Foodie

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Pandan Chiffon Cake

This recipe from Chef Bernard Decaix is different as he does not have oil but 300 ml of the coconut milk required is enough to moist the cake. As usual, i do not use pandan leave juice but use 1 tsp pandan paste instead. I omitted pandan juice not by choice and i found that without it, the fragrance from the paste did not play second fiddle.

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Ingredients:

150 g : cake flour
0.5 tsp : baking powder
0.25 tsp : salt
8 - : egg yolks
300 ml : coconut milk
2 tbsp : pandan juice
160 g : castor sugar
0.5 tsp : pandan essence
9 - : egg whites
1 tbsp : castor sugar
0.5 tsp : cream of tartar



Method:

Preparation Batter

Pre heat the oven to 180c/350 f(convection).

Pour the coconut milk into a saucepan and add the castor sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring slowly to disslove the sugar. set aside to cool.


Sieve the cake flour, baking powder and salt.

In a bowl, combine the egg yolks, coconut mixture, pandan juice and pandan essence.

Whisk lightly, then add the flour to the egg yolk mixture. Mix until the batter is smooth. Set aside.

Whisk the egg whites lightly and add in the cream of tartar and castor sugar. Continue to whisk until the mixture is stiff. Do not overheat or allow the mixture to become dry. Set aside.

Baking the cake

Gently fold half the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and blend well.

Fold in the remaining egg whites and work very lightly with a spatula. Make sure the mixture is well mixed.

Place the finished mixture in an ungreased 10 inch chiffon cake /tube mould. Level and bake in the oven until golden brown (about 45 minutes).

Remove the cake from the oven and invert the mould. Allow it to cool for 1 hour.

Do not remove the mould while the cake is still hot.

When it has cooled, use a long, fine palatte knife to loosen the sides of the cake to remove it from the tin.

Serves

218 comments:

1 – 200 of 218   Newer›   Newest»
J said...

Looks wonderful, Lily.

Anonymous said...

I Love this Cake...I'll try it at home and let you know! Lily!

Greenapple said...

look so homey ... shall give it a try if i manage to fluff the egg white.

FooDcrazEE said...

hmmm...u reminded me of my mum...she bakes good chiffon....hmmm

Anonymous said...

I tried it already it turned out great but mine is abit too green. I used pandan paste as well, did you actually add water into the pandan paste or 2tbs itself? coz I found that my chiffon is very green. Thanks Lily!

Unknown said...

jasmine

it could be the brand of pandan paste. I use the indonesian brand with a butterfly logo - aroma pasta pandan - koepoe koepoe. this the best pandan paste. as i have said i did not use fresh pandan leave juice but increase the pandan paste to 1 tsp. i did try the recipe to the tee and it turned out really good.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, I am trying out the pandan chiffon cake recently. However, my cake did not rise at all though the inside is soft and spongy.The side and bottom of the cake did not turn to a nice brown colour too.Is there any tips to make my cake looks as good as yours. Thk a lot in advance.

Unknown said...

anonymous

baking chiffon is very mysterious, i had a friend who makes them for sale, one day she just could not bake one successfully. so don't feel bad, even experts fail.

the most important factor in chiffon is whicking of egg whites - it should be stiff and the tip should droop when you overturn the whisk to check.

folding in the egg whites is crucial too, do it as gently as possible

baking in a preheated oven of at least 350 f. i use an oven thermometer to check my preheated oven as the temp. shown on oven is never right.

when you said the sides of your cake is still white, then your oven temp. is definitely not hot enough.

make sure the tube pan has no grease

if you could recall what you did, you would be able to know what went wrong

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, Thks for the reply. My name is joanne. It is really very discouraging to get see the way my final product turned out. My whipping part of the egg white is okay, i managed to get quite a stiff mixture. However i am having quite a tough time to fold in the egg white to the egg yolk mixture. As the egg white is quite large in volume, i always find it very hard for these two mixtures to be very well blended esp when we have to do the folding in a gentle way. My folding step nearly took me 10 mins to get a well mixed mixture. I understand that folding has a great impact in the cake rising part but i just unable to do it in a correct and fast way. I am using a spatula to do the folding. Do u ever encounter this type of problem before? Sorry to trouble u again.

Unknown said...

joanne

the first addition of 1/3 of the egg whites can be whisked in to temper to the egg yolk mixture so that it will be easier to fold in the rest of the egg whites. you do not have to be gentle, i like to use a whisk. then fold in the rest gently this time. use the biggest spatula that you have. the bigger the spatula the less folding you will need. start from the center and fold in. don't forget to go right to the bottom.

good luck

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, thks for the tips. I will try out agan this weekend, hopefully it works for me. Thanks again. :)

Joanne

Unknown said...

joanne

i wish you will be successful.

if you are using coconut milk that is quite running, cook it abit longer to reduce it.

where are you from?

i use canned coconut milk and i do not shake can and use only the thick milk that is on top of can.

happy baking

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, I am from Singapore. I am using the packet type of coconut milk which is easily available in any supermarket here. However i did not boil the coconut during my preparation steps. It is necessary to do the boiling beforehand ? One thing to add on, my tube pan(23cm) is too large for my oven as such i am unable to fully close the oven door. i believe that is the main reason why my oven temp is not hot enough.:(

Unknown said...

joanne

baking temp is very very important in baking of any cakes. oven has to be preheated too. i depend on an oven temp. to reach the desire temp before i put the cake in to bake.

if you do not have a choice of a bigger oven, then use a smaller round pan using a small empty sardine can in the middle. that should work as a tube pan but when cake is done and you need to invert cake, the sardine can has to have something to stand on.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, many thanks for telling me so many good tips. I will try out this weekend and really hope that the cake will be sucess. Thanks :)

Joanne

Unknown said...

joanne

good luck

Su-Yin -Décorateur said...

hi Lily, it's me again~Thanks! I tried your chiffon cake recipe! I changed it around a little personalize a few things and it still turned out great!
here is what I came up with.

http://cookingismypassion.blogspot.com/2006/05/pink-vanilla-chiffon-cake.html

It's a pink vanilla chiffon cake
It isn't as pretty as I didn't have a proper tin, but its definately a recipe worth keeping. THanks again!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, I am new to your blog and have tried baking your Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe. It's full of flavour.
You are a gem to share a 'working' recipe. Have a fulfilling day

=KaReN= said...

hi... i tried to bake chiffon cake a few times but it always failed... so i decided to google search for answer y my cake will not rise and saw ur link... i follow the instruction but it still come out bad... the cake is either will not rise or the inside are still wet...

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,I wanted to know whether I could see a picture of your pandan chiffon cake anywhere on your blog.I have never made chiffon cakes before.I have made an angel food cake,so I am confident I can make a chiffon too.Just wanted to have a loon at a picture so that I can look forward to what is expected.Thanks.

Unknown said...

anonymous

you have my blessing. look forward to hear the result of your chiffon cake

Sukma said...

Hi Lily, I tried your recipe and it's delicious. I do have a couple of questions though. The cake did rise but during the cool down, it deflated, is that normal? Also, I have a hard time getting the cake off the mould, quite a bit of the cake is left on the mould. I'm using a 9" spring form mould with a bundt cake bottom. Normally I use PAM for baking and the cake come off easy but I did not grease the mould this time. Also, I used Kara real coconut cream made in Indonesia that I found in a Chinese grocery store. It has very little liquid so it's a fit with the recipe.

Unknown said...

Sukmawati

there is no greasing of tin/pan for chiffon cakes. the cake needs to to be stuck at the sides for the cake to rise it maximum. the cake has to be inverted and leave to cool before you run a knife at the sides to dislodge the cake.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, I'm comparing a few recipes and am quite surprise that yours is without oil. Is there a reason?
For my first first attempt at this cake, it shrunk till the edges pulled away from the sides by about 1". Is this much shrinkage normal?

Unknown said...

anonymous

yes there is no oil, the high amount of coconut milk has sufficient fat to make the cake very moist.

the cake should not shrink, it should stick to the sides of the tube pan that is why one should not grease the pan and by inverting the cake as soon as it comes out of oven and let it cool inverted, will prevent shrinking too.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

Stumbled on your blog when my pandan cake failed to rise yesterday. Really impressed by your list of food cooked. Used metal spoon to fold in but cant seem to mix very well. Also couldnt tell if stiff peak or firm peak for egg whites. Could you advise how long to beat for the whites to firm and when to add tartar etc. Also why i cant get the cake green. Mine looked more like yellow sponge cake.

Thank you very much.
Connie

Anonymous said...

Lily, may i ask what type of canned coconut milk do u use? Is it coconut MILK or coconut CREAM? Which brand do u use? I think different brands have diff concentration of coconut milk/ cream n this will affect the success of the chiffon ie too oily, the chiffon will fall out of the tin n there goes the height of the cake!! Too diluted coconut milk - the cake will not taste so nice. I used to make beautiful high chiffons, using fresh santan but using the same recipe in Australia, using canned coconut milk n cream - have tried various brands but no success!! Please do advise. Ur pandan chiffon looks great!

Anonymous said...

When u omit the 2 tbs of pandan juice, do u replace this amt with water?

Unknown said...

anonymous

cream of milk does not matter just don't shake the can before opening and scoop out the cream.

Unknown said...

anonymous

there is enough of liquid in this recipe so you do not need to replace the 2 tsp of water

Anonymous said...

Hi lily
After I invert the tube pan, my cakes sides are stuck on the pan, but it seems to shrink in the center? ( or upwards when inverted). so.. the sides are high, and the middle is dented in. does that mean it's not cooked enough?

Also when it is baking ,it rises and cracks, and then starts to deflate a bit becoming more flat surfaced, is this normal?
Jen

Unknown said...

jen

what has been mentioned by you is not normal.

did you test for doneness? guessed not as your guess is right - not fully baked that is why the middle is not cooked yet.

deflating is due to overbeating or overmixing of the eggwhites which is too dry and can't hold the cake,

if your oven is small, bake on a lower temp but longer and test for doneness.

Anonymous said...

I am not sure if I am overbeating does the white stick to the bowl even after u put if upside down? or should it move slightly ? Mine was stiff, had shiny peaks and can stay in the bowl upside down. is that overwhip?
I will try to cook longer. is it ok to bake at 325 degrees instead? I live in the US, so i have a regular sized oven.

jen

Unknown said...

jen

you could try at 325 the next time. if you are into baking, you would like to invest in an oven thermometer. like my oven, when it says it is ready at 350 it is actually only 250 in the oven thermometer.

i like to test the eggwhite by lifting the whisk and the peak should have a droop - this is soft peak.

i have noticed that the stickless baking pans which are heavy and expensive are not very good. chiffon batter needs to stick and this is the only way to hold the rise.

i owned 2 nonstick 9 inch pan which are hopeless for cakes and they were expensive. cakes don't rise at the sides, it will only rise like a dome.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily
Thank you on your tips!

I do have an oven thermometer. I was thinking maybe i don't need that high a temp becasue the batter doesn't fill halfway the tube pan i use?

I am using a wilton nonstick tubepan, maybe that is the problem as well.

for egg whites, should the peaks be straight up without a curl at the tip then?

Jen

Unknown said...

jen

like i have said, you could try with 325 but check for doneness. Try making the lemon orange chiffon cake which has more flour and easier to make.

soft peak egg white should have a curl

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, it's not easy to get fresh santan in Australia, but will Ayam brand canned coconut milk do? They also have coconut cream - so which is better? And what would the result be like using coconut milk / cream? Thanks again Lily, your recipe had saved me!! Chris Wu

Unknown said...

chris

i too use coconut from a can. in my opinion, milk and cream has no difference and the brand matters.

do not shake the can and use only the cream and you do not have to cook it as suggested in recipe. in your summers you might have to leave can in the fridge before opening

Anonymous said...

Lily,

What is cake flour. I can't find them in supermarket. I am from UK. What type of flour can I replace with.

Unknown said...

anonymous

just use plain flour, remove 1 tbsp and replace with cornflour/cornstarch

Anonymous said...

I just made this with matcha. It tasted wonderful! Thanks for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

I made a pandan cake just 30minutes ago.. you have to beat the egg white for 30minutes! the first time i made it, i only beat it for 5 minutes.. big mistake. hehe I love this recipe! very delicious thanks

Unknown said...

katie

i don't know what sort of beater you use cos even when i use the hand mixer it did not take that long. whatever it is, i am glad you got the whisking right.

congrats on your success

Anonymous said...

HI i got this little green bottle which says pandan flavour is this the essence??

Thank you

Unknown said...

anonymous

my bottle says aroma pasta in indonesian. if the little green bottle is from indonesia then it is right.

Daryl said...

Hi Lily,

I tried out your recipe yesterday and it turned out great despite my mould was too small, may I know the size of the mould you use? Thanks for sharing all your recipe!

Daryl (UK)

Unknown said...

daryl

it is a 10 inch tube cake pan.

Anonymous said...

hiya Lily
do you use cake tins which are not non-stick
because when i use non-stick tins they start to slip off from the sides and shrinks

how long does the cake keeps its moistness for??

thnx Gary

Unknown said...

gary

the aluminium type of chiffon/tube pan with a loose base is the best. the pan should not be greased as the cake needs to cling on to the sides as it rises and the cake is to be inverted as soon as it comes out of the oven, so that the cake's structure can be formed while cooling.

this cake is so light that a huge slice is not satisfying but if you should have any remainder, do keep in an airtight container for a day perhaps only

SpeedDust said...

Hi Lily,

I tried your recipe for the pandan cake and i think it's great. It's my first time baking a cake. The made 2 and the first 1 wasn't really good. The second one was much better. But i have a problem. The cake pan i use has an removable bottom. This cause the mixture to leak out from the bottom when it's pour into the pan. Is the pan wrong? Or maybe i should get one with a fixed bottom one? Anyway, this pandan is good. Thanks!

Unknown said...

kevin

the loose bottom chiffon pan is the best. i think you might bought a defected one. Try lining the bottom with foil so that it fits tighter and therefore prevent leaking. I hope it is not a nonstick pan cos theses nonstick is no good for chiffon cakes

Anonymous said...

hi lily,
how long(approximate time)should i beat the egg whites to get soft peaks

Unknown said...

anonymous

it is difficult to have a time frame for beating eggwhites to soft peaks as the utensil used would be different even the temperature of the eggwhites does affect the whisking.

SpeedDust said...

Hi lily,

I tried the recipe again today and it was great! All my friends love it. They say it's really good. Thanks for the advice! Gotta try it a few more time till i perfect it. Thanks!!

The Lee Girls said...

Hi Lily,

Finally, I was able to try this pandan chiffon cake recipe. I just took the cake out of the oven, and is cooling right now. However, my cake doesn't seem to rise very much, is this right?

There are a few things that i noticed while baking:

a) There were lots of water at the bottom of the egg white mixture, is this normal? I have beaten the egg whites until a soft peak appeared. Did I do this right?

b) There were lots of bubbles in the final mixture. Is that normal?

c) The egg yolk mixture was very thick like there was no water in there, even though I have added the coconut milk into it.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Angelia

Unknown said...

angelia

the eggwhite is not whisked to soft peak if you still have liquid egg whites at the bottom.

yes, you will have a lot of bubbles and the finished product will not move from the bowl when the bowl is toppled over.

the egg yolk mixture should be like pancake batter. you must have forgotten one of the liquid ingredients.

The Lee Girls said...

Hi Lily,

Thanks you for your tips. I made the cake tonight again, and I was successful! My husband absolutely LOVES the cake! Thanks again.

Cheers,
Angelia

Lyn said...

Hi lily,

I have been referring to your blog whenever I miss something from back home since I'm studying overseas. It has been very helpful thanks! I have some question about this pandan chiffon cake and it would be very helpful if you could give me some advice.

1)I only have pandan essence so how do I go about making the cake? Should I increase the amount of essence to make up for the lack of pandan juice/paste?

2)Can I get a nice chiffon by using a regular aluminum dispose-afteruse baking container? I don't want to invest in a proper tube pan since I am leaving soon.

regards,
Leonie

Unknown said...

piggy

you can't make a good pandan chiffon cake with pandan paste or pandan juice from the leaves. the essence is somehow not right. the more you put in, the worst it will be. why don't you try making a chocolate or orange flavored chiffon cake

you could use a high sided round container with an empty can place in the middle.

Unknown said...

piggy

it is difficult to type with my grandson on my back. i meant to say - without pandan paste or pandan juice from the leaves.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

I almost wanted to give up on baking chiffon cakes until i came by your webpage and tried your recipe. Previously i experienced the same mishaps as some fellow chiffon bakers that the cake went flat, didn't want to raise or was still too wet inside.

Your recipe however worked out on the spot. Now me and my wife are enjoying our fluffy pandan cake. Yummy!

Ernst

Lyn said...

Hi Lily,

thanks for your advice :) this is so disappointing.. but maybe I should get somebody to send me some pandan leaves from home hahaha.. thanks anyway :D

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,

Should the egg whites be beaten to soft peak? or firm peak or stiff peak? I'll be trying the pandan chiffon these few days,.. let u know the results. Hv a nice day!

Hamster

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,

Should i beat the egg whites till soft peaks? or firm peaks or stiff peaks? I'll be making the pandan chiffon these few days,.. let u know the results! I've tried out Alex Goh's pandan chiffon recipe asking for stiff peaks, but seem to keep on failing..

Hv a nice day!

Hamster

Unknown said...

hamster

it should be soft peaked and stiff and firm but not dried, then the cake would be moist and soft.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

Do you know of any stores in Hong Kong (address and phone no.) carrying Pandan essence and coconut essence ?

Thanks !
MVJ :)

Unknown said...

mvj

i am sorry i don't have a clue perhaps a reader to this comment can help

good luck

Anonymous said...

hi. im lynn. i jus wanna ask u if the cake flour can b substituited wif plain flour or other type of flour? thnx! =)

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

Would like to check re beating of egg whites. Notice that 1tbsp of caster sugar is used. Am i right?

regards
khim

Unknown said...

lynn

you can remove 1 tbsp of the plain flour and sub with 1 tbsp of cornflour/starch

Unknown said...

khim

yes, just 1 tbsp of sugar to be added to the egg whites

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily, can I use a bundt cake mound to make a chiffon cake?

Anonymous said...

or should i get an angel food cake mould? Thanks!

Unknown said...

jen

i prefer you get the angel cake mould for chiffon cakes

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

I tried this recipe and always have the same problem - The chiffon cake (after overturned) is soft and airy on the top but always a little dense on the bottom. There will be streaks of kuey like texture. It is not as airy as the top.

I tried to mix the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture very gently and quickly but still encounter the same problem every time i try.

Can you pls enlighten me where I could have gone wrong? As I am living overseas as well, I would love to bake a perfect pandan chiffon cake soon!

Tks alot! :)


JT

Unknown said...

JT

my presumptions of your failure are that the oven heat is not hot enough when the cake was put in and that the egg whites must have been too stiff/dried.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

Hmm.. I cannot really tell about my oven temperature cos there is no clear marking of 180C. I think I baked at about 170-180C and it took me almost 1 hour when I halved your recipe. The problem is my oven has markings of 150 or 200C, so I "agar agar". Ok, perhaps I try a higher temp and probably keep a lookout earlier? Even if it is higher than 180C, it should be fine right?

I will try again Lily. Tks!


Regards,
JT

Anonymous said...

Hi, Lily,
Want to thank you for this blog! I have been away from Singapore for 4 years and sometimes crave for local food. Am totally amazed that you even have chee cheong fun!

Anyway, just today, I suddenly craved for Pandan chiffon cake, and found your blog.

I am new to baking, used a angel cake mould, and had all the batter leaking out of the mould at the bottom. The bottom also didn't really cook well, after putting the cake on a cookie sheet. The top is fine and fluffy and is really yummy though.

I know I am really a newbie to baking, please help and advice!

Thanks again for putting up this blog!

Unknown said...

newbie to cooking

i too have an angel cake mould and it leaks even when i baked a butter cake.

you must bake the cake using the lower third rack of the oven and make sure the oven temp. is the temp. needed for this cake

Anonymous said...

Third rack of the oven! Ah! I put it on top.. okay, will do better next time.

Oh, and one more question... is there a difference between baking soda and baking powder?

Unknown said...

newbie to baking

you can find the answer here
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/foodchemistry/f/blbaking.htm

pui said...

Hi Lily

I am just a newbie in this blog, also , a newbie in a kitchen. I am so happy to view your blog. Everything looks yummy.

Anonymous said...

I suggest you to emphasise some important or commonly mistaken points such as "GENTLY fold the egg white...", "UNGREASED mound", etc...

Hope that would help readers to make the cake right on first attempt. and may stop people asking the same questions over and over again too =P

Unknown said...

anonymous

i don't quite understand why these 2 instructions are such mistaken points so, i am not able to heed your suggestion

Unknown said...

anonymous

i don't quite understand why these 2 instructions are such mistaken points so, i am not able to heed your suggestion

Anonymous said...

It seems quite a number of people asked why their cake fail to rise(overmixing?) or sink when cooled(tin greased?) etc.

BTW, I wonder what is the purpose of adding cream of tartar when beating the egg whites.

Unknown said...

anonymous

cream of tartar is used to stablilize the egg white foams.

for chiffon cake the ungreased pan allow the cake to stick on to the sides and thus preventing the cake from collapsing and the cake will collapse if the cake is overmixed.

Anonymous said...

This recipe is a keeper. It really works. Just like the ones you buy from the store, only fresher and more tender. I skipped heating the coconut milk with sugar, I just mixed them with the egg yolks. Also skipped the pandan juice and like Lily said, replaced with 2 tsp of pandan paste. Still turned out perfect. Thank you for the recipe.

Alfred said...

hey you mentioned in your recipe that there is 160g of castor sugar and 1tsp of castor sugar. which is to use for which step?

which one do i add for the coconut?

sorry im a newbie and im baking this for my grandma.

Unknown said...

done with passion

this recipe is from Chef Bernard Decaix, so, for a newbie to chiffon, i would suggest that you beat the eggwhites with 100 - 120 gm of sugar and the rest in the cooking of the coconut. When coconut is to be cooked till thick, it is the fresh coconut milk which has been squeezed from fresh grated coconut. if you can get hold of a can of coconut milk with 60 or 70% of saturated fat, don't shake the can and remove 100 ml(1 can = 400 ml). No cooking is required, just mix with egg yolks, sugar, flour and oil.

Alfred said...

hey i tried your recipe but the thing is it was too wet even after 45 mins of baking. and my cake cracked! at the top. its so ugly. but it still taste nice. haha do u knw why it will crack? can u please help me?

Unknown said...

done with passion

your oven must be more than 350f and it should be baked at the lower third of the oven. This is a higher cake therefore if nearer the upper elements will baked the top too fast before the cake is given a chance to rise and the top will crack to accommodate the rising cake.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

I followed all your tips and made this for the first time. It was a huge success! I substituted cream of tartar with bicarbonate of soda though because I did not have the former. Thank you so much for your blog! I will be referring to it constantly.

karzuo said...

hi lily,

I have been trying to bake this chiffon cake for many many attempts. Sometimes it succeed, but most of the time it failed. I really have no idea what went wrong. I have learnt a lot about whisking eggs and folding them through these many attempts and is pretty confident now that the whisking and folding are done correctly. However, the cake just wont succeed sometimes. The cake would look completely perfect, and rise very high and shrink back a bit. When it is done, nothing seems wrong. After cooling, nothing looks wrong either. But when I run a knife on the cake, it is empty. The inside has collapsed completely, as though I have just made the skin of the cake. You get what I mean? It is like a cake that looks perfectly delicious, but inside is only hole... what exactly is wrong with my cake? I feel like giving up on this cake.. it waste a lot of my eggs and time. I always dont know the result until it is cooled. Really sad.

Unknown said...

karzuo

i hope anyone who have experienced this problem can help cos i can only say that the eggwhite is the problem which created huge air pockets. run a knife or palate knife in a zig zag motion in the batter before putting in bake, or drop the cake pan with batter in it on the counter lightly, hoping to remove air pockets.

Unknown said...

Hi Lily

I am a student in the UK and craved for pandan cake so much, I decided to try backing it myself. I find your recipe by far to be the most successful but it keeps collapsing once it is cooled. Any idea why? I whisked the egg whites until soft firm peak (like meringue texture); fold in the egg whites carefully with metal spoon.

Also, I cannot find a chiffon cake tin and uses a 9 inch silicon bakeware. I am wondering if this item I saw on ebay will work?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=380025060847&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=025

Thanks!!!

Jerry

Unknown said...

jerry

the pan in the link might work but a tube pan assured better results.

if you are in u k, you should whip the egg whites until very stiff but not dry. This recipe is for professional chefs, so i suggest that you use 60 gms sugar for the egg yolks and 100 gms for the egg whites.

Anonymous said...

Hi Aunty!

I made this last night. It turned out fine last night. It was chiffon as chiffon can be. After cooling for one hour, I cut it and kept in a container. This morning it appeared moister and dense...almost heavy looking. It's not looking like a chiffon cake anymore. Can you tell me why? But the taste is still wonderful!

B. Victoria, KL

Anonymous said...

Hey, both my friend and I made two chiffons using the recipe above last night. One was added with 60ml oil. I saw it from the this link http://sakurambokitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/pandan-chiffon-cake.html .

Apparently, the chiffon texture for both is similar. I can't tell the differences wor. Both are soft and moist. Are they supposed to be like that? Why is it that when I bought chiffons from some cake shops, their texture is soft and dry?

Can someone advise me, pls..

TSL

Anonymous said...

Hey Lily (Pls ignore my earlier post. Pls use this instead ya..)

Both my friend and I made two chiffons using the recipe above last night. One was added with 60ml oil and one without adding oil. I saw it from this link http://sakurambokitchen.blogspot.com/2007/01/pandan-chiffon-cake.html.

Apparently, the chiffon texture for both is similar. I can't tell the differences. Both are soft and moist. But I have few questions:
1. What are the differences between adding and without adding oil?
2. Why is the texture moist? When I bought chiffons from some cake shops, their texture is dry but still soft..
3. Why are the sides of my chiffons not brown? It is greenish just like the chiffon texture. I used 170 Degree Celsius (without fan) and bake them for about 45 – 50mins.

Could you pls advise me..

TSL

Unknown said...

tsl

this recipe is made without oil and i have never made it with oil so i can't tell you if it is the oil that made the cake more moist than it should be.

the chiffon cakes that are more firm are the ones made with more flour.

Unknown said...

tsl

i wonder what cherry will answer to these same questions you post to her.

your cake never turned brown is becauce of your oven. the temp. might not be right. always bake chiffon cakes at the bottom third rung of the oven.

Anonymous said...

Hello Lily....your cake looks great. I'm dying to try this recipe but the problem is, where do i get the cream of tartar and how to say it in chinese(mandarin)??

Unknown said...

fanny gracieia wijaya

i am sorry i don't know what cream of tartar is called in chinese but this is translated by babelfish as 酒石霜.

Anonymous said...

Hi! I love pandan cake and haven't had it in ages. Can't wait to try this recipe. I can't seem to find pandan paste, is pandan extract ok?

Unknown said...

anonymous

is pandan extract obtained by pulverising fresh pandan leaves?

the original recipe calls for this pandan juice but i sub with pandan paste(thick green flavoring).

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,

I love to bake pandan cake but i try umpteen time, it never successful, always sink after cooling and at the bottom of the cake is very wet and crumble together after cuting out. It really very upset me.
Would u able to enlightn me on this.
Could it be the problem that i didnt beat the egg white long enough or

Unknown said...

anonymous

alot of offerings to the culinary gods.

you have answered your own question.

the egg whites have to be beaten until very stiff but not dry.

try beating the egg whites with 100 gms of sugar and use only 50 gm for the egg yolks.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

It's me, TSL again. Thank u veri much for your advice.. I tried out your recipe again on 21 Jun 08. This time, I baked it at my place instead of my friend's.

My electric oven is very small and without conventional fan type. My Chiffon Pan just fit the size of it. In fact, there's no more space allowance after placing the chiffon pan into the oven. The top part of pan was very close to the oven heating element. I baked the chiffon at 190 degC for 60mins. Halfway at 40mins, I need to place a piece of aluminium foil to prevent the top part of chiffon from getting burnt. This time, it still tastes as good as the 1st time, but the sides were still not as brown as what i saw your recipe photo.. Sob sob..

Could you pls advise..

TSL

Unknown said...

tsl

your oven is too small for this cake if you should want to make this cake again, you would have to improvise. make 1/2 recipe and use a 8 inch cake pan which has a 3 inch sides and put a small can(sardine) in the middle.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

Firstly, I love your website!!

Secondly, I am wondering if you used both pandan paste and pandan essence when you baked this cake? Just wanted to clarify if pandan paste by itself would be sufficient, or if it's better to use both the paste and essence.

Thank you so much for your help :)

Unknown said...

hanna

i use only pandan paste cos i find the essence is too overpowering.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

I have tried baking chiffon cakes for a few attempts. Although my chiffon cakes rise well, the problem i am facing is that cracks appear at the top, around the cake. Is it due to oven temperature is too high? Is there any mitigating techniques to prevent the cracks?

many thanks in advance for your advice!

happy baker

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily

It's me, TSL again.. Thanks for your advice. I also suspect it is due to my oven too small lor. sigh.. will improvise it next time ya..

I love your website as i learned many other recipes like the banana muffins and Polo Bun dough.. I tried them and they are marvelous..

Cheers..

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the very thorough recipe and being so patient with all of us. I have tried to make this chiffon cake before discovering your blog and it didn't rise due to the fact that I greased the pan when i shouldn't. The egg white wasn't whisked to its stiff peak caused my cake to be very heavy and thick mud-like texture. Upon studying all other chiffon baker's mistakes and with your suggestions on this blog, my second attempt came out wonderful!! The chiffon was light in weight, moist and fluffy and bounced right back up when i pressed down on it!

nina

Anonymous said...

Lily,
I was wondering if it will still be fluffy if i bake it in a round spring form pan with anything in the middle? I would to bake my daughter's birthday cake with this chiffon cake recipe but the only problem is the whole in the middle...any suggestions?

Thanks,
Nina

Unknown said...

nina

yes, you can bake chiffon in the plain round cake pan.

follow the recipes in my blog for birthday cakes

Unknown said...

can i replace cream of tartar with double acting baking powdeR?

Unknown said...

carmen

you can't replace cream of tartar with baking soda but it will work with vinegar

sandrine said...

Auntie Lily,
I love pandan chiffon cake growing up. I still remembered, my mom was trying to perfect her pandan cake, she made it everyday for 1 month straight. So much so my mom said she was dreaming about the recipe.

Anyways, can you please tell me if I can use a bundt cake mold for chiffon cake?
We live in a small apartment, not much storage.

Thanks Auntie Lily

Sandrine

Unknown said...

sandrine

sure you can use the bundt cake mold and remember not to grease the mold.

we here in high altitude have our share of dissapointments with baking and the chiffon is so sensitive. i too fail to make a good one now and then.

notes:

have oven ready preheated

mix the egg yolk mixture then whisk the eggwhites - use 60 gm sugar for egg yolk mixture and 100 gm sugar for egg whites(this recipe is for pro bakers)

Anonymous said...

Hello Lily
Your cake looks perfect =)
I tried this once, and it tasted delicious. However, the middle of the cake was more damp and not as moist at the outer sides of the cake, maybe this is due to the cake tin I used? ( I used a normal cake tin because I haven't got a chiffon cake tin). Thankyou.

michael said...

Hi. lili
i follow everything from ur recipe... everything look nice..the only thing too moist on my cake ..so lily ..can u advise please ..thanks

Unknown said...

michael

add more flour and bake 5 minutes more

Anonymous said...

Hello lily,
thanks for putting up this recipe. I have tried it 3 times and it finally works . The first 2 times failed because I used a silicone pan and it didn't heat it evenly, so the bottom was always too wet and the top dry.

Someone in another blog mentioned to put aluminium foil halfway the baking process so that the top would not get burnt, do you suggest that? I tried that, and i realized then my cake drooped alittle more.

michael said...

Hi Lili
so to make it dry inside how much flour i must add ? i am using yours recipe 150 g flour. also can i add 1/2 tsp ovalet when i mix coconut milk ?
your advise more appreciated.

Unknown said...

michael

you can add 20 g more flour and just plain flour instead of cake flour.

ovalette - that i don't know

michael said...

Hi Lili,
me again.. i forgot to ask you , how come after 2 days my pandan chiffon so sticky on the top ?.
Today i just made another one i add another flour as your instruction.. but the result still moist. Well.. i'm trying to figure out whats wrong ! should i reduce the egg yolk instead of 8, i put 6 ? everything according to your recipe, Should i reduce the coconut milk ? i bake about 80 minutes at 160 C, i use GE spectra stove n oven, i put it very bottom in the oven. i made about 6 loyang pandan already for the trial..everything looking good.. the only thing how to make it not to moist n not too sticky ?

Unknown said...

michael

this recipe like i have said is from a professional chef and you would have to bake a few other chiffon's to get the eggwhites beaten to the right consistency - the most important part.

2nd most important is when you fold in the eggwhites - if deflated will give you a heavy non-risen cake.

when the cake is inverted when it comes out of the oven, it should be raised at least a few inches away from the tabletop, so that the heat from the cake will not bounce back and make the top of the cake moist.

Try making another chiffon to check if your oven is at fault http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2005/12/lemon-orange-chiffon.html

Anonymous said...

where can you find the pandan paste?

thank you
mandy.hua@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

mandy

i can get pandan paste in most of the asian stores here in denver.

clloud said...

hi lily,

I tried baking this cake, after i remove the cake from the pan the bottom of the cake looks sticky. The top of the cake looks alright and taste ok.

Thanks, clloud

Unknown said...

clloud

the bottom is sticky? Did you invert the cake when it came out of the oven? if not, it must have got deflated and push the bottom of cake to become sticky.

Your oven temp might not be right.

The egg whites was not stiff enough.

Anonymous said...

hi lily,

everytime i pour the final batter into the baking tube, there are watery residuals at the base of the batter bowl. i am confident that i am doing something wrong. if this helps, i use a rubber spactula and i immediately fold-in the egg whites into the yolk mixture after soft peaks are formed.

thank you in advanced,

Cindy from Australia

Unknown said...

cindy

your eggwhites should be soft peak but it must be thick and glossy.

try using more sugar for the eggwhites, say 100 gm and 60 gm for the yolk mixture. This might help the eggwhites to become thick.

Anonymous said...

hi lily.
just want to ask u is cream of tartar the same as ovalett spongecake stabilizer??

thx

Unknown said...

anonymous

cream of tartar and ovalette are not the same.

cream of tartar is often used to stabilize egg whites

and

ovalette is used as a spongecake stabilizer

clloud said...

Hi Lily,

I've got a nice looking pandan chiffon cake on my 2nd attempt.

Thanks for your advice - the egg white was indeed not stiff enough on my 1st attempt.

Thanks! clloud

Hungry Gal said...

This is my favourite cake. Without exaggeration. I plead with my auntie to make it but now, I can too... will be trying this out on the weekend now that I have gotten my hands on pandan paste

Unknown said...

Hi, baked the pandan chiffon cake today and followed yr instructions closely. The cake rised nicely during baking process. Top browned nicely except for a big crack. To my disappointment, it deflated after cooling down. And also realised that some parts in the bottom are moist dark green.

Have beaten the egg whites to a stiff peak (Didn't pour out when I overturned the bowl).

Pls advise. Thanks!

Unknown said...

linda

is this the first chiffon cake that you baked or you have made others. This recipe is from a pro chef, so we would have to be able to recognize if the eggwhites are beaten right and the folding in is also important. Beating egg whites to stiff peak could have been overbeaten, if you have read all the comments and USE MORE SUGAR for the egg whites, then the eggwhites would not dry out so fast.

Unknown said...

hungry gal

in case you did not read the comments, would like to suggest that you use more sugar, say 100 gm for whisking the eggwhites and the rest can go into the eggyolk mixture. Use the coconut cream that is on top of the can when you open it - do not have to cook it unless you are using coconut milk that is freshly squeezed.

Clarinchen said...

Hi Lily,
i 've been trying to bake this cake several times. I tried your recipe yesterday. The cakes rise but it always crack. Yours don't seem to crack. They also shrink a bit during cooling. Any idea? Thanks

Unknown said...

monica

Cracking in a chiffon is inevitable, it does not alter the texture and taste of the chiffon.

if cake shrinks - these are the factors

Extreme overmixing
Too much liquid
Overbaking - too long or at too high a temperature
Improper mixing procedure

Anonymous said...

Lily,

I just love ur Wai Sek Hong corner. It was my first attempt for this cake and i have.... Success! ('-'). Thanks a lot!

Cheers.

Loretta said...

Hi Aunty Lily, I just baked this chiffon cake yesterday. Alas, it was unsuccessful - the top was ok, except for the bottom (its like bingka ubi)...after reading all the comments - I would like to try it again!

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,

If I were to use FRESH coconut milk, what is the measurement please, is it 300 ml? My concern is the concentration; how concentrated does it have to be?
I look forward to your reply.
Thanks.
Mary

Unknown said...

mary

the amount is the same but with fresh coconut milk which is more runny also thick needs to be cooked until it thickens further. I used canned milk and use only the cream that is on top of can - leave can in fridge before opening.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily

I held my reply till I see the result of my baking test with your recipe for our weekly family dinner gathering…and you'd be glad to know that there’s only one last slice left only because I wish to keep it to see how it’d taste like tomorrow; everyone raved about it [even my mom who’s a tough critic--she considers its moistness and the sort of “elasticity” superb]. I’m sure you’d be gratified to hear of your marvellous role at making our dinner gathering a success tonight.

The only thing I didn’t get quite right--which I had already expected since I’ve read your comment about it--was the pandan taste. It’s true of what you said about the rather flavourlessness if one uses the real juice. How can I get a more flavourful, VIVID coloured [mine was virtually colourless] cake with the real pandan leaf? Can I make my own pandan paste with the fact that I’m a stickler for non-artificial “stuff” [no colourings, no preservatives, no additives]? Or any other way to get the pandan taste & colour right? I’d appreciate your tips on this.

Again, thanks for your tip about the santan liquid & the smashing recipe!

Sincerely
Mary

Unknown said...

mary

i don't know of any natural green besides pandan leaf juice but the color green is more yellowish. perhaps if you could get hold of 'bunga telang' which will give you a true blue. so adding blue to green might give you a good color to your cake.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily

First time hearing about this flower…sounds fantastically exotic. But thanks indeed for letting me know & the prompt reply!

Gratefully
Mary

Anonymous said...

I made Pandan Cakes many times before, but yesterday I tried this recipe. I am from Germany and couldn't get the special Cake flour. I used the All-Purpose-Flour minus 2 Tbsps, add 2 tbsp cornstarch. It was perfect! It was the best Pandan Chiffon Cake i've ever made! My aunt said my cake was better than the Cakes sold in the Asian districts in Paris! I am so happy... Thanks Lily!

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

Your recipe indicates use coconut milk cooked with sugar till melt, but not until boiling point. Then left it to cool, why is that my cake after cooking causes a very thick coconut after taste?

After overturn the cake and left till cool, it just sink down.

Regards,

Winnie

Unknown said...

winnie

getting the sugar to dissolve is important to get a fine crumb cake. coconut milk does not have to be boiling if it is thick enough but if it is watery, you would have to cook it down.

Chiffon cake sinking is due to many factors - greased pan, eggwhite over beatened are some common errors.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

I boiled the coconut milk and sugar less than 5 minutes only and for the eggwhites, how long should i beat it?

Should i beat it till the whites stay when overturned?

I used fresh coconut milk for the cake but it turned out to be a very coconut smell after baking.

Regards,

Winnie

Unknown said...

winnie

i have not cooked with fresh coconut milk for such a long time that i can't imagine how fragrant it can be. if you do not like it, muffer it with more pandan paste.

yes, the eggwhite has to be beaten until very thick and shinny and you can say that it will not fall when overturned. Use more sugar for the eggwhite beating and use less for the egg yolk mixture.
Beat the eggwhites after you have mixed all the other ingredients and oven is preheated. Beatened eggwhites should be used immediately.

Julie said...

Hi Aunt Lily,

I have this nonstick angel food cake pan (2 piece). Do you think I can use aluminum foil to cover the cake tins similar to what you do from birthday cake recipe? Or non stick is still okay as long as we don't grease it?

Unknown said...

julie

if it is an angel cake pan which is detachable, then you do not line it with foil. It is the ordinary cake pan that i lined cos it might be difficult to remove a large cake.

yes, do not grease pan for chiffon cakes

yellow dusk said...

Dear Lily,

Thank you for the sharing the recipe.

I have been craving for Pandan Chiffon cake like my auntie used to bake we call it "hai mien gao" in hokkien, I think translate to cotton soft cake.

So far the best chiffon cake recipe I have come accross. Soft.. moist... However my cake did rise a bit too much in the oven so it is kind of over the top of the pan and craked, but it deflates too just right in the cooling. Is this normal? Any idea why? I used the Angel Cake Pan.

Again Thank you..

yellow dusk
Melbourne

Unknown said...

yellow dusk

if the cake went over the top, then this recipe could be too much for your angel cake pan, you would have to scale down.

cracking sometimes/often occur as the oven is too hot and deflating is due to many factors, not totally cooked, egg whites was too dry, oven too hot etc.

Try this recipe as it is more friendly http://lilyng2000.blogspot.com/2009/05/clementine-poppy-seed-chiffon-cake.html

Lovinchiffon said...

Hi, i would like to ask you how to get pandan juice from pandan extract. Thanks in advance

Unknown said...

lovinfhiffon

When pandan leaves are pulverized/pounded with water, it is then squeezed to extract the juice

Lovinchiffon said...

Actually i meant pandan extract as in the bottle form. It is colorless. Is it possible to mix it with some water to substitute for pandan juice?

Unknown said...

lovinchiffon

the colorless pandan in the bottle form is an essence and it should not be used to replace pandan extract from fresh leaves or pandan paste. a tiny drop of this essence goes along way, it is too overpowering and i hardly use them.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,

Thank you so much for your patience in answering all these questions. I made the pandan chiffon 4 times and 3 out of the 4 times, the cake rose beautifully in the oven but dropped out of the cake pan when I inverted the cake. The impact of the fall deflated the cake somewhat. The texture is however still quite fine and soft, and the taste is good. Any tips to prevent the cake from falling out of the pan when inverting. I am quite certain my egg whites are correctly beaten and folded cos had attended a class on it before. my other chiffons are ok, it is only the pandan version (which I love) that trips me up. thank you so much for your time.

Unknown said...

anonymous

i think i did have a chiffon falling off when i inverted it and that was when i used a new oven to bake it. The sides were not brown or firmed enough. The oven temp. must not be right and the size of the oven was too small for this tube pan.

Another crucial factor to this recipe is, never grease the tube pan.

Rosalind said...

Hi Lily,

Can electric oven do the job?

Rgds,
Rosalind

Anonymous said...

I am wondering whether silicon chiffon cake mould will work. Pls advice.

Thanks
mei

Unknown said...

mei

for chiffon cakes i prefer the loose bottom tube pans. I have some silicone tube pans but i use them for cakes or bread

Anonymous said...

hi lily,
i been trying to bake orange / pandan chiffon cake several time but it always doesn't turn up perfect as the top of the cake (top of the tin) is always dense as compare to the rest. the bottom is nicely stretched but not the top part.Thanks to advise.
Many thanks....judy

Unknown said...

judy

i think that your oven temp is not correct and it is too hot and the top of the cake got set and cooked preventing the cake to rise. You should calibrate your oven or consider buying an oven thermometer.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

May i ask what is the size of the eggs that you used? Thanks.

SC

Unknown said...

sc

the large eggs here are 54 - 55 gms with shell

Anonymous said...

Thanks lily,
Is that gadget expensive?Just want to confirm if you use both top and bottom heat for baking cake or just bottom heat? i switched from top and bottom heat to just bottom heat this time round but still get the dense top...it's time i get an oven thermometer or invest on a better oven...any recoomendation....does all expensive oven fit on with oven thermometer?
Sorry to trobule you and many thanks for your time!
Judy

Unknown said...

judy

I am sorry you did not mention where you are residing and if you are in other parts of the world besides the united states, it is difficult for me to know what ovens are available. I hope readers of this thread can help.

I do own an oven that i can turn on top or bottom heat. I have a GE and i use the convection most of the time.

Anonymous said...

hi lily,
Oops sorry, I'm from Singapore.Your blogspot is indeed very informative! I'm looking forward to try more of your recipe when I get my oven temp right...your pandan chiffon receipe is really wonderful...i pass your recipe to my friend but her cake doesn't seems to stand firm? Any idea why...Thanks to advise.
Judy

Unknown said...

judy

this cake is very moist and has to cut into thicker pieces. if you wish the cake to be firmer, use more flour - add 30 gm more

*Jac* said...

Hi Lily,

Would like to ask whether i should use an electric mixer when mixing the egg yolk mixture with the flour or should i just fold it with a spatula instead? This is because when I fold it with a spatula, the mixture became lumpy.

Pls do advise. =) Thanks!

Jac.

Unknown said...

jac

ALWAYS use the largest spatula available to fold in the egg whites as gently as possible. Follow the instruction on folding in the egg whites, that plays the most important step to a successful cake.

Anonymous said...

Dear Lily,
thank you so much for keeping your blog. i live in rome and all these recipes take me "home" (i'm half singaporean). i'm learning to cook and i can think of no better way than through your recipes. thank you again, so very much.

Ling said...

Hi Lily,
Thanks for the recipe. May you please help me clarify one thing? Sorry, if this sounds repetitive, but did you leave out both the pandan essence and pandan juice and just use 1 teaspoon of pandan paste? Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

ling

yes, i did not use the pandan juice and the pandan essence.

i just use the pandan paste, you could use less of the paste cos certain brand could be too green.

Lydia said...

Hi Lily,
Thanks for the recipe. I have tried many times doing the pandan chiifon cake. But every time, they tasted different. Not even one time they taste the same. I used the same method, only changing the brand of the eggs. I am totally lost. Does the type/brand of eggs matter? (sometimes I used high omega eggs/ organic eggs, some times just normal eggs). Please help.
Thanks.

Unknown said...

lydia

i assume that you use the same brand of coconut milk and pandan paste or pandan juice as these 3 ingredients determine the flavor of this cake. Fat contents and color differ in egg yolks, i really do not know that it will change the flavor of this cake unless other readers had experienced the same.

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

Just baked the pandan cake. It is very yummy. I've to use non-stick pyrex mould as can't find chiffon tin in Aust. I used bread knife to the cut/loosen side and base, it came out OK. But I've problem loosen the inside tube. It cake stuck to it. Any idea how I can loosen the inside tube?? Many Thanks...I will bake again. BTW, I used sponge cake flour. Do I still need baking power if I use sponge cake flour. I did add 1/4 tsp baking power, and it came out ok.

lilyng said...

anonymous

i know how it is to get cakes stuck at the bottom. you could line the bottom of pyrex with greaseproof paper or line the whole pan with aluminium foil but make sure the foil has to cover the outside and tugged in at the bottom of pan otherwise it might fall off when you invert the pan.

Yuli said...

Hi Lily!!

I've baked your sponge cake numerous times, however I do have problem when I have to get the cake out from the pan. The pan itself is ok to get out but the middle one, I find it hard to get the cake out from the bottom. I have to use knife to cut all around to be able to get the cake out. End product - my cake is all mangled. Was wondering if it's ok the use baking paper to line the bottom??

Thank you so much, I hope you understand what I meant..

xox Yools

Unknown said...

yools

for easy removal invest in a removable base chiffon cake pan. If it is not removable, you can cut parchment/greaseproof paper to fit the base.

Yuli said...

Hi Lily!!

Thank you so much. I have the removable base pan, but find it whenever I want to get the cake out from the base is a pain.. I cut it all over and ended up having a disfigured top...
But will try using baking paper at the bottom :)
Thank you so much!!

xoxo Yools

Anonymous said...

emily :

hi, can i use pandan paste instead of pandan essence? how much paste should i add? would it be the same?

thks.

Unknown said...

emily

like i said in my text, i used pandan paste instead of pandan juice and essence - i use 1/2 - 1 tsp pandan paste

Max said...

Hi Lily,
The recipe says to preheat to 160c convection, is convection oven an oven with a fan? If I have a traditional oven with no fan, should I increase the temperature? Thanks!

Unknown said...

max

you use 160 c if you are at sea level and not a convection.

i used the convection and i have to decrease 25 degrees but cos i am in high altitude, i have to bake with a higher temp - plus 25 degree, so it comes back to 350 f.

Anonymous said...

I used to live in singapore and pretty much lived on Pandan cake... now im back in the UK i want to make it but i dopnt know where to buy Panda essence and pandan paste... any ideas????

Unknown said...

anonymous

i am sorry i can't help you but i hope UK readers can help.

Julie said...

Hi Lily,
I tried baking the pandan cake using your recipe last night, and I hope you can help me with some questions please :)
I baked the cake in the lower third of my preheated oven at 175 degrees celcius (convection mode) and even checked it with an oven thermometer to confirm temperature during preheating time.
The problem was that when I checked for doneness after 45 minutes and then every 5-10 minutes after that,the skewer just did not come out clean (moist crumbs clinging to it). So I just took it out of the oven after 1 hour and 20 minutes of baking because the top exposed part of the cake had formed a hard and dark brown crust. When I cut the cake after cooling time (2 hours), I saw bits of very moist batter/dough here and there. Despite this, the cake rose very nicely and only deflated very little after cooling time and the cooked parts of the cake tasted good.
Just wondering, is it abnormal for this chiffon cake to have baked for so long in the oven but to still have underbaked bits in it? Do you know any possible solutions to my problem? Thanks.
I've taked photos of the cake which I will post links to in my next comment once I've uploaded them onto photobucket.
Thanks for your time! :)

Julie said...

Hi Lily,
1.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk9/stabiloswingcool/Photo0913.jpg

2.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk9/stabiloswingcool/Photo0915.jpg

3.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk9/stabiloswingcool/moistpart.jpg

In the third picture, the darker green part of the cake slice is one of the wet/very moist bits that I mentioned about in my previous comment. Does that indicate that it was underbaked? Thanks.

Unknown said...

julie

you did a good job, the cake looked like you have a success here except for that patch of darker green which i think could be that you have not mixed in the eggwhites to the green batter thoroughly. The cake looked cooked, so the baking time is right. Cracks are inevitable sometimes, perhaps bake at a slightly lower temperature the next time and bake it longer.

Julie said...

Thank you for the tips Lily. I will keep trying till I get it right.

Moon said...

I love this recipe, thanks for sharing! I'm interested in more of Chef Bernard Decaix's recipes, do you know if he has a published book? I've been searching for info on him on google, but haven't really found much. Thanks.

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