Saturday 15 October 2011

fruity

I have been wanting to replace my old chiffon cake pan for ages, but each time I visit the baking supply store which I got the pan from, I always came back empty handed. You see, I only like those chiffon pans that come without 'legs'. Besides offering aesthetic appeal (trust me, I don't care too much about fashion, but I am a bit uptight when it comes to baking pans!), they come in the exact size that I want...that is, 7" pan instead of the usual bigger 8" or 9" ones for those with legs.

As usual, when I popped by the baking supply store two weeks ago, I walked over the baking pans section to look-see look-see. I was so happy when I spotted the 7" chiffon pans on the rack, and best of all, there are no legs on them! Oh, how I love the nice matte finishing on the surface!

The first thing I got home was to compare the new pan with the old one. Even though the label says 17cm pan size on the new pan, it is slightly bigger than my old one. The new pan is 18cm actually, and it is also at least 1 cm taller than the old one. I also noticed how 'straight' the sides are, which make the pan appear deeper.

With the knowledge that the new pan is slightly bigger, I was a bit hesitant to try out the recipes from my trusted chiffon cake book. My old pan works fine with recipes that call for either 3 whole eggs or those that use 3 yolks and 4 whites. I was skeptical that there will be enough batter to fill up the pan, and so, typical me, I procrastinated...


But well, I didn't wait too long...I just couldn't get rid of the increasing itch to test out the pan ;)

To minimise wastage and disappointment, I decided on a recipe that uses the least expensive ingredients...a tea chiffon cake. I have been wanting to try make a chiffon cake with Lipton's forest fruit tea...my current favourite tea. You will be amazed by the wonderful aroma from a cup of pipping hot fruity tea...something you won't expect from this sort of 'everyday' kind of tea bags. I could smell the tea a couple of metres away...you need not put your nose over the cup to smell it. I am sure those who have tried this tea will know what I am talking about.


Once again, the recipe from my chiffon cake 'bible' didn't disappoint me. I was able to fill up the new pan to almost 90% full. The cake bloomed really well when it was in the oven, but I noticed it sank a little when the baking time was almost up. The finished cake shrank further, but it was still hovering around the rim. **clap clap** **happy happy**

The texture was light, fluffy and moist! This time, with the good lighting condition, I managed to get quite a clear picture of the crumb, I hope you can tell how soft and tender  it is from the picture. By the way, I am still using my very old, museums-will-like, point and shoot camera...my faithful and very much abused Canon Powershot G3 (there is G12 in the market now). It comes with a humble 4 mega pixels and the battery cannot be recharged anymore, so I got to use the ac adapter whenever I take photos of my food. I am not able to take decent photos when there is no natural light, and since I made this cake in the evening, I wasn't able to take a picture of the whole cake :( I do hope my camera can still be alive and kicking for another few years to come. Wish me luck!



Fruit Tea Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(for 7" tube pan)

3 egg yolks (use large eggs*)
20g caster sugar
40ml vegetable oil
60ml infused tea (infused one tea bag with about 90ml hot water, leave to cool, use only 60ml)
1 1/2 tablespoon tea leaves (from about 3 satchels)

80g cake flour

4 egg whites (use large eggs*)
50g caster sugar

(*I used eggs with a nett weight of 55g, about 20g yolk, 35g white)

Method:
  1. Infuse tea bag (use any flavour of your choice) with hot water, leave to cool completely, use only 60ml.
  2. Sieve flour and set aside. 
  3. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the yolks a little. Add in sugar and whisk to combine.
  4. Add in vegetable oil gradually, whisk to combine. 
  5. Add in infused tea gradually, whisk to combine. Add in tea leaves, whisk to combine. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Set aside.
  6. 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.)
  7. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
  8. Pour batter into a 7" tube pan (do not grease the pan). Smooth the top with a spatula if necessary. Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter. (Note: the finished batter should be thick and airy, and should be able to fill up the pan to about 90% full or not less than 2cm below the rim)
  9. Bake in pre-heated oven at 180 degC for 30 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife or a off-set spatula around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife/off-set spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.
Recipe source: adapted from 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手, 福田淳子

37 comments:

鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝 said...

7风啊.............
我什么时候才可以再开始做呢?
因为好9没做
很多步骤都忘了:(

sotong said...

so soft & spongy indeed! I love chiffon cakes too! may i know which 'bible' u referred to? hehe

Happy Homebaker said...

鲸鱼蓝蓝蓝, 在还没全都忘光前,快快动手吧!

sotong, I am referring to this book: 好吃戚风蛋糕轻松上手 by 福田淳子 :)

Small Small Baker said...

Me also having the same problem. Couldn't find any 7 inch chiffon pan. Where did u buy it?

Joceline said...

很美的chiffon cake。蛋糕组织也很棒。一定好好吃。

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi SSB, I got it from Phoon Huat.

happybowl said...

hi HHB, is it the phoon huat in Ang Mo kio..? am too searching for pans without ears..:-)

Unknown said...

I got the pan that you bought, I also notice the size is actually bigger :(

Unknown said...

I love chiffon cake! Why don't you make my contest? You have to make a cake for my birtday, until 15 november. If you want I can tell you all the rules of the contest in english!

http://dolciechiacchiere.blogspot.com/2011/10/il-mio-primo-contest.html

Small Small Baker said...

Sometime ago I asked the staff from PH whether they have 7 inch pan, they say they no longer sell it. Glad that they got stock again. Hope clementi branch have. Thanks! :)

Happy Flour said...

Lovely soft chiffon! It sure have a very nice fruity tea favor.

Fahad Khan said...

One of my mother's cookbooks has a Chiffon Cake recipe.Yours looks so light and airy!:-)
Thank you for sharing..:-)

Happy Homebaker said...

happybowl, I got mine from the Toa Payoh outlet.

neyleeloh, yes, it is slightly bigger and deeper. I think have to use 3 yolks and 4 whites recipe, otherwise may not be able to fill up the pan.

Serena, thanks for your invite, but will not be participate as I will be busy coaching my kid for the year end exam. Here's wishing you a happy birthday!

SSB, hope you are able to get it!

Happy Flour, I like the fruity fragrant :)

Thanks Fahad Khan

Edith said...

It is my favourite tea too!

mui mui said...

Hi your fruit tea chiffon looks so soft, spongey and moist. I would like to try it myself. NIce nice...^^

Unknown said...

:)

MZ said...

I think you should be able to get a new battery for your camera. Don't go to Canon, the price will be like almost a new camera. There is a shop at Sim Lim Square (Unicell / 3rd floor) which has batteries for old cameras. I got one recently for my 6 year old Fuji for 15S$ and it works well.

The Experimental Cook said...

Hmm, as I suspected, you are a very careful perfectionist.

At least you take your own pics. I am a total washout with a camera. 99% of my blog's pics were taken by my hubby or daughter on their fancy DSLR , lenses with numbers behind ... I do the 'artistic' concept only ;-D

Anonymous said...

Haha, so I'm not alone. A few years back when I started baking, I couldn't find 7" pan at all. And like you, I went to a Phoon Huat store to look-see-look-see before fetching my son. When I saw the 7" pan placing on a upper shelf, my eyes were wide opened. It's not the usual chiffon pan. It's prettier, no ugly legs and has pretty matte finished. I took it down and confirmed it's 7" and left only one piece. I couldn't decide to buy or not as I have enough chiffon pan. Finally, I bought it as I think it's a "master piece". It's nice to have it. - Siew Hwee

Happy Homebaker said...

MZ, thanks for the info! Will certainly get a replacement battery when I get tired of using the a/c adapter :):)

The Experimental Cook, you have great photographers at home, for me, everything is DIY, fat hope to get any help from anyone at home ;)

Siew Hwee, you made the right decision to get it! I bought two, kept one and gave away the other :)

thebuddinggourmet said...

nice recipe. thanks for sharing. :)

Blessed Homemaker said...

I thought I posted a comment a few days ago but I don't see it here. Now I can't rem what I wrote. Anyway, just dropping by to show my support :)

I've got some fruity tea bags from my nephew when he returned to Singapore for vacation last month. Let's see if I can find some time to bake a chiffon cake. The last chiffon I baked was back in April.

BTW, I don't have any chiffon pan, I just use my regular cake pan and love the fact that I can slice it and use it for layered cakes.

Abt your battery, you can always try a 3rd party batt. I just bought one for my dslr. Yes, I just bought my dslr!! But nothing on food yet :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Blessed Homemaker, I didn't receive your earlier comment, good that you drop by again, and thanks for your support :):)

I noticed you don't use a chiffon pan, it is great to use a chiffon for layered cakes, so far I didn't as I am no good at folding whites to yolks.

Yes, will certainly get a new battery. Looking forward to your photos with dslr. I am no good at taking pictures, will probably only know how to use the auto mode of a dslr ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB, I will be i Singapore for a meeting next month and thought I should take the opportunity to visit some baking supply shops. I plan to buy valhrona cocoa powder and a rectangular shape tart pan. Can you advise if i should go to kitchen capers or the much talked about phoon huat or any other shops with interesting bakeware items? Since I have only three hours to shop, would appreciate if you can recommend a place near hoe chiang road where my meeting will be held. Many thanks, Amy KL.

Swati Sapna said...

loks absolutely fresh and wonderful!!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Amy, your meeting place is at CBD area, the nearest (which I know of) are Phoon Huat at (171 Bencoolen Street, near Sim Lim Square) and Sun Lik at (33 Seah Street, opposite/side street of Raffles Hotel). You can google for their website for the details. You can get valhrona cocoa powder at Sun Lik (don't think it is available at Phoon Huat), as for the rectangular tart pan, I think it is available at Phoon Huat. These two shops are not too far away.

Janine said...

ooh 7" pan! I've been looking for one too. Anyway, I think your chiffon cakes look amazing as usual! As for your cam battery - u definitely can get a 3rd party battery (or the original one) for less than $50 :) I always buy spares!

Anonymous said...

Thanks hhb, will visit both shops. Amy

SHIN said...

Hi dear HHB allow me to address you in the way, this is the first time I write in, may I know can I use TOP flour to bake SCONE ? thank you so much.

Happy Homebaker said...

Janine, thanks for the info, I hope I can still get the battery as my camera is quite old, I bought it almost 8 years ago.

SHIN, sorry, I have not tried using Top flour for scones. Top flour is suppose to be very fine, not sure whether the texture will be affected? To avoid disappointment, best is to follow the recommended flour as stated in the recipe that you are going to follow.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB

I also love the matt finished chiffon tin. Since it is so nice, do you scrub it when you give it a wash after baking?

I can't bear to do it.

keke...

Chiffon Lover

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Chiffon Lover, I use this 3M non scratch srub pad/sponge (light blue)...can even use it on non-stick pans. It doesn't leave any scratch marks...but I did leave some marks while trying to umold :'(

Anonymous said...

I know the feeling of getting excited over a new baking pan all too well! Your chiffon cake looks just about perfect as always, HHB!

Hearty Bakes said...

I love chiffon, love your idea of using fruit tea, indeed fruitilicious. Will try this out too. Wishing your boys pass with flying colours for their exam;)

Anonymous said...

wonderful blog!

Viv said...

May I know how much you paid for the chiffon pan?

Happy Homebaker said...

Viv, I can't remember the exact price, think is around $10~12.