Light & fluffy Chiffon Cake (a.k.a Angel Cake)

Another cake I like to eat but how do I get one without too much sugar and no artificial green colouring? I want nothing less than authentic pandan juice. I want to taste and smell the real stuff! The stores seem more interested to produce something cheap rather than something good. The only way is to try to do it myself, so here I am again.

I learned to separate eggs for the first time. I was so noob I had to use a noodle ladle to do it. Now after many tries, I think hands are still best. God designed our fingers such that it's a natural egg white filter, and I like the feel of ingredients on my palms, yes, even when they're gooey and squishy. A refreshing change from the feel of keyboards. 

I also learned to whip egg whites till they form what are called "soft peaks". I'll take these pictures when I can. This picture here is when the batter is about to be ready for the oven. A bit stressful usually at this stage for me as a novice as I need to be fast so as not to knock out the air that has been whipped into the batter.

Just out of the oven after about 43 minutes. It's a bit burnt. See pic of my next attempt where it looks much better. The usual test for when a cake is baked is the toothpick test. If it comes out clean, it's ready. 

I turn my tube pan upside down to let it cool for an hour or so. I've seen pictures on the net of people who don't have a tube pan and use ingenious ways to keep it upside down, like using 2 glasses on each side.

I didn't quite know how to remove the cake after an hour - it didn't drop on its own like some said it would. So I went back to my Youtube tutor and found a Japanese housewife scraping the sides and bottom with a flat cake knife, and that was how I got my cake out. Wah la!

Orange chiffon cake. Soft, fluffy and airy inside. And reduced sugar too so my mom who's diabetic can also take this. She's not into butter and cheese so this cake is good for her. Pandan chiffon is a little more work than orange chiffon - squeezing orange juice is a breeze compared to extracting pandan juice. But I'm all for natural juice. No essence nonsense and definitely no artificial colouring.

SEE MY MUCH IMPROVED 15TH ATTEMPT HERE. Yes, even the photography improved.

O R A N G E   C H I F F O N   R E C I P E

[Step One]

Ingredients:

• 8 medium egg yolks
• 2oz fine sugar
• 2oz pandan juice (from blending screwpine leaves) 
• or 2oz orange juice
• 3oz corn oil or olive oil
• 5oz self-raising flour

Method:

• Beat egg yolk and sugar lightly with a whisk till sugar dissolves
• Stir in pandan or orange juice and corn oil
• Stir in flour into egg mixture
• Set aside

[Step Two]

Ingredients:

• 8 egg whites
• 5oz fine sugar (I use 3oz and they taste ok)
• Pinch of salt

Method:

• Beat egg whites till frothy. Slowly add in sugar and salt while beating at high speed
• Beat until the egg white is stiff and shining (about 3-4 min). At this stage, it's now called a meringue.
• Preheat oven to 175C
• Use a spatula and gently fold egg yolk mixture into egg white mixture or meringue.
• Pour into an ungreased 25cm tube pan. Bake for 40-45 min.
• Remove from oven immediately and invert pan onto wire rack. Let it cool before removing cake from pan.