'Tang yuan' White Glutinous Rice Flour Chiffon Cake

We’ve heard of Black glutinous rice chiffon cake (Pulut hitam chiffon cake), but what about White glutinous rice chiffon cake? This is one experimental flavour that I had been wanting to try for a long time, as I love 'Tang yuan' (sweet glutinous rice balls). I made the glutinous rice flour chiffon cake with pandan ‘Tang shui’. The resulting flavour is very fragrant, with glutinous rice and pandan fragrance/flavour, and sticky chewy feel of glutinous rice! My 2-year old loved it so much she finished 3/4 of the plain 6-inch cake herself! It may be a great way to clear leftover glutinous rice flour from making 'Tang yuan'.

Glutinous Rice Flour Chiffon Cake

Very soft slice

Last year, a sifu friend had also challenged me to make a chiffon version of ‘tang yuan’ but I was too busy then. So this year, I finally tried making a chiffon “Tang yuan”, and with Glutinous rice flour chiffon flavour as it’s so apt. I actually made this for my own birthday cake =p. Everything including the bowl and spoon is made from chiffon cake, and my kids had such fun digging into it!

My simple birthday cake for my small family of 5 =p

In my first trial of the recipe, I used all (100%) white glutinous rice flour. The resulting chiffon cake was really soft and yummy, full of glutinous rice flavour, however, the cake dented easily (glutinous rice is sticky, so when compressed, the cake sticks together and doesn’t spring back). So finally I used mixture of glutinous rice flour and cake flour so that the texture is more bouncy, but still has the sticky chewy feel of glutinous rice and lovely fragrance. I used pandan water which further enhances the flavour! I feel nostalgia eating this chiffon cake!

Here I’ve shared first the White Glutinous Rice Flour Chiffon Cake recipe for a normal tube pan (6-inch) first for those who are interested in the flavour. Then followed by the fun ‘Tang yuan’ version. Hope you will like this interesting creation!

Glutinous Rice Flour Chiffon Cake (6-inch tube pan)
2 egg yolks
13g castor sugar
26g coconut/vegetable oil
32g pandan water (water boiled with pandan leaves) or pandan juice
30g white glutinous rice flour
10g cake flour (Prima)
Pandan flavoring (few drops, will be more fragrant)

3 egg whites
30g castor sugar
¼ cream of tartar

*You can also use all (100%) white glutinous rice flour, but the texture won’t be so bouncy.

Here’s a picture of the glutinous rice flour I used (same as for 'Tang yuan'):

1. Prepare pandan water (boil a small saucepan of water with a bunch of pandan leaves) like how you prepare ‘tang shui’, omitting the rock sugar.

*You can also use leftover ‘tang shui’, ie pandan water boiled with rock sugar, but you will need to omit the sugar for egg yolk batter and reduce sugar for meringue accordingly, so that the cake will not be too sweet.

*Other substitutes: you can also use pandan juice, or water with pandan flavouring (1g).

2. Preheat oven to 160°C.

3. Whisk egg yolks with sugar until light and well-mixed.

4. Add in oil and mix well. Then add pandan water/juice and whisk till well-combined.

5. Whisk in sifted glutinous rice flour and cake flour. Mix till well-combined and no more lumps. 

6. Prepare meringue:

a. 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.


7. Gently fold in meringue into egg yolk batter 1/3 at a time. *Fold in unidirectional, gentle strokes and do not overfold.

8. Pour the batter into the tube pan. Gently tap to remove bubbles.

9. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, then 140°C for 20-25 min, or until skewer inserted into centre of cake comes out clean.

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

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


Texture is really soft! I love the light fragrant smell of the pandan with glutinous rice.

‘Tang yuan’ version of Glutinous Rice Flour Chiffon Cake (one ‘bowl’)
2 egg yolks
13g castor sugar
26g coconut/vegetable oil
32g pandan water (water boiled with pandan leaves) or pandan juice
20g white glutinous rice flour
20g cake flour (Prima)
Pandan flavoring (few drops, will be more fragrant)

3 egg whites
30g castor sugar
¼ cream of tartar

*I used 1:1 white glutinous rice flour: cake flour here, so that texture is more bouncy and easier to handle.

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Prepare a small glass/metal bowl (4-5 inch), silicone cake pop mold, and a baking paper-lined 8-inch baking tray.

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

3. Add in oil and mix well. Then add pandan water/juice and whisk till well-combined.

4. Whisk in sifted glutinous rice flour and cake flour. Mix till well-combined and no more lumps. I used a slightly higher ratio of cake flour here so that the cake is easier to handle.

5. Spoon out 5 tsp batter to make the ‘soup’. Add a dip of cocoa powder or chocolate paste to colour the batter slightly browner. Spoon out 5 tsp batter to make the ‘tang yuan’ cake pops. Add desired ‘tang yuan’ color eg pink or green (using pandan paste). You can also leave the ‘tang yuan’ cake pops plain-colored.


6. Prepare meringue:

a. 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.


7. Transfer out 10 tbsp meringue for the brown ‘soup’ batter, and 10 tbsp meringue for the ‘tang yuan’ batter. Leave the rest of the meringue for the plain batter.

8. Gently fold in meringue into respective egg yolk batters 1/3 at a time.

9. Spoon the plain batter into the bowl till 80% full. Bake at 160°C for 15 min, then 140°C for 20 min or until skewer comes clean. Pour the rest of the plain batter side-by-side with the brown batter into 8-inch baking pan to make sheet cake. Bake at 160°C for 15 min. Lastly spoon the ‘tang yuan’ batter into small cake pop molds and bake at 160°C for 12 min.

10. Allow the cakes to cool completely on a wire rack before unmoulding by hand.

11. To assemble, use a large round cutter to cut a depression into the bowl cake. Use the same round cutter to cut a circle from the brown sheet cake to fill the hole (to make the ‘soup’).

12. Cut the ‘tang yuan’ cake pops into halves and place them on the ‘soup’. Cut a ‘spoon’ shape (oval plus long strip) from plain sheet cake and gently insert a bamboo skewer in.


Happy Winter Solstice! Hope you will like this new flavour and cute creation! May this be a meaningful and special day of "reunion" for you with your families. Here are my kids having some fun.. =)

With lots of love,
Susanne

Finally a Chinese Edition is coming (22/12/17)! Preorders open now.

More loving creations here: