More Chiffon Cakes

Another weekend another experiment on flavors of chiffon cakes. This weekend my son Andrew and I decided to try out a Cheddar Chiffon Cake and Chocolate Chiffon Cake (using chocolate powder instead of Nutela). Our first experiment was Cheddar Chiffon Cake. Andrew loves cheese cake just like his grandma. So we decided to see if we can make chiffon cake out of cheese. The cake turned out quite good to our surprise. It was a bit heavier than the Orange Chiffon Cake but nevertheless still light. The taste had a hint of cheese but not overly cheesy like the normal cheese cakes. All in all a good experiment.

My colleague came to me a few weeks ago asking if I could make a Chocolate Chiffon Cake. I decided to give it a try but using Nutela.The cake turned out very soft and fluffy but nevertheless I didn't like the colour as it was to pale for a chocolate cake. My mother in law suggested using chocolate powder instead so we did. I substituted the teaspoon of Nutela with 1/2 cup of chocolate powder mix into 3/4 cup of warm water. The cake turned out great, nice dark brown and yet still fluffy. I love this cake as to be honest it's dark colour hid some of the flaws from cutting the cake out of the tin which I must say is a technique I have yet to master.

The third chiffon cake of the weekend was an improvement on my Pandan Chiffon Cake. Previously I didn't add any coconut milk into my recipe. However, a friend suggested I substituted my water for coconut milk which indeed add to the fragrance of the taste and moistness. The colour was also more vibrant as not I substituted the pandan juice which I extracted from frozen pandan leaves with pandan paste.

I must say making chiffon cakes is a stressful process. Every step is so important from cracking the eggs to make sure the egg whites are cleanly removed from the egg yokes, folding the egg white meringue into the rest of the cake mixture, pouring the cake mix into the fluted tin, removing of the air bubbles and finally removing the cake from the fluted tin. I must admit sometimes I loose my cool but my daughter always comes to me and say "Mummy, you can do it and that calms me down". It also reminds me that what I am doing is not meant to be stressful. Cooking is suppose to be therapeutic and I remember a quote from Little Nonya "If you are feeling sad when you cook, the person who is eating the food will also feel it to". Hence, if I am cranky, the person who eats my cake will also feel my grumpiness. So, I have to be calm, happy and remember that I am cooking because I want to share my love for all things Nonya with all of you.