‘Christmas Tree’ Pull apart Pandan Chiffon Cupcakes

This is my first ‘pull apart’ chiffon cupcakes forming a big Christmas tree! Chiffon cake is used to replace all fondant on top of cupcakes so that everything is light and soft! One thing to note about these cupcakes is to get the top of the cupcake to be level with the top of the cupcake liner after baking and cooling, so the estimation of the height of batter needs to be quite accurate. Instead of using fondant to cover on top, the circles are cut out from layer chiffon cake. These are Christmas chiffon cupcakes made last year. The balls are made from baking chiffon cake in cake pop molds.

Pandan Chiffon Cupcakes (makes around 22 cupcakes)

4 egg yolks

46g castor sugar
52g vegetable/corn oil
35 ml coconut milk
16 ml pandan juice
3 ml vanilla extract
7 ml pandan paste
80g cake flour
A pinch of salt

Meringue:
5 egg whites
60g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Method:
1. Prepare fresh pandan juice by blending fresh pandan leaves (10-15 leaves cut into small pieces, omitting the tips) with 50 ml water. Strain with a sieve and press out all the liquid with a spoon.
2. Preheat oven at 160°C.
3. Beat egg yolks with sugar with whisk till pale yellow before stirring in oil, coconut milk and pandan juice.
4. Add in sieved flour and salt and whisk till no trace of flour found.
5. Meringue: Beat the egg whites with ¼ tsp cream of tartar till firm peaks form, or just to the point of reaching stiff peaks (but not beyond), mixing in caster sugar in 2 additions.
6. Fold in the meringue gently into the batter 1/3 at a time.
7. Scoop the batter into each cupcake liner leaving 1 cm from the top.
8. Gently tap the cupcakes on table top to remove air bubbles
9. Bake the cupcakes cake for 17-20 min at 150°C.
10. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Pandan Chiffon Layer Cakes

The same recipe is used for baking pandan chiffon layer cakes for cutting out the circles for covering the cupcakes. This recipe makes 2 big 10-inch pandan layer cakes. Pour the batter into 2 baking-paper lined 10-inch trays and bake at 160°C for 14 min. After cooling, flip over onto a cutting mat and cut out circles (slightly bigger than each cupcake) from the layer chiffon cakes. Lastly, attach the circles to each cupcake with a brush of melted marshmallows. 

Chocolate Chiffon Layer Cake
I baked an additional chocolate chiffon layer cake for the Christmas tree trunks. This is baked in an 8-inch tray.

1 egg yolk
7g castor sugar
13g vegetable/corn oil
15 ml water
2 ml vanilla extract
10g cake flour
5g cocoa powder
¼ tsp baking powder

1.5 egg whites
15g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Follow the same steps as above and cut 2 brown circles from the cake.

Vanilla Chiffon Cake for Christmas Trees Décor

2 egg yolks
14g sugar
26g vegetable/corn oil
29 ml water
5 ml vanilla extract
30g cake flour

3 egg whites
30g sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Divide the egg yolk batter into 3 tsp pink, 3 tsp blue, 3 tsp orange, and the remaining yellow (only a touch of wilton colour is required). Bake the various colours for 12 min at 160°C in cake pop molds. Bake the leftover yellow batter in a 6-inch tray for cutting out the star.

Blessed Christmas to you and family!

With lots of love,

Susanne