Pandan Chiffon Cake

After missing half of last week's baking class, I couldn't wait to try baking the pandan chiffon cake. I remember tasting it in class and when told that there wasn't any coconut milk, I was amazed! The taste of pandan was so distinct and fragrant.

So, I went out early this morning to the market to get pandan leaves. As I had very limited time to bake, I told myself not to waste any time. But I had a shock when I mixed the dry ingredients with the egg yolks, oil and pandan juice. It came together as a paste! Omg, I had missed this part of the class and wasn't sure if this was to be expected. I tried to stir the paste hoping to "loosen" the paste. Instruction read: "mix till satin smooth" :(

I tried not to think about it but images of my first try at baking the banana cake came flooding to my mind. But this time, I am very sure the ingredients are regular and according to the recipe. Anyway, I think the egg whites reached stiff peaks. I made sure I took a photo for my shifus to comment. With a silent prayer, I went on to mix the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture. I could have deflated the egg white somewhat, and the batter became less pasty and more runny.

Finally, the batter was in the oven. I managed to fill 2 cupcake trays and one oval baking pan, which I collected last week. (This time I didn't take any pictures of my new toys.) As I had to rush out to pick my boy from tuition, I left the cakes to cool in the pan, on the table. I would probably not use these cupcake trays for chiffon cakes or sponge cakes anymore. There isn't enough fat and I'm not sure if I should grease the pans for chiffon cakes (I read that trays should NOT be greased when baking chiffon cakes).

Taste-wise, it's a far cry from the original :( Other than the absence of pandan taste (it was aromatic while baking, alright), the cake was dry. Perhaps I had over baked the oval tray. The first cupcake tray (roses) turned out alright, thought they were somewhat sticky (I baked it for 15 minutes). Perhaps 40 minutes is too long for the tiny oval tray. The final cupcake tray was so over baked, they were HARD (baking time 15 mins, cool in oven 10 mins).

Overall, I guess this is a really good learning experience. Perhaps to avoid getting the paste, I should perhaps mix the dry ingredients with eggs first, then add oil then pandan juice. Hopefully that would solve the mysterious of the "dry" cake as well. As Rei told me, must practise more.