Pandan Chiffon Cake Revisited

100_3818 copy2

This is a childhood and now, a family favorite. For the longest time, I couldn’t find an acceptable substitute for fresh pandan leaves and I lived without this dessert for almost a decade. Finally, through another blogger, I discovered pandan paste but then for a while, I couldn’t find pandan paste where I live. It was only within the past couple of years  that the paste became available in my local Asian store. Now, I can make this delicious dessert anytime I want. Yay!

When I first attempted making chiffon cake, the result was not pretty (it still tasted good, don’t get me wrong). After a few trials, I discovered that the secret to a beautiful, stately but yet, still moist cake is in the whipped egg whites. To get that gorgeous rise in a chiffon cake, you would  have to whip the egg whites until stiff which means that when you turn your beater upside down, the whipped egg whites do not droop or curl over. Now, there is a fine line between getting a stiff peak and overdoing it which will then result in a dry and clumpy mixture. At this latter point, the whipped egg whites will still be usable, so don’t throw them away. It will be harder to fold them into the egg yolk mixture (which means you will have to work harder and consequently lose some of the volume) and the resulting cake will end up drier BUT the cake will still taste delicious, trust me. S0, how do you get the egg whites whipped just right? Practice, practice, practice. :D Once you get the hang of it, making chiffon cakes will be a walk in the park. Also, before I forget, it is OKAY to stop your mixer anytime to check on the progress of the whipped egg whites (I know because I did that plenty myself :D). Well, did I bore all of you to tears yet? I’d better stop yakking. Happy Baking!

100_3730 copy2

1¾ cups all-purpose flour
1¼ cups sugar, divided
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 extra-large eggs, separated
½ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup first pressing/unsweetened coconut milk
1 teaspoon bottled pandan paste or 1½ teaspoons homemade pandan paste
½ teaspoon cream of tartar

  1. Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 350ºF.
  2. Whisk flour, ½ cup sugar, baking powder, and salt together in a large bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, oil, coconut milk, and pandan paste together.
  4. With an electric mixer, whip egg whites and cream of tartar on medium-low speed until foamy. Then increase mixer speed to medium-high and whip the whites until soft mounds form. Gradually add the remaining ¾ cup sugar and continue to whip until stiff peaks form.
  5. Whisk egg yolk mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Fold ⅓ of the whipped egg whites into the batter with a large rubber spatula until combined. Then carefully fold in the remaining egg whites.
  6. Pour batter into an ungreased tube pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Invert cake pan and let cake cool completely. To remove the cake, run a small, thin-blade knife around the edge (including around the tube) and bottom of the cake and gently tap to loosen it. Serve.

100_3772 copy2

For step-by-step pictures, you can refer to the Orange Chiffon Cake post. If you want to take a look at pictures of my (not very pretty) first pandan chiffon cake, click here. For more info on pandan, read about it in my Whole Grain Pandan Butter Cupcakes post.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

8 Replies to “Pandan Chiffon Cake Revisited”

  1. Yeah to you Chris! BTW, I can get “fresh” pandan leaves quite easily from our local Thai supermarket. These are shelved on the cold section. When I buy these fresh, I’d freeze them up immediately. They remain fresh for months. Thanks for sharing this recipe…. AND…. I can’t wait for the cups to arrive! ;-D

    1. Glad you can find fresh pandan leaves, Nasifriet. :D Occasionally, I’ll be able to find frozen pandan leaves but I find them significantly less fragrant than fresh ones – maybe they’ve been frozen for a long time. Wish I can have my own pandan plant here but I don’t think it will survive the Winters :D and unfortunately, I didn’t inherit my Dad’s green thumbs as well.

      1. Hi Chris, I heard from friends in overseas, they planted their precious pandan plant in their bathroom during cold season !! Bathroom will not be too cold !! Or maybe indoor !! Thanks for sharing this lovely Pandan Chiffon cake. BTW, please use less coloring !! I always used less oil, sugar, salt & color in my cooking. I tried making agar agar with no coloring, turned out no one likes it, so I added in drops only, all are light color only @@ Or used fruit’s juice to color it !!

        1. Hi Rebecca,

          Thank you for stopping by and I appreciate the tip about putting the pandan plant in the bathroom during winter. :D It might just work if we can find the space and figure out a light source for the plant (of course, we would have to find a pandan plant first, LOL). I definitely prefer not to use any artificial coloring when possible but in the case of the bottled pandan paste, the coloring is already included with the flavoring. The all-natural homemade pandan paste would be the better choice but it’s not always possible to find decent frozen pandan leaves. Thank you for the advice though and hope to see you again.

          Chris

  2. Hi, may I know if I use fresh pandan juice, how much should I add?
    Thank you for sharing

    1. Hi! I’ve never used fresh pandan juice before as we could never find fresh pandan leaves where I live. If you can’t find pandan paste, check out Nasi Lemak Lover’s pandan chiffon recipe – she uses homemade pandan paste made from fresh pandan leaves. I love her blog! http://nasilemaklover.blogspot.com/2012/12/pandan-chiffon.html

      Thank you so much for stopping by! Hope to see you again. :D

      Chris

  3. […] my next post if you’re interested to see the result of using homemade pandan paste in my Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe and for more info on pandan, read about it in my Whole Grain Pandan Butter Cupcakes […]

  4. […] the recipe, click here (it’s in my previous Pandan Chiffon Cake post). Happy […]

Would Love to Hear From You

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.