I don't usually follow trends but this idea in my head got me so excited I just had to try it out! Presenting my pandan kaya mini chiffon croissant cereal!
I was excited because it is a combination of traditional pandan kaya cake in croissant form and miniaturised as a cereal treat. There's a cereal trend several months ago but I didn't follow it until I have a reason to present my bakes that way. Not only is this visually cute, the form factor of it in bite size and eaten with fresh blueberries makes it a refreshingly good and new way of enjoying pandan kaya cake. Only thing is, it is rather time consuming to assemble a bowl of it๐! You could speed things up by making bigger croissants than I did. I made them tiny enough that you can fit a few in your mouth comfortably with a couple of blueberries. The actual baking and making of the pudding layers is very fast so feel free to assemble in a way that suits your patience level and time best. This can also be made into swiss roll form or layered cake.
I took the chance to test out Scoop Wholefood's pandan powder for making pandan chiffon cake. Something I had been procrastinating for some time. You may make pandan juice concentrate the traditional way if you wish by blending fresh leaves with a little water, sieving and settling the juice for 3 days, and then using the concentrate that settled.
Pandan chiffon thin layer cake
Ingredients (makes one 10 x 12" and one 7x7"cake):
Egg yolk batter
2 egg yolks
21g pandan juice concentrate from 1tbs (heaped) pandan powder and 3tbs water*
18g coconut milk
14g any vegetable oil
38g cake flour
A pinch of salt
1/8-1/4 tsp pandan paste
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Meringue
2 egg whites
15g caster sugar
15g granulated gula melaka
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
*to make pandan juice concentrate from pandan powder with insoluble fibers, rehydrate the powder with water and let it sit for half an hour. Sieve out the liquid and weigh out 21g for baking.
Steps:
1. Preheat oven to 170C. Line baking trays with teflon sheet or parchment paper.
2. Prepare egg yolk batter. Whisk together egg yolks until pale and thick. Add oil and whisk until well combined. Add coconut milk, pandan juice concentrate and flavourings and whisk until combined. Add sifted flour and salt and whisk until no trace of flour is seen.
3. Prepare meringue. Use electric mixer to beat egg whites with cream of tartar until firm peak or just reach stiff peaks, adding sugar gradually once egg whites are foamy. Use low speed to whip egg whites for a more stable meringue with smaller air bubbles.
4. Quickly but gently fold meringue into egg yolk batter in 3 additions. Scoop out the batter onto prepared trays and spread it out in a thin layer using an offset spatula or bench scraper.
5. Place baking trays in oven and immediately lower to 150C and bake for 10-11min or until skewer comes out clean. Be careful not to overbake or you will have difficulty rolling the sponge without breaking it.
6. Immediately remove from oven and flip onto fresh sheet of parchment.
Roll the sponge into a tight roll to cool completely. In the meantime, prepare the pudding.
Pandan kaya pudding
A)
100g coconut milk
5g pandan juice concentrate
1/8 tsp pandan paste
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
10g gula melaka
15g caster sugar (or to taste)
75g Water
1/2 tsp agar powder
B)
13g cornflour
65g water
Steps:
1. Mix together ingredients in B) in a jug and set aside.
2. Place all ingredients in A) in saucepan and bring to a boil while whisking. Make sure all agar powder is dissolved. Use medium heat.
3. Stir contents in B) again. Pour into A) in a thin stream while whisking the contents in saucepan continuously. Continue cooking and whisking for a minute after it starts boiling again. Remove from heat. Do note that as the pudding cools, it will start to set so you will have to stir it now and then if you are not ready to assemble yet.
Assembly
1. Unroll the cooled cakes.
2. Spread a very thin layer of pudding on the cake and let it set for 20 min or until pudding is solid (doesn't stick onto your finger when you touch) but still soft before rolling.
3. Cut triangles 2.5cm base by 7cm height or any preferred size. Layer cake and pudding really thin and use rolling pin gently roll flatter with pudding side down.
Roll it up like a croissant by starting the roll from the base of the isosceles triangle, pudding side up. Leave it on a tray lined with parchment to set fully.
If you don't have the patience to make these minis, try cutting bigger triangles or simply make a swiss roll like the one I did below.
The mini croissant cereal is really delicious when paired with juicy blueberries that are slightly sweet and tart, not too sour or strong tasting so that it doesn't overpower the pandan kaya flavour but rather, complements it.
Store the cake in fridge and consume within 3 days.
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With love,
Phay Shing
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