This is the first chiffon cake i made and the reason why it became this way is not because i didn't bake or cool it properly. I did! But i found out that the culprit is my new 3-legged pan (my old pan didn't have any legs..hahaha)!! It is not a good idea to cool the pan using the 3 legs because the weight of the centre might be too heavy for the cake causing it to collapse and fall out! The best solution is always invert the cake onto a bottle right in the centre tube focusing the weight on the centre instead. This way, the cake will not fall out. Ask me how i found out..
And because i was trying to conclude if my theory was correct, i proceeded to bake 3 more chiffon cakes.. LOL! Green Tea Chiffon, Lemon Chiffon (again! since the above collapsed for nothing due to the stupid pan!..hahaha) and Banana Walnut Chiffon.
I proved my finding correct after all my 3 cakes turned out alright and didn't fall out of the pan! :))
Green Tea Chiffon, Banana-Walnut Chiffon & Lemon Chiffon. Flavor wise, Lemon Chiffon still taste the best, followed by Banana Walnut Chiffon. As for green tea, i think i didn't put enough green tea powder so the taste wasn't as strong as i would like it to be. Texture wise, these chiffon cakes are wonderful, moist and fluffy.
Loving the above chiffon cakes i made 2 weeks back, I decided to make mango chiffon using the base recipe for Chinese New Year. I replaced the liquid portion with mango puree. However, I think i didn't put enough mango puree because the mango flavor was too subtle for my liking. Maybe next time i should add mango essence as well. But the next day, the mango flavor seems to have deepened and taste stronger...
Mango Chiffon Cake in my cake container/carrier. Loving this cake container/carrier and so far the best i've seen by far. This is the only cake carrier that i found that is air-tight and tall enough as well. In Singapore, everything needs to be airtight, least the ants will find its way into the container.
Mango Chiffon cake..oh..with some nuts..i think it's hazelnuts and walnuts..i just added in any crushed nuts that i had available..LOL!
Wishing everyone a Happy & Prosperous New Year!
8 comments:
They look like they've got great texture. I would especially like to try the mango one. Happy New Year! xx
Those are some great looking chiffon cakes!
I think I'm not following you on inverting the pan on a bottle instead of the 3 legs: if the pan is upside down, the forces on the cake should be the same whether it's balanced on something in the center cone or on the little legs. Is it something in the cooling process, where the bottle approach puts the pan higher off the counter?
Thanks Sarah! :D
Hi Nancy! The new pan that i have, the centre tube when inverted is shorter than it's 3 legs so that the entire weight rest on the 3 legs and not on the centre. Since it is removable centre tube, the centre will drop (unless there is batter leaking in between the gap between the centre tube and the round pan causing it to stick firmly together..but if not the centre will start to separate from the round pan and push it's weight down). It almost happened again when tried to cool with just the 3-legs for my green tea chiffon and saw the centre tube pressing down the cake causing it to start separating from the sides.. So immediately i did my usual way, put the centre tube to stand inverted on a bottle. That way, the weight is on the centre and the round pan just rest on the centre tube so the cake will not have any added weight to it when it is cooling.. Not sure if i explained clearly enough..:p
Wow you cakes are perfect. I've been baking the chiffon (and angel) cakes from the same book and I've had the same problem: They fall out as soon as I turn it upside down. I don't have a removeable centre, so I'm afraid your tip doesn't help me out. I've noticed your cakes have a real nice brown side, mine didn't have that (even though I keep them longer in the oven), they just seem to wet.
Did you alter anything in the recipe (bakingtime, amount of water ecc.)?
Hi Lien! I didn't change the recipe or reduce the water content in the recipe. This recipe does seem to have lots of water (i suppose that's why it's moist?) but it works for me. Did you beat the egg yolk mixture until really fluffy? I know some other recipes doesn't really need to beat the yolk mixture very fully. It could be because of your pan? I thought all angel cake/chiffon cake pan has a removable centre? Otherwise how do you take out the cake from your pan? I think i baked maybe 5 or 10mins longer than the stated time ...
Thanks for your reply. My angelfood pan has no removable centre, nor removable bottom. I place a ring of baking parchment on the bottom and that's it. When it's cooled (angelcakes were not that moist and came out great) I loosen the sides with a spatula and then it comes out. Maybe my oven isn't as hot as it should. I'll keep baking until I find out what the trick is. Thanks!
(they're still delicious even though half the height:))
I have got to buy myself a copy of that book! Your cakes look so delicious! Will be back for more ;)
Your cakes look great. You are absolutely right about letting the cakes cool down by inverting on a bottle. Works every time.:)
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