Yay, finally I did it!

After my 'almost there' chiffon cake, I was so determined to try again, until I got it right. Haha, that's me, wanna prove to myself I can do it. Haha...If only I am so determined in many other things as well... :P

This time round, I used another pandan chiffon recipe from Yochana's blog. I must say her recipe really rules...it smells so nice when baked, and the taste is so good! Guess is because it uses pandan juice, essence and coconut milk. The texture is very soft! I actually bought a new 17-cm chiffon tin, for me to practice more in order not to waste so much ingredients in case I fail.. :P The other tin that I've got is a 23-cm, which is way too big for my family to finish.

Prior to this pandan chiffon, I had actually tried another lemon chiffon which was a failure again. :( In fact that lemon chiffon was worse than the previous pandan one. It dropped out of the tin when I overturned it. I was so disappointed that I had no mood to take any pictures; which I should have done that at least for my record.

After reading many comments and techniques on beating egg whites, I deduced that egg whites have to be beaten to stiff, but not VERY stiff peaks. This can be confusing cos' some recipes would state for egg whites to be beaten to stiff peaks, some firm but not stiff. I think most importantly, it has to be glossy, firm and the whites curl slightly when the beater is lifted up. It should be stiff yet not straight peaks (too stiff).

That was what I had done for the first pandan chiffon. It was so stiff that the peaks stand upright straight. Thanks to Aunty Yochana's comments where she mentioned egg whites beaten too stiff would result in it being difficult to be folded properly, thus deflate easily. Being too extra careful for my lemony chiffon try, I think I had stopped the beater too early, resulting in not being firm enough cos' the whites turned a bit runny after that. I could already sense that something was wrong as when I was folding in; cos' the whites should be firm enough that when all the batter in transferred to the tin, it must be rather thick that you need to use a spatula to smooth it (most recipes would state that). However when i folded mine, it was rather liquid, I do not even have to smooth the top. I find this post by Nic's - Bakingbites on egg whites quite a good reference.

This was what I got this time round, not sure whether it's of the correct consistency, guess should be something like this.

Yeah this is how my chiffon turned out. Can see that I did not do a good job in the unmoulding. Actually, the top part sank abit because the cake rose very high, far extending the brim of the pan.

I wonder why...cos' I have half the recipe and used only 3 eggs. I guess for such small tin, 2 eggs is enough? Anyway, finally I'm able to see the outer crust, and I'm happy already...hehe

Haha...I was scare out of my wits when I saw this....


Well, at least this gave me some courage to attempt chiffon cakes. I will have to keep trying until I'm more certain on the egg whites consistency and the correct folding technique. :)

While waiting in anticipation for the chiffon to finish baking in the oven, I made myself a salad. I am by no expert to give any recipe. :P I simply tossed some chopped strawberries, pears, butterhead lettuce, sliced blanced almonds and pumpkin seeds; dizzled with combination of lemon juice, honey and olive oil and finally sprinkled some Nestum Family cereal. I like the crunchy feel of the cereal...:)