earl grey chiffon cake

Oh, hello monday!

Lately, I've been baking quite a lot, especially chiffon cakes! My first attempt was making the pandan flavor chiffon, as i have had a few huge stand of pandan growing in the garden! There's a lot of pandanto cook with. If you need some, come and take it! The first cake turned out pretty well outside, but slightly dense inside. Although its not perfect, not as good as my mom; but i am very happy for the first outcome. I think I just may have to make more of this!

I have a particular obsession for food flatlays!

Therefore~ i keep on practicing, almost 3 times a week! Hehe, I usually bake it at night and then leave it in the oven till the next morning for our breakfast. I would really love to practice more and to master it, i will never get tired of it! Practice makes perfect right? ^^

Mom taught me her chiffon recipe via phone that day, i listened carefully, and wrote the recipe down because i don't want to mess it up. I can't believe I'm finally sharing recipes on my own blog, and here you go, my mom's chiffon cake recipe. There's a ton of recipes and ideas online too, you may try google and compare which recipe works best for you.

The most beautiful 'sun-flower' in the world!

This is what the pastry chef called 'stiff-peak stage'.

Ingredients:  

Egg White batter:

• 5 egg yolks

• 50g granulated sugar

• 5 tbsp of vegetable oil

• 2 tbsp earl grey tea concentrate (you may also use 1 earl grey tea bag to create the tea concentrate)

*(steep/infuse one teabag or 2 tbsp tea leaves in half a cup of boiling water for 4 minutes)

• 1 tbsp earl grey tea leaves (you can either use tea bags, or blend the rough tea leaves using mixer)

• 100g low protein flour / cake flour

• 1 tsp of baking powder 

* (i only used 1/2 as i don't really like the soapy & bitter taste of baking powder)

• 1 tsp of vanilla essence / 1/2 vanilla bean (optional, you can skip this!)

Egg White batter:

• 5 egg whites

• 100g granulated sugar (you can reduce the sugar)

• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar

The batter is ready to go!

Method:  

1. First, preheat oven to 150C for 10 minutes.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and add 50g granulated sugar gradually, beaten until the mixture is pale yellow and slightly thickens. About 5 minutes. 
3. Add in, slowly drizzle in the vegetable oil and continue to beat till well incorporated. 
4. Then add in the 'cooled' tea concentrate and continue to mix well and then add in tea leaf grains into the mixture, stir well.
5. Last, sift in the flour and baking powder, then mix well till no visible lumps.
6. Next, this would be my favorite part! Beat egg white with an mixer on high speed. Add cream of tartar when it starts becoming foamy. Continue beating for 1 min. Add remaining sugar in at least 3 separate batches and continue beating until stiff peaks forms. whole process take about 3 mins, don't under-beat or over-beat it. Tricky? That's why i have been practicing~ haha >_<
7. Then fold the mixtures together immediately. But first, fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture thoroughly. Then only you pour the mixture to the remaining egg yolk batter and fold in 'gently' till incorporated.
8. Pour batter into chiffon pan. Bake for 40-50 mins.
9. Remove the cake from the oven and invert it on top of a bottle, and wait until it is cooled fully.
10. Run a sharp knife along the edges to remove the cake from pan. 

 Fresh from the oven, the cake made the kitchen and every corner of my house smell so good!

I have been trying and researching the best way to unmold the cake nicely, as the cake has a fragile structure, so have to handle with care.

&

The very fluffy soft & light earl grey chiffon cake is ready to serve!  

Don't forget to make a cup of tea, enjoy!

Huge thanks to my mom, love her so much! I still love to cook & bake her recipes that I grew up eating. But sometime, i like to be more adventurous in the kitchen by trying recipes that I source online. Happy Baking!