pandan chiffon cake

I have always like chiffon cake and I've been buying from a local cake shop, their chiffon cake is soooo light and spongy.  I bought a 16cm (about 7") chiffon cake mould recently as this is just the nice size for my small family.  Unfortunately, the chiffon cake recipe in the cookbook that I have is meant for a 22cm cake mould.  I searched the internet for a 7" chiffon cake recipe and found this one.

I had 2 failures (sinking cakes) before getting this cake up and rising, not perfect yet though.  While writing this post, I also found these tips in making chiffon cake, Chiffon Cake Tips and Trouble II. 

Ingredients [A]
> 3 egg yolks (use large eggs, 60g without shell)

> 35g 30g castor sugar

> 70g coconut milk milk

> 55g vegetable oil coconut oil
> 1 tsp vanilla extract
> 1/2 tsp pandan paste

> 1 tbsp pandan juice

> pinch of salt
> 100g cake flour superfine flour

Ingredients [B]

> 4 egg whites (use large eggs, 60g without shell)

> 50g castor sugar

(Note: The blogger has omitted the baking powder and cream of tartar which is called for in the original recipe.)

Method

1. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl.  Whisk the yolks a little with a hand whisk.
2. Add in sugar and whisk till the mixture turns pale and thick.
3. Add coconut milk gradually, stir to combine.
4. Add vegetable oil gradually, stir to combine.
5. Add vanilla extract, pandan paste, pandan juice.  Stir to combine.
6. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated.  Do not over mix.
7.  Set aside. 

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1.   In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy.
2.  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.)

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1.  Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
2.  Pour batter into a 17cm tube pan (do not grease the pan).
3.  Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
4.  Bake in pre-heated oven at 170° for 35 mins.
5.  Insert toothpick to the centre of the cake, toothpick comes out clean.  When lightly pressed the cake will spring back.
6.  Invert the pan immediately and let it cool completely. 

(Recipe courtesy of happy home baking.)

chocolate mint brownie

I found this "After Eight Brownie" recipe from an apps, CakeRecipes.  As I can't find "After Eight chocolate here, I used "Andes Chocolate Mint" instead.  The combination of chocolate & mint... Ummph!

Ingredients 
> 200g plain flour

> 100ml golden syrup

> 200g After Eight chocolate mints

> 6 free range eggs
> 350g softened butter
> 1/2 teaspoon salt

> 500g caster sugar

> 150g good quality cocoa powder

Method

[1]  Preheat the oven to 180°

[2]  Cream the butter and sugar until white and creamy.

[3]  Add in the cocoa powder, golden syrup and salt.

[4]  Mix in the eggs, one at a time.
[5]  Add in flour to the batter last.

[6]  Place baking parchment on the bottom of a baking tin and fill the dish with the batter.

[7]  Put whole After Eight chocolate in the middle of the batter, so it's covered with batter.

[8]  Bake the cake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes. (Put a toothpick or knife in the middle; the cake should be a little sticky.)
[9]  Let it cool then slice into squares.

tiramisu cups

I'm following Cooking with Karma's recipe here with a little changes here and there. 




Ingredients
> 250g mascarpone (I used cream cheese)

> 1/4 cup of icing sugar

> 2 eggs

> 3 teaspoons of coffee diluted in 1 cup of water

> 3 tablespoons of Baileys Irish Cream (skip/change to other liquor)

> 12 finger sponge biscuits (I use another biscuit, as long as it's able to soak in the coffee OR we can use sponge cake as shown in this link.)

> grated chocolate

> drinking chocolate (Milo)

Method

[A]  Beat egg whites in a bowl until it forms soft white peak.

[B1] Beat egg yolks & icing sugar in another bowl until it's nice & creamy.

[B2] Add in mascarpone and mix until well combined, nice, thick & creamy.

[B3] Add in half of [A] and fold until well combined.  Add in the other half of [A] and repeat.

[B4] Add in the Baileys, mixed until well combined and set aside.

[C]  Soak biscuits into coffee mixture, do not over soak, drain off the excess.

[D]  Layering of everything on top of the other into a glass.

1) First, a little bit of mascarpone mix at the bottom of the glass.

2) Then add in the biscuits.

3) Add in another layer of the mascarpone mix.

4) Sprinkle some drinking chocolate.

5) Repeat layer by layer until it reaches the top of the glass.

6) Sprinkle some grated chocolate.

7) Chill overnight or minimum of 8 hours.