4 Flavour Chiffon Lego Blocks

A very dear friend of mine asked me if I could make a lego-themed cake for her son who loves lego. I tried to construct some lego blocks out of chiffon cake as a trial for my family first. This was a super fun and exciting project for me since I had been wanting to try lego blocks for awhile (my kids also love lego)! So this is how my chiffon lego blocks looks like!

I didn't want to use too much artificial colouring, so I opted for flavours according to their colours: pandan, strawberry, lemon and blueberry. Thankfully my friend was ok with purplish blue too :)

As there aren't many recipes which bake chiffons in large square trays, I wasn't sure if it was possible without the cake collapsing and had to estimate the recipe for a 9-inch tray. I tried my favourite recipe but with 5 egg yolks, 6 egg whites and less flour and divided the tray into 4 sections using aluminium foil as separator (another experiment!). I substituted coconut milk with fresh milk which is healthier and so that it would go better with the fruity flavours. Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients
5 egg yolks
33g sugar
58g vegetable oil
58 ml fresh milk
100g cake flour

Ingredients for each colour:
16g pandan juice (include 2 ml pandan paste)
16g strawberry puree (include 2 ml strawberry paste)
16g lemon juice (include zest of 1/2 lemon and a drop of lemon emulco)
16g blueberry puree (include 2 ml blueberry extract and 3/4 tsp blueberry powder)

6.6 egg whites (I used 6.5 egg whites)
75g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method
1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil and fresh milk.
3. Add in sieved flour and whisk till no trace of flour found.
4. Divide egg yolk batter into 4 by scooping out 12 tsp of batter into 4 bowls. Add the ingredients for each sector into the corresponding bowl. Mix well.
5. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until foamy using an electric whisk. Add in sugar in 2 additions and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Divide the meringue into the 4 bowls and gently fold the meringue into each batter.
6. Gently scoop cake batter over the designs into each section. Tap on table top to release bubbles and then gently remove the foil.
7. Bake the cake in preheated 160°C oven for 15 minutes, then at 150°C for 35-40 mins.
8. Invert when cake is removed from oven and unmould when cake is cool.

Phew! The colours look pretty neat and well-segregated, and the cake was not too sunken after unmoulding!

I was pleasantly surprised that the cake didn't collapse a lot during the cooling and maintained the sections pretty well! My hubby who tried the cake also said it was very soft, although I wonder if I should steambake the chiffon in square tray like ogura cakes for greater moistness and structure, especially for taller cakes. My kids both loved it simply because it was lego LOL! I will likely increase the proportion of purees in each section next time to see if I can amp up the flavours. While soft and fragrant, I like stronger flavours.

It was a fun cake filled with love!

*For an updated improved version of the lego chiffon cake, hop on to Lego Chiffon Cake! :)

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Bake For Happy Kids, and My Little Favourite DIY, hosted by Tze of Awayofmind Bakery House.

With love,

Susanne