Blueberry Chiffon Cake

On a Saturday night, my hands were itching to bake something. That's the only time I had for the whole week, having to work also on a weekend to clear my work.

I wanted to bake something that can be done before 12 midnight, something i can have for my breakfast the next day, and that uses whatever ingredients still available in my fridge or pantry. Baking a bread is not possible though i wish I could. I did not have milk so muffins/cakes have to be ommitted. I decided With some blueberries in my freeezer, I decided on a blueberry chiffon cake.

I remembered some bloggers had made blueberry chiffon cakes before and I went googling for it, but realised most of the recipes called for fresh blueberries to be be folded in, and usually the blueberries would sink to the bottom. Blueberries can usually result in the cake texture to be very wet, especially those in contact with the blueberries. I was actually looking for a blueberry chiffon cake that is entirely made with blueberry flavour.

I turned to my recipe collection Kelvin Chai - Chiffon Cake is Done. I'd actually given up on the recipes from this book after a few unsuccessful attempts. The egg yolk batter was always too dry. This time, i decided to give it another try by adapting its blueberry chiffon cake recipe. The recipe uses blueberry jam while I blended fresh bueberries with 1 tbsp of water in a blender to get blueberry paste. I also added 1 tbsp of strawberry jam to enhance the taste in case the taste was too bland.

The egg yolk batter was lovely, with a light tinge of blue. The colour lightened afterit was blueberry blue (I do not know of a better way to describe the colour!) and the colour lightened after folding in the egg whites.

The result? It was good. The texture was just right, soft and moist and it had a light hint of blueberry taste but I felt it could be stronger. Generally I find chiffon cakes with raising agent tend to be softer. The downside is they tend to get deformed easily and it's not chemical-free. :)

Don't be mistaken by the little blue dots and thought the cake is mouldy. :P They are the bits of blueberry puree.

Ingredients:

3 medium egg yolks (original recipe stated 2, it could be referring to large eggs)

20 ml oil

40g fresh blueberries

1 tbsp water (to be blended with the blueberries)

20g caster sugar

40g self-raising flour

3 medium size egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

40g caster sugar

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180.
2. Blend fresh blueberries and 1 tbsp of water in a blender to get a blueberry puree.
3. Beat egg yolks with a whisk, add in oil, blueberry puree and caster sugar and mix well.
4. Add in self-raising flour (sifted) into the mixture and beat lightly to form the egg yolk batter. Set aside.
5. Pour egg whites in a large mixing bowl. The bowl must be clean without any grease. Add cream of tartar.
6. Using a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, beat egg whites using high speed. Add sugar gradually and continue beating until stiff peaks is formed.
7. Fold egg whites in three separate additions into egg yolk mixture in light and swift movements. Mix until the egg whites and egg yolk batter is well corporated.
8. Pour batter into a chiffon tube pan (17-inch pan) and bake for about 30 minutes.
9. When done, invert the chiffon cake pan to let it cool before unmoulding from the pan.
   

Recipe adapted from: Kelvin Chai - Chiffon Cake is Done

I'm submitting this entry to this month's Aspiring Baker#5 : Fruity March (March 2011).

Well, i know chiffon cake is nothing new but I hope this blueberry chiffon cake with little black dots can give you new inspirations. ;)

Marble Butter Cake

December till March is always the time of the year I love most. It's a time of festive season, crossing over to the new year of resolution and a fresh start, then we have the Chinese New Year, followed by Valentine's day and my birthday which falls at the end of February. :) It's the time when friends and families would make it a point to get together, have a good meal, be it Christmas, Chinese New Year... and it's a time with lots of baking!! :D

It's the time of the year when I can still have the excuse to go shopping, to eat and indulge a little without feeling guilty, because once March kicks in, I know that hey, I've had all the fun and it's time to get serious and work hard (smart?). Less excuse not to work overtime (if need be), no more excuse not to exercise and keep myself in shape...

The first week of March has passed, and I've got to face the reality. It's also time for me to make an appointment with the bridal studio for gown fitting soon :) , and I've told myself that after February, I must put in effort to stay trim and fit! But... looks like I've not. Good food is too hard to resist :P Anyhow, this post is dedicated to the marble butter cake I baked for my birthday. Since last year, I have stopped asking for a sara lee pound cake from my mum. Instead I chosed to bake my own. I don't really like butter cakes but since my mum like it, I baked it as a treat for her. I've added a pink colouring to create a three tone marble cake. I think it looks pretty but from the photos it's not very obvious. These are two of the best photos I managed to take. ;)

I wanted to try a new butter cake recipe from Okashi Treats" by keiko ishida but in the end I took the recipe from Aunty Yochana's tri-colour marble cake as I wanted to use the self-raising flour which I hardly use.

The result is lovely. Soft, tight crumbs and very buttery smell.

Of course, I had my birthday cake as well, eaten three birthday cakes for my birthday! How can I keep trim? :P