Pandan Chiffon Cake (with real Pandan extract)

   

Old-fashioned, soft and aromatic. 

Nigel Slater once wrote, "A single 'a' changes everything"-well, he was talking about getting a good custard with an easy addition of a single, or two ingredients though, but I could not agree more. Well, in my case, the 'a' means nothing more than swapping the usual pandan paste with the real pandan extract. Trust me, it brings a huge different to the whole awesomeness of this cake. I literally gobbled up four big chunks in a row. Ouch. I am sorry if you read this from any other parts of the world where pandan is gold. But if you are in SEA region, by all means, please use the real pandan extract. :)  

Pandan Chiffon Cake 

Recipe from The Little Teochew, original recipe from Indochine Kitchen

Make 1 cake, 22 cm in diameter, 8 cm tall. 

You need a 22-cm chiffon cake tin for this.

Ingredients A

7 egg yolks

75g coconut milk- I used freshly squeezed coconut milk. You can opt for fresh pasteurised coconut milk. Do not use packet coconut cream (Kara or Ayam Brand) because it's too rich. Your cake will spring out out of the pan while cooling.

Concentrated fresh pandan extract- I used 30 fresh pandan leaves + 1/2 cup water and blitzed in a food processor. Squeeze out the juice from the pulp and leave it in a glass overnight in the fridge. Use only the green stuff that settles at the bottom of the glass. Wendy of Table of 2.. or more shows us how it's done here. 4g or 1 tsp if you are using pandan essence.

150g flour

4g baking powder-1 scant tsp

95g sugar-can reduce to 75g

3g salt

83g vegetable oil-it's about 83ml

Ingredients B

- 7 egg whites

- 100 g sugar

Preheat oven to 160°C.

Combine egg yolks, coconut milk and pandan extract in a mixing bowl. 

Sift flour, baking powder and salt. 

Add flour mixture and sugar into the bowl. 

Add vegetable oil and whisk everything to combine.

In a separate and clean bowl, beat egg whites and sugar together till it forms soft peaks.

Slowly fold egg white into egg yolk mixture in 3-4 additions.

Pour cake mixture into an ungreased tube pan.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Flip the pan upside down against a bottle on kitchen counter.

Let cool for 25-30 minutes. 

Loosen side of cake with a knife. Eat!