Cooked Dough Pandan Chiffon Cake

I know I’m not supposed to touch anything during this period but the cooked dough chiffon craze in Culinary Kitchenette started by the very lovely Angel Wan really got my hands itchy! I couldn't wait to try the cooked dough or tang mian method of baking chiffon which supposedly gives the chiffon a very moist fragrant texture. This method which originated from Forbidden Garden, involves cooking butter (to form "cooked dough") instead of using oil.

I adapted the recipe from Wen's Delight, reducing the number of egg yolks from 5 to 4 to yield a softer cake. I found Victoria's Bakes blog's recommendation to cook the dough around 60°C and to fold when warm really helpful. The cooked dough was creamy liquid consistency and very easy to work with especially during the folding with egg whites. Adapted recipe is below:

Ingredients:
4 egg yolks

70 g coconut milk

40 g fresh pandan juice

50 g butter

1/8 tsp salt

90 g cake flour

5 egg whites

80 g castor sugar

Method:

1. Prepare fresh pandan juice by blending fresh pandan leaves (10 leaves cut into small pieces, omitting the tips) with 50 ml water. Strain with a sieve (top panel) and press out all the liquid with a spoon.
2. Preheat oven at 160°C.

3. Cook coconut milk, butter and pandan juice together till butter melted, while is warmed add in sifted flour and salt and mix well (middle panel).

4. Mix in egg yolks slowly and set aside (bottom left pic). *I kept the cooked dough warm at 60°C else a "skin" layer forms when cool. 

5. Whisk egg whites till stiff peak, adding in sugar in 2 addtions.

6. Add in 1/3 meringue into the cooked dough and fold well (bottom right pic). *You have to fold fast when dough is still warm.
7. Pour this mixture back to the balance meringue and fold well till the mixture is well mix.
8. Pour into a 17cm chiffon mould till 80% full, bake at 160°C for 50 mins.
9. Invert the cake to cool, unmould when completely cooled.

I sifted dessicated coconut over a floral template to make simple floral decorations. I loved the moist, fragrant texture of the chiffon, but found its softness similar to that of normal chiffons, perhaps due to my reducing number of egg yolks by 1 so that the cake is very soft. After chilling, I found it less springy than oil chiffons perhaps due to the butter, but cake retained it moist, creamy texture, perfect for pandan chiffons! On hindsight, I think I like the lighter texture of normal chiffons for fruity chiffons, but this moist fragrant version is excellent for pandan chiffons.

It was a relatively easy and quick bake, perfect for a resting mom :) 

With love,

Susanne