Cloudy Skies Chiffon Cake

I have not baked a chiffon for a while and since I have missed out the hurricane event in Bake Along, I wanted to join in the fun this time.

Even though I have Susanne's book that was a gift from my sister, I have yet to attempt any of her recipes.  So I am kind of nervous attempting this Cloudy Skies Chiffon Cake. 

I am trying not to put colourings into the cake so I made the blue pea extract stronger.  Hope this will work.

Findings: As I am not confident in using a big pan for this.  I divide it into two cake pans.

I am not sure whether using a bigger pan will make it easier on those clouds but I find it difficult to "make" those little clouds in the smaller pan.  Initially I was using the spoon to scoop the white batter onto the pan but subsequently, I transfer the batter to a piping bag and it was much easier.

I noticed that I get air bubbles in between the layers.  I think if I ever attempt this again, I will pipe the clouds, lined the clouds and fill in the layer, tap out the air bubbles and repeat process.   By this, I hope that I will be able to get rid of most of the air bubbles.

Only thing is that I find the cake after cooled is very sticky to touch.  I even tried baking it a little longer but this issue did not go away.

Nevertheless, I must say that this cake texture is good and fluffy.  Not too sweet as well.

I also intensified the blue pea colour as I do not want to add any artificial colouring to the cake.

Overall, this recipe is a keeper.

Source

What you need:

1 egg (60g)

27g castor sugar

53g grape seed oil

51g + 2g water

7g vanilla paste

90g cake flour, sifted

8g blue pea flower extract *

195g egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tartar

60g castor sugar

Method:

*Blue Pea Flower extract:

Quickly rinse 4g dried blue pea flower and pour in 10g of hot water.  Let it sit for 15 – 30mins and strained.

Preheat oven to 160°C.  Prepare a 7” chiffon pan.

Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light and fluffy. 

Whisk in oil and 51g water and vanilla extract.  Mix until incorporated.

Whisk in cake flour until well blended. 

Remove ¼ of the batter and add in 2g water.  Mix well.  Set aside.

Add blue pea flower extract to the ¾ batter and mix well (if colour is not strong, add a little light blue food gel).  Set aside.

In a clean bowl, whisk egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy. 

While whisking, slowly drizzle in the sugar and whisk until firm peak formed.

Remove ¼ of the meringue.

Fold the ¾ meringue gently into the ¾ egg batter.

Fold the ¼ meringue gently into the ¼ egg batter.

Using a spoon, form little clouds from the ¼ batter onto the pan.

Scoop the blue batter around the white and filled the rest with the a little blue batter (layering).  Repeat until both batters are used up.

Place a tray of water at the bottom and steam bake it at 140°C for 1 hour until cooked.

Invert pan immediately and let it cool completely before dismould.



Enjoy!