10 min?thought to ptevent top from cracking must reduce top temp?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 29, 2012, 10:02:00 PM  

Keroppi Koh: That is if you use the bottom shelf. If you have a bottom element the bottom will burn.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 9:49:00 AM  

I have a top and bottom element and i am using bottom shelf.so after the cake rose last ten min i just switch on top element right?if not my bottom will burn,right?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 30, 2012, 9:52:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: Yup.

Also, if your top has already browned properly, the last 10 minutes put in a piece of aluminium foil to cover it. This is how most people with table top ovens deal with cracking cakes.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 9:56:00 AM  

Thanks,the aluminium just cut a big piece and place on top of cake will do or must cover the entire top meaning the front and back of top part of cake?any difference btn shiny and non shiny facing of foil?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:00:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: Usage of aluminium foil - if you want heat away from the food covered, shiny side facing up - to reflect heat away. Matte side up if using it to heat up/cook food covered.

Just cut a size bigger than your tin and loosely cover the entire top.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:08:00 AM  

Ok so i cover the entire top with a slightly larger foil than switch to top heat only right?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:10:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: Yup!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:13:00 AM  

Btw can i ask you if you know what does turbo wind in my toyomi oven rc2828 does?any idea what will happen if i switch it off?i try google but cant find related info.

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:21:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: Ovens that come with controllable fans are convection - the fan is switched on to regulate temperature.

This way, all areas in your oven is spread with equal heat, useful when roasting meat/chicken etc, there's no need to turn/flip/rotate your items.

When baking, depending on situation, I will use convection, but if you're not used to it, I recommend not using the fan for baking. (Again, there's no formula, every oven is different.)

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 10:29:00 AM  

How thick must the foil be?or just a layer will fo?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Aug 30, 2012, 11:17:00 AM  

Keroppi Koh: One layer will do!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Aug 30, 2012, 11:24:00 AM  

Thanks for your advice!i manage to get one no crack pandan chiffon!may i know how i can play around to change to other flavour?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Sep 4, 2012, 10:11:00 AM  

Do i just use the purees or purees with juice?

Posted by Blogger Keroppi Koh, at Sep 4, 2012, 12:25:00 PM  

Hi! i tried making the pandan cake and cut down all the ingredients to half. Unfortunately, after baking the top part "collapse" even though i turn it up side down after baking. I don't know what happen . :(

Posted by Anonymous Glad, at Sep 5, 2012, 9:00:00 PM  



Keroppi Koh: You can use a thick juice, but not puree - it might be to heavy for the cake.

Glad: Possibly your meringue was not properly aerated. Ensure it is close to or at stiff peak before folding it into the egg yolk mixture.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Sep 7, 2012, 9:52:00 AM  

Hi Pickyin, looking at your cake i must to try it... today i made it without any alterations and the cake was fluffy and soft and has a mild coconut flavor which i prefer. But after cooling and releasing it from the pan there was like caving in the bottom and because of that the bottom partof the cake was like pressed and moist. And the top too has so big cracks, although it doesn't really bother me but it was so big that a good picture was impossible hehehe. what do you suggest? GIRLIE

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Sep 12, 2012, 8:13:00 PM  

girlie: Glad you gave this a go. Sounds like your oven has a cold spot at the bottom since the bottom is not cooked properly. If you have a convection oven (with fan which can be turn on/off), try preheating with the fan on and turn it off once the cake is in. If your oven is big enough, place your cake on level lower. Basically you have to work around getting even cooking heat at the bottom part of the oven.

About the cracks, don't worry about it. The best chiffon cake out there cracks. Mine has cracks too but because my oven is big enough, they were minimum and 'settled' quite nicely once the cake cooled. The cake is meant to be presented upside down, photography your cake in that position.

At the end of the day, what's important is the texture and taste!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Sep 13, 2012, 4:33:00 PM  

Hi,
I always have problem where the chiffon cake will fall down when I turn it upside down. But today I tried one new recipe with 20cm cake tin, it won't fall down. Then I tried the old recipe (Agnes Chang), 22cm cake tin, the cake looks so nice when come out from oven, but it fall down when I turn it upside down.. what is the problem?

Posted by Anonymous irenelim, at Oct 16, 2012, 3:37:00 PM  

irenelim: I'm not sure which recipe you are referring to with regards to your problem. Is it mine? If not, I can't advise as I need to see the ratio of ingredients.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Oct 16, 2012, 4:16:00 PM  

Hi, i would really like to try many of your recipes! They look great! may I know the measurement in ml or gram for tablespoon, teaspoon and cups in your recipes? Thank you!! -Lih-

Posted by Anonymous Lih, at Dec 3, 2012, 6:26:00 AM  

Hi, I only have 21cm tin so I use 4 eggs am I right? Is there a need to reduce flour and other ingredient?

Otherwise, I use the same amount as your recipe and pour in only 3/4 batter and the rest on a baking tin?

Posted by Blogger Unknown, at Dec 28, 2012, 11:10:00 PM  

Michelle: Sorry for the late reply, you'll have to reduce all other ingredients with the same ratio as well.

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Jan 2, 2013, 10:49:00 AM  

My first success in making chiffon cake after trying so many different one, fantastic Recipe :D. Thanks PickYin

Posted by Blogger Unknown, at Apr 11, 2013, 11:36:00 AM  

My first success in making chiffon pandan cake. Fantastic recipe and thanks so much Pickyin.

Posted by Blogger Unknown, at Apr 11, 2013, 11:53:00 AM  

Sel Su: You're welcome, chiffon cakes can be very unforgiving. Enjoy!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Apr 15, 2013, 10:06:00 AM  

I love chiffon cake, never successfully made one. I have never tried pandan either, no idea what that is! Sorry!!
What can I substitute for the pandan flavor? Cocoa? Vanilla? Coffee? Green tea? Since all these flavors are more than just flavors and definitely impact the texture of a cake, especially something as delicate as a chiffon cake, I would really appreciate your suggestions!
Thanks!

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Oct 7, 2013, 4:49:00 AM  

unstreamlined: You can try green tea and coffee with this recipe. Cocoa and vanilla chiffon requires a different recipe. I recently posted a chocolate one which you can try. All the best!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Oct 7, 2013, 10:29:00 AM  

Hi Pick Yin,

Thank you for your recipe. I have been having the urge to make my own pandan chiffon cake and finally managed to buy a 25cm cake tin. I looked around and saw that your recipe is the only one that accommodates a cake tin that size. :)

I wasn't sure what size eggs I should use, so I assumed that they were small-medium (50-60gm) size. Since I only have large eggs (70gm), I used only seven eggs.

My cake did not rise all the way to the top. It could be because I did not beat the egg whites long enough. When I was scooping it into the batter, it seemed to me some of it was not as stiff.

Also, since I did not have real pandan leaves, I used one teaspoon of pandan flavouring (thick, green liquid with pandan smell) with 1/2 cup of coconut milk.

The cake was delicious but, like I said, did not rise all the way to the top. Should I have used 8 eggs?

Thanks for the recipe and for any advice you can give me.

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Nov 4, 2013, 6:40:00 PM  

yewnique: You may use 8 large eggs. The cake will rise to the top as long as you don't over mix the batter once your meringue is done.

The meringue should be even in stiffness but not dry. Start beating the white on low speed, then slowly increase to medium until the right texture is achieved.

Hope this helps!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Nov 5, 2013, 10:23:00 AM  

I left Singapore a year ago and I've been craving pandan cake ever since! Finally managed to find some pandan paste today in a Melbourne Asian grocer, can't wait to try this!

Posted by Anonymous Mandi, at Aug 21, 2014, 10:09:00 PM  

Thank you for sharing your detailed and easy to follow recipe . I successfully made 2 medium sized chiffons today. Your recipe is probably the best tasting so far and I love the soft texture. The only change I did was adding extra liquid as I had spare coconut milk and pandan juice, luckily they still turn out ok. A few Instagrammers have asked for the recipe so I will direct them to your website.

Posted by Anonymous Irene (@alwayseating), at Feb 13, 2015, 8:26:00 PM  

Irene: Thank you for your great feedback. Incidentally I'm working on improving this recipe a little so watch this space!

Posted by Blogger PickYin, at Feb 16, 2015, 9:41:00 AM  

This comment has been removed by the author.

Posted by Blogger Unknown, at Sep 5, 2015, 5:04:00 PM  

Hi Pick Yin, i am so happy to found your chiffon recipe as i always thought that chiffon cake must be made using tube pan but have no luck in finding a suitable one that fit into my oven. I would like to try using a 14cm tin-1 egg but had no idea how to scale down the rest of the ingredients. Should i use 1/8 of all other ingredients in accordance to the number of egg used which is 1 in my case? It will be great if you could advise asap so that i can start baking it right away for my baby. Thank you:) Shanna

Posted by Anonymous Anonymous, at Sep 5, 2015, 5:14:00 PM  

I am so happy to have finally found a recipe which cater to 25cm chiffon tin and the cake turned out well - tall, soft and fluffy! I replaced pandan liquid with fresh orange juice+cordial orange+grated orange peel...nice fragrance smell! Mine is desktop convection oven and I put on the lowest rack, top-bottom heat element on but without the fan mode. If I put on the middle rack, the top part will be too close to the top heat element and probably will burn the top part of the cake. Your recipe is a keeper, thank you so much for sharing!

Posted by Blogger paperpapier, at Jan 9, 2016, 12:24:00 PM  

How did you get it to be such a strong lime colour? That's absolutely genius!

Posted by Anonymous Spa Somerset Girl, at Jul 28, 2016, 12:03:00 AM  

This is so yummy and interesting pandan chiffon cake. I tried this kind of recipe before but this is unique. Instead of 100 grams castor sugar i took honey! Thx for sharing! I will try your variant!

Posted by Anonymous Bella Hardy, at Jun 25, 2018, 3:54:00 PM  


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