'Mooncake' Chiffon Cakes (Peanut butter & jam)

I tried dressing up some Peanut Butter Chiffon Cakes as mooncakes as gifts for Teacher's day (this is a trial). Mid-autumn was coming but I didn’t have time to go baking shops yet to buy the ingredients, so that gave me an idea to dress up my chiffon cakes into mooncakes (will still be making the real ones soon because I finally got the ingredients today!).

Peanut butter is a very nice and yummy flavour that comes strongly in chiffon cakes. If you loved the kaya, you may like this one! I wrapped the peanut butter chiffon cake with strawberry jam-flavoured chiffon sheet cakes.

This was another experiment. I observed that the mooncake plunger looks very much like our cookie cutter plungers, so that gave me the idea to try using it as a cutter for my sheet cakes, and it worked like a charm! The patterns on the plunger was also transferred onto the sheet cakes! =) Presenting my Peanut butter and jam Mooncake Chiffon Cakes!

Each ‘mooncake’ is a 4-inch peanut butter chiffon cake, wrapped in strawberry jam-flavoured chiffon sheet cakes.

I have also written the recipe for one 7-inch chiffon tube pan in case you just want to try the yummy flavour!


Peanut Butter Chiffon Cake (makes three 4-inch chiffon cakes or one 7-inch chiffon cake)

3 egg yolks
18g castor sugar
39g peanut oil/vegetable oil
42g water/milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g Prima cake flour, sifted
34g peanut butter
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt

Meringue
4 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
45 g castor sugar

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. *Optional: I used steam baking, i.e. I placed a pan of water under the lowest rack before preheating – to control oven temperature, prevent cracks and for moister texture.

2. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light, fluffy and well-mixed.

3. Add in oil, then water or milk and mix well. Add in peanut butter and whisk till well-combined.

4. Whisk in sifted cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, a pinch of salt and mix till well-combined.

*Optional: Spoon out 3 tsp batter and add extra 5g peanut butter for darker coloured batter (for making the ‘egg yolk’) – optional if you don’t want to make the ‘egg yolk’.

5. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry metal bowl, using electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar till frothy.

b. Add in ½ castor sugar for meringue and whisk at high speed till soft peaks form.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form, or just the point of stiff peak. Firm peaks give finer, softer texture.

6. Gently fold in meringue gently into peanut butter batter 1/3 at a time.

*Optional: Transfer 6 tbsp meringue into the darker peanut butter batter for making the ‘egg yolk’, and gently fold in the meringue into the respective batters in 2-3 additions.

7. Pour into 3 ungreased 4-inch chiffon tube pan (or one ungreased 7-inch tube pan). Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles.

*Optional: Spoon the darker peanut butter batter into six 3-cm cake pop cavities. Bake for 160°C for 12 min.

8. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, 140°C for 5-10 min for the 4-inch tube pan (or at 160°C for 15 min, 140°C for 30-35 min for the 7-inch tube pan), or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.
**If you use steam baking, you may need to bake for a few more minutes.

10. Invert pan to cool on a wire rack completely.

11. Unmould the chiffon cakes by hand (see video tutorial ‘Hand unmoulding Chiffon cakes for a clean finishing’). 

Freshly unmolded Peanut Butter Chiffon Cake - smells good!

Strawberry jam chiffon sheet cakes
2 egg yolks
11g castor sugar
26g vegetable/corn oil
28g water/milk
3g vanilla extract
40g Prima cake flour, sifted
18g strawberry jam
Few drops strawberry paste/emulco
A pinch of salt

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


1. Preheat oven to 160°C.

2. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light, fluffy and well-mixed.

3. Add in oil, then water or milk and mix well. Add in strawberry jam and whisk till well-combined.

4. Whisk in sifted cake flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt and mix till well-combined.

5. Prepare meringue:

a. In a grease-free, dry metal bowl, using electric mixer, whisk egg whites with cream of tartar till frothy.

b. Add in ½ castor sugar for meringue and whisk at high speed till soft peaks form.

c. Add in rest of the castor sugar for meringue and whisk till firm peaks form, or just the point of stiff peak. Firm peaks give finer, softer texture.

6. Gently fold in meringue gently into batter 1/3 at a time.

7. Pour into two 9-inch baking pans, lined with baking paper. Gently tap on counter top to remove air bubbles.

8. Bake at 160°C for 15 min. Peel off baking sheet, transfer onto a new sheet and cover with another sheet to cool completely.


Assembly

1. Melt some marshmallows by sprinkling some water onto a few marshmallows in a heat-proof bowl, and then popping in into the microwave for 30 s. This makes the ‘glue’ to stick the cakes together.

2. Slice a peanut butter chiffon cake into two. Use a circle cutter to cut out a semi-spherical hole in the peanut butter chiffon cake.

3. Apply some melted marshmallow in the hole and stuff an ‘egg yolk’ cake pop in. Repeat for the other half. 

4. Use a 4-inch mooncake plunger (for 200g mooncake)to cut two pieces from the sheet cakes. For the top piece, push the plunger completely to make the imprints. For the bottom piece, just use it as a cutter (do not push completely down).

 

5. Cut a strip corresponding to the height of the 4-inch peanut butter chiffon cake (to go around the sides).

6. Use melted marshmallows to stick the pink strawberry jam sheet cakes on the top, bottom and sides of the peanut butter cake.

7. Use a knife to make cuts at the sides of the ‘mooncake’.


Hope you will enjoy this labour of love too!

With lots of love,

Susanne

       Newest labour of love! 

Coming to you in mid-Sept!