Coffee Chiffon Cake

This experience reminded me of my college days. Accountacy. Eeeeek! You how it's like to do Journal Entries where your Balance Sheet (BS) must balance at the end of the day? While all students should gladly let out a sigh of relief and throw a celebration when their BS balances, I tremble and cringe. For me, trouble looms ahead if my BS ever balances. My BS should not must not cannot balance. It never did. While I may not get a high score when that happened, at least I passed. Yet the one time when I managed to square it, I failed the Paper!

Do you even know what I am talking about?

Through the countless attempts at baking a chiffon, I was all confident and steady. I was so sure my chiffons would succeed. But they never did. It always shrink, topple, deflate, and so often, my ego. All the time.

A bit off color here coz of lighting

This day I mumbled to myself that this will be another failed cake. Coz my egg white measurement wasn't correct, and I didn't bother to correct it. I added coffee emulco, meaning now a wetter batter, and I didn't know what to do with the wet-dry ratio. Didn't think my folding was right; thought it look rather deflated... I was so discouraged that the only thing left for me to do, was to chuck it into the oven and leave it to its own fate.

Coz everything looked wrong.

Lo and behold! The cake rose! High and mighty. And eventually hanging upside down holding on tightly for its dear life. I MADE IT! What a day!! What an awesome feeling of victory!!! I felt like the top of the world!

Now! This is the actual rich browning!

Not only did the cake rose, it is nicely browned! Wahoooooo!!!

The only thing though, it slipped off the pan not long after I inverted it. I suspect that was coz I opened the oven at least twice to check on the baking, which possibly have caused the cake to shrink from the sides of the pan. I later googled and learnt NOT to open the door; observe through the glass door only.

But it was fully baked. Fluffy and light. And the aroma of caffeine... wooo lah lah...

I adapted my recipe from both of these sites, Small Small Baker (whom I read every now and then) and this other NeedMoreNoms. Both were using Kelvin Chai's recipes (which I think I read somewhere, not many people had successes from his book... oh well...)

A little adaption here and there, and da darh... my 7-inch chiffon is born!

Here's what you'd need (7" ie. 21cm chiffon cake tin)

Egg Yolk Batter:

50ml milk
2 tbsp espresso coffee
4 egg yolks
50gm caster sugar
50m cooking oil
1/4tsp coffee emulco (optional)
100gm top flour w/ 1tsp baking powder (alternatively 100gm self raising flour)
Pinch of salt

Egg White Meringue:
5 egg whites (about 150gm; should have been 161gm(
1/4tsp cream of tartar
100gm caster sugar

This is what I did:

1. Preheat your oven to 170degC.

2. Separate your eggs into two mixing bowls. Yolks and Whites.

3. Prepare the cup of 50ml milk and scoop away 2 tbsp. Replace with 2tbsp of freshly brewed coffee (cooled, I used espresso).

4. With a paddle attachment, beat your egg yolk till light and add in the sugar. Till very pale in colour (liken softened butter; ie, ribbon stage).

5. Add in the cooking oil, milk/coffee mixture, coffee emulco, and stir on KA speed 1 to mix. Ensure all in incorporated.

6. In 2 successions, add in flour and on Speed 1, stir to mix. Set batter aside.

7. With a whisk, beat your egg whites till frothy. Speed 6.

8. Add in Cream of Tartar, and continue to beat till runny. In 3 successions, add in the sugar. Increase speed to 8, and beat till stiff peak.

9. Fold 1/3 of the meringue into the egg yolk batter, and another 1/3. Eventually, the reminder. Fold gently and be careful not to deflate the meringue.

10. Pour into an ungreased chiffon pan. Level the batter and gently tap the pan to release any trapped air bubbles in the batter.

11. Bake for 40-45mins. Midway (once the cake is puffed up), reduce temperature to 160degC and continue baking.

12. Check doneness with a toothpick.

13. Invert the chiffon to cool completely in the pan. Upside down. I used an inverted mug to suspend the cake mid-air on the pan's funnel (well, it sure looks hideous! if you know of a more glamourous way, let drop me a line!) Let it cool completely.

14. Unmold and serve. I find the flavour more intense the next day after a day of chilling in the fridge.