Thursday 14 February 2013

Orange Chiffon Cake in cups

Happy Lunar New Year to everyone!

Pardon my tardiness in updating my blog and thousand apologies especially to those who still hop over to this tiny blogosphere once in a while.

I do bake regularly but I am always going back to my favourite recipes such as pandan chiffon, the usual bread loaves and buns, simple muffins and cookies. Nothing inspiring or worth mentioning...



except for this latest Orange Chiffon cake which I baked in paper cups instead of the usual tube pan. I have meant to give the cake away, and what better way to present the cake using these lovely muffin cups :)


I piped whipping cream into each cup cakes. just so to start using the carton of non-dairy whipping cream I bought a month ago. The end result looks quite similar to the popular Hokkaido chiffon cake though.




The chiffon cake texture was soft and light although they were baked in paper cups. While baking in the oven, they rose beautifully over the rim, almost on the verge of overflowing. Most of them cracked...but I have no issues with cracked chiffon cakes, in fact I love the cracks ;)

Once out of the oven, they started to shrink, I didn't invert the cakes (or should I??) and left them to cool right side up. Very soon, the cakes deflated to just the right height...not falling short of the base of the four flaps on each square cup. It was my first attempt at piping cream into a cup cake. I have no idea how to go about it but to rely on my gut feel. I simply forced the piping tip into the centre of the cake and squeeze in as much cream I could, I stopped piping when the cream started flowing out from the side of the piping tip. I used the remaining cream to pipe rosettes on the tops, so as to cover the holes. I kept my fingers crossed that I was doing the right thing...that I got enough whipping cream into the cake. Fortunately, these little cuppies were meant for family, I have no qualms about giving away half-filled cakes to family members, actually I didn't even taste one before I gave them away, something I wouldn't do if they were meant for friends ;) 



It turn out that I got the piping right as the cuppies were filled with quite a substantial amount of cream, although I think the cakes could take in more. The taste, at least the whipping cream, was rather close to those store bought Hokkaido cake which I have tried. I received positive comments such as...'they taste better than store bought ones'. Credit must go to the orange chiffon cake recipe which I have taken from my favourite chiffon cake book, 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手. The cake was delicious and full of flavors as they were made with orange juice, orange zest and Cointreau (an orange-flavoured liqueur)...another baking ingredients which I have just used even though I bought it more than a year ago. 

With this little experience I have gained, I expect myself to bake some real Hokkiado chiffon cupcakes soon...


Orange Chiffon Cake in cups

Ingredients:
(makes about 15 cupcakes)

5 egg yolks
40g caster sugar
55ml vegetable oil
95ml orange juice (from about two oranges)
2 teaspoons Cointreau
zest from 1 orange
130g cake flour

7 egg whites
70g caster sugar

for frosting:
about 240ml (1 cup) non-dairy whipping cream for piping
1 teaspoon Cointreau
some icing sugar for dusting

Method:
  1. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the yolks a little. Add in sugar and whisk to combine. Add in vegetable oil gradually, whisk to combine. Add orange juice, cointreau and orange zest, whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
  2. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
  3. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
  4. Pour batter into paper cups till it reaches just before the base of the flaps. Place paper cups onto baking tray and bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 12~15 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool completely.
  5. With an electric mixer, beat non dairy whipping cream and cointreau until stiff. Fit piping bag with a piping tip, fill the bag with the whipped cream and pipe the cream into the centre of the cake. Dust with icing sugar and leave to chill in the fridge before serving. 
Recipe source: adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手, 福田淳子

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow I didn't think a cake could take in so much cream. The chiffon looks beautiful dusted with icing sugar.

By the way, where did you buy such pretty paper cups?

Anonymous said...

Where do you get your cointreau? Are there any particular brands good for this recipe? :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Joey, I got the paper cups from Phoon Huat.

Hi, I got the Cointreau when I went overseas. It is actually a brand of a type of orange liquor, see here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cointreau). You can get it from Changi airport duty free shop which is cheaper than if you were to get if from local supermart. Hope this helps.

Angelic Heart~ said...

Hi HHB, Happy Lunar New Year!
I love the cake, fruity taste and looks pretty~

Jessie-CookingMoments said...

Hi, HHB, when I first learned chiffon, I baked them in the these paper cups as I didn't have a chiffon pan at that time and I also like the end result. My successful rate in baking chiffon is like 80% niak, haha! I like the flavour of this chiffon cake! Gong Xi Fatt Cai!

The Experimental Cook said...

This is lovely. It doesn't look any different from hokkaido cupcakes though. Wish I were there to try these,

CY said...

Good to see you back online HHB! Gong Xi Fa Cai!

QembarDelites said...

Hi HHB, I love what you have done to your chiffon cakes, I will try baking my next chiffon in paper cups too!

Dianne said...

HELLO! glad to see a new post after many disappointed visits. *^^* HAPPY NEW YEAR AND THOSE LOOK DELICIOUS.

Christine said...

Pretty, pretty chiffon cakes!

Kimmy said...

Hi HHB, without inverting the cupcakes after baking will it shrink alot? Tried baking chiffon in cup casings but wasn't satisfied with the results.

Maria Luisa said...

It looks delicius!:-)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kimmy, during baking, the cake rose over the rim of paper cups, but upon cooling, it sank to just below the base of the flaps, I think it is quite normal as my chiffon cake in pan also usually shrink until just below the rim of the tube pan. btw, I just read from a cookbook, if u are using this similar square cup, fold the flaps down a little before filling it with the batter, this way, when the cake cools off, the flaps will prevent the cake from sinking too much. will test it out to see whether it works.

sherlyn said...

It certainly look like Hokkiado chiffon cupcakes. MY chiffon tin has been sitting in the dark corner...still cannot summon the courage to try beating yolk and white separately .. haiz.... Looks very tasty .. can imagine the orange fragrance in the house when the cakes are baking.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB, is it possible to pipe in the cream without using a nozzle?

Thanks =)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am not sure...but I think it will be difficult to pipe as you need the piping tip to push it inside the cake. Without a tip, maybe you can try make a small hole in the cake and try piping in the cream.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB, will like to ask can i use self-raising flour instead of cake flour to make chiffon cake? =P

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, self raising flour contains baking powder, whereas cake flour does not. For this chiffon cake recipe, it is not necessary to use baking powder.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I wan to try baking tis weekend. Can I go w/o the orange liquor or is there any substitute? Coz it's meant for kids.

Happy Homebaker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

hi, other than using Cointreau, can we substitute with any other non-alcohol, such as juice?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Amy, yes, you can replace it with same amount of orange juice. Hope this helps :)

AN said...

Hi,

Did you youse top and bottom heat to bake this cake? Or just bottom heat?
Thank You

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I used top and bottom heat.