No Fail Pandan Chiffon Cake: Step by Step Guide {with VIDEO}

Rich with Asian flavours of coconut milk and pandan juice, this pandan chiffon cake is moist, light and fluffy. Get tips on how to make the perfect chiffon cake, as well as how to identify and troubleshoot common chiffon cake problems.

Today, we’re going to bake up a unique and extraordinary dessert – a pandan chiffon cake. It’s an iconic South-East Asian treat and hailed as Singapore’s national cake.

Since I first posted this pandan chiffon cake recipe, I’ve received so many wonderful reviews over the years. In fact, you guys have turned this into my most popular cake recipe on the blog.

But as pleased as I am with the original recipe, I just knew that I could up the ante. I wanted this pandan cake recipe to turn out consistently well for my readers, yielding an even softer, fluffier and tastier pandan chiffon cake than before.

After a series of updates on chiffon cake recipes, I’m super excited to run this by you guys. I think this is my best pandan chiffon cake yet but I’ll let you be the judge – let me know in your comments!

Is a chiffon cake a sponge cake?

Both sponge cakes and chiffon cakes are types of foam cakes. Foam cakes or foam cake batters rely heavily on whipped eggs to give them a light and airy crumb.

Sponge cakes are made with either whole or separated whipped eggs, while chiffon cakes and angel food cakes rely primarily on whipped egg whites to rise.

Also, unlike butter cakes which rely heavily on leavening agents like baking powder or baking soda to rise, both sponge cakes and chiffon cakes use little to no leavening.

In the absence of leavening agents, whipped eggs or whipped egg whites containing trapped air bubbles heat up and expand during the baking process. This expansion helps the cakes to rise tall and lofty, creating an open, light and fluffy crumb.

However, it is not uncommon to see both chiffon and sponge cake recipes that do use some leavening to ensure a good and even rise.

Perhaps, the most important difference between chiffon cakes and sponge cakes are that chiffon cakes need to be inverted immediately once the pan is taken out of the oven, while sponge cakes do not.

By ‘hanging’ upside down in their tube or chiffon pan, a chiffon cake sets into a loose and airy crumb as it cools (thanks to gravity).

Thus giving rise to the iconic appearance of a chiffon cake served upside down on it’s top where it’s wider, and naturally more stable as well.

What is pandan chiffon cake?

A pandan chiffon cake is a light and fluffy chiffon cake flavoured with the juices of pandanus leaves (also known as screw pine leaves) and commonly, with coconut milk as well. The pandanus juice is what gives this cake it’s unmistakable green colour.

In fact, wherever you find dessert recipes using pandan juice, you’ll often see coconut milk because it pairs wonderfully well with pandan juice and adds a sweet and creamy richness.

Like most chiffon cakes, the pandan chiffon cake or pandan cake is made with eggs, sugar, flour and moistened with oil, pandan juice and coconut milk.

You may also find some pandan cake recipes that use a bit of leavening, commonly baking powder, to give the cake added lift.

What is pandan?

Pandan refers to a herbaceous tropical plant native to South-East Asia. Its unique flavour and sweet fragrance makes it popular for cooking and baking.

When making pandan chiffon cake, pandan cake or any other cake or dessert that’s flavoured with pandan, we use the juices extracted from pandanus leaves. Pandan juice will infuse any cake batter or dough with a lovely green hue and aroma.

So, you’re probably getting the gist of how we use pandan juice as a natural flavouring and colouring ingredient. In Asian cooking, we wrap savoury foods like meat and sticky rice with pandan leaves as well.

And if we want the flavour and fragrance without the colour, we can also use whole pandan leaves to infuse sweet soups and liquids.

What does pandan cake taste like?

Honestly, the pandan flavour is difficult to describe but one you’ll never forget once you’ve tasted it.

Some say that pandan juice itself tastes like an earthy version of vanilla with a hint of coconut. When paired with coconut milk, the pandan flavour takes on a rich and creamy sweetness.

For this pandan chiffon recipe update, I’ve kept the flavours light, fresh and bold using natural pandan juice as well as pandan paste.

The recipe also maintains a perfect balance of coconut milk and pandan flavouring and isn’t overly sweet. This is simply how my family enjoys our pandan cake but you can always tweak it to suit your taste buds.

Though if you prefer a richer tasting cake, I’ve also included a tip below on how to make the pandan flavour even bolder.

Ingredients for pandan chiffon cake

A pandan chiffon cake has two parts to making the batter. The meringue is a beaten mixture of egg whites with sugar, often stabilised with cream of tartar or vinegar.

The rest of the ingredients make up a thick yolk batter. This mixture is made with eggs yolks, liquids, flavourings or extracts, sugar, oil and flour.

Ingredients for the meringue

• egg whites. When whipped with sugar, the egg whites trap lots of air bubbles giving a chiffon cake its volume and airiness.
• sugar. Cuts through the egg whites during the whipping process, thereby trapping lots of air bubbles.
• cream of tartar. Helps the egg whites to hold onto the trapped air bubbles so that the meringue whips up quicker and creates a stable, lofty and glossy state.

Ingredients for the yolk batter

• cake flour. We use cake flour for its lower protein content. It creates a chiffon cake with a fine and tender crumb. These days, you can find cake flour in most supermarket aisles. It’s also easy to make cake flour from scratch with plain flour and corn starch.
• baking powder. Leavens the batter and gives the chiffon cake added lift.
• salt. Balances the sweetness of the sugar and enhances the flavour of the cake.
• egg yolks. Adds flavour, colour and moisture. Also, egg yolks are a natural emulsifier. They help bind liquids and fats in a cake batter.
• sugar. Use regular granulated sugar or caster sugar.
• coconut milk. Canned, boxed or fresh coconut milk works well. Fresh coconut milk can be hard to get your hands on, depending on where you live. I highly recommend using canned or boxed. My favourite brands are KARA (boxed) and Aroy-D (canned).
• pandan juice (or pandan extract). If you can get fresh or frozen pandan leaves, you can extract natural pandan juice (I’ve included step-by-step instructions below on how to do this).
• pandan paste. I add pandan paste to infuse the cake with a bolder pandan flavour and colour.
• oil. Oil, not butter, is what makes a chiffon cake extra moist. Unlike butter cakes, chiffon cakes made with oil stay soft and moist at room temperature without drying out.

Step-by-step: How to make a pandan chiffon cake

If you’ve got fresh or frozen pandan leaves, these are the steps to extract natural pandan juice or natural pandan extract.

However, it’s not a must to use pandan juice to make a pandan chiffon cake. Especially if it’s hard to get your hands on some.

You can use pandan paste or pandan essence for flavouring and replace the pandan juice with an equal amount of water, milk or coconut milk.

Part 1: Extract pandan juice / pandan extract

• Cut cleaned pandan leaves into 2-cm (1-inch) sections.
• Place into a blender or food processor and add water.
• Process into a fine pulp.
• Scoop out the pulp into a metal sieve, placed over a bowl to catch the juices.
• Press against the pulp, with the back of a metal spoon to strain the juices.
• Set aside the amount needed. Store the rest in an air-tight jar and keep chilled for up to 5 days.

For a more distinct pandan flavour, you can get pandan juice in a more concentrated form closer to a pandan extract. Here’s how:

Tip: How to get natural pandan extract

1. Extract natural pandan juice (Steps 1 to 6 above). Store in an air-tight jar or container in the refrigerator.
2. Leave the juice to sit undisturbed overnight or at least 18 to 20 hours in the chiller. With time, the water will separate and the darker green sediment will settle at the bottom – this is the natural pandan extract.
3. Without disturbing the sediment, carefully scoop out or pour away the water leaving behind the pandan extract.
4. When pouring away the water, make sure you have enough pandan extract for the recipe.
5. Store the leftover pandan extract in the refrigerator and use within 3 days for best results.

Tip: How can I make pandan flavour even bolder?

• Use natural pandan extract in place of pandan juice.
• Add pandan paste, between 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon or more as desired. Please note that pandan paste has added colouring, so the more you add, the more vivid the colour.

Part 2: Make the yolk batter

• Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Step 2: Stir in the coconut milk, oil, pandan juice and pandan paste. Stir with a whisk until until well combined.
• Steps 3 & 4: Add the sifted flour mixture in 2 additions.
• Steps 5 & 6: Stir with a whisk until all the flour is incorporated and no streaks of flour are visible. The mixture should be thick, smooth and free of lumps.

Part 3: Beat the meringue

The meringue is the most important aspect of a chiffon cake. Whipping the meringue to stiff peaks is crucial to the final texture, but it can get a little tricky at times.

Before whipping up the meringue, be sure to use a mixing bowl that is dry and free of any grease.

How to check that the meringue is at the stiff peak stage: When you lift the whisk or beaters, the meringue should hold a firm shape from the base to the tip. At the tip, the meringue should droop just a bit like a small hook (see photo #4 below).

• Step 1: In an electric mixer fited with a whisk attachment, pour in egg whites and sprinkle cream of tartar over.
• Step 2: Whisk on medium speed until the whites start to turn frothy.
• Step 3: Add sugar bit by bit in a steady stream.
• Step 4: Whip until stiff peaks form. This may take 5 to 7 minutes, depending on your mixer and speed.

Part 4: Fold the meringue into the yolk batter

• Steps 1 & 2: Add ⅓ of meringue (whipped egg whites with sugar) to the batter. Fold in gently with a whisk until well incorporated.
• Steps 3 & 4: Add another ⅓ of the meringue and again, fold in gently in a uniform and consistent motion.
• Steps 5 & 6: Add the remaining meringue and fold in gently. The final batter should feel light, and have no visible streaks of meringue.

Part 5: Fill the pan and bake

Fill the pan

Pour the pandan cake batter into the chiffon tube pan from one place, letting it spread to fill the pan.

Gently run a thin spatula in an ‘S’ motion throughout the batter to help reduce large air pockets.

Then smooth and level the surface and give the pan a few taps on the countertop to minimise air pockets.

Bake

Bake on the lowest rack in an oven preheated to 170°C (338°F) for 45 to 50 minutes or until done. DO NOT open the oven door.

If you must, take a peek about 5 minutes before the end of baking to check for doneness. Insert a metal skewer into the centre of the cake. When it comes out free of crumbs, the cake is done. 

Note: A bit of cracking on the surface of the cake as it bakes is perfectly alright!

Invert the chiffon cake pan and cool

Once out of the oven, immediately invert the chiffon tube pan with its funnel over the neck of a bottle.

If your tube pan has ‘feet’ like the one I use, simply invert over a cooling rack. Chiffon cakes need to ‘hang’ until completely cooled.

To release the pandan chiffon cake, run an offset spatula gently around the sides of the pan. To do this cleanly, press the blade against the pan. Next, invert the pan again so that the bottom is now facing up.

Gently tap or push the pan’s base to loosen the pandan cake from the sides of the pan. Then run the offset spatula around the base to release the funnel. A chiffon cake is almost always served ‘upside-down’.

Tips to make the perfect chiffon cake

1. Use the right pan. To get that open, airy and fluffy chiffon texture, it’s best to use a chiffon pan, tube pan or angel food pan.
2. Use the recommended pan size. As a general guideline, you’ll want to fill the chiffon pan no more than three-quarters full.
3. Bake with room temperature ingredients. If you have cold eggs or milk, bring them to room temperature. For example, egg whites do not whip up to their optimal volume when cold.
4. Sift dry ingredients together. This allows the leavening agents like baking powder, baking soda and salt to distribute uniformly throughout the flour. This allows the cake to bake evenly with a smooth and fine cake crumb. Do not add the cream of tartar here.
5. Beat the meringue correctly. If the meringue is under-whipped, it lacks volume causing the chiffon cake to bake up short and dense. But a meringue that’s too stiff, on the other hand, tends to clump and requires more mixing to incorporate. This could cause the meringue to deflate and lose those tightly trapped air bubbles.
6. Fold with a whisk. Using a whisk to fold the meringue into the yolk batter ensures minimal loss of volume. Because of its shape and structure, a whisk also helps eliminate large air pockets in the cake batter.
7. Avoid over-mixing the batter. An over-mixed batter results in a chiffon cake that lacks height and volume and a dense crumb – not the light, airy and fluffy texture we want!
8. Invert the chiffon cake immediately. Once removed from the oven, immediately invert the chiffon pan. The chiffon cake needs to ‘hang’ upside down so gravity can do its thing. This way, you get a light, airy and fluffy texture.

Don’t have the right chiffon pan size? I’ve got you covered!

This is the most frequently asked question I’ve received over the years so I’ve finally included a section here on recipe adjustments you can use to fit the most common chiffon pan sizes.

While I try to be exhaustive, you may have a chiffon pan size that falls somewhere in between the pan sizes listed below.

What I recommend is that you use the ingredient amounts for the size that’s slightly smaller. For example, if you have a 7.5-inch chiffon pan, try the 4 eggs chiffon cake recipe intended for a 7-inch pan.

6-inch/16-cm chiffon pan:

• 3 large eggs, separated
• 65 g sugar (30 g for yolks, 35 g for whites)
• 50 ml coconut milk
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tsp pandan juice (or substitute with water, milk or coconut milk)
• ¼ – ½ tsp pandan paste (to your liking)
• 60 g cake flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp salt. 
• ¼ tsp cream of tartar
• Baking time: 35 – 40 minutes

7-inch/18-cm chiffon pan:

• 4 large eggs, separated
• 80 g caster sugar (40 g for yolks, 45 g for whites)
• 70 ml coconut milk
• 40 ml oil (2 tbsp + 2 tsp)
• 2 tsp pandan juice (or substitute with water, milk or coconut milk)
• ¾ tsp pandan paste
• 80 g cake flour
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cream of tartar
• Baking time: 40 – 45 minutes

9-inch/23-cm chiffon pan:

• 6 eggs, separated
• 125 g sugar (50 g for yolks, 75 g for whites)
• 120 ml coconut milk
• 60 ml oil (4 tbsp)
• 1 tbsp pandan juice (or substitute with water, milk or coconut milk)
• 1 tsp pandan paste
• 120 g cake flour
• 1¼ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp cream of tartar
• Baking time: 50 – 55 minutes

10-inch/25-cm chiffon pan:

• 7 eggs, separated
• 145 g sugar (65 g for yolks, 80 g for whites)
• 120 ml coconut milk
• 20 ml pandan juice (or substitute with water, milk or coconut milk)
• 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp)
• 1¼ – 1½ tsp pandan paste
• 140 g cake flour
• ¼ + ⅛ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp cream of tartar
• Baking time: 55 – 60 minutes

Why chiffon cakes go wrong: Troubleshooting tips

Here are common problems you may face when baking a chiffon cake, especially if it’s your first time. Do take the time to read through these troubleshooting tips so you can avoid the usual pitfalls.

Sometimes, a few factors, not just one, can be behind a chiffon cake that didn’t turn out well.

I’ve found it takes practice and experience to recognise what went wrong. Be patient with yourself and you’ll find diagnosing failed chiffon cakes get easier.

My chiffon cake didn’t rise properly

• Use a chiffon pan. Chiffon cakes rise best in a two-piece chiffon pan or tube pan made of aluminium. This is because a chiffon cake needs to cling to the walls and funnel of the pan to climb. You cannot use a non-stick cake pan and expect the cake to stay tall even if it rises during the baking process. Once removed from the oven, the chiffon cake will deflate, shrink and fall out of a non-stick pan when inverted.
• Never grease a chiffon pan. For the same reasons we can’t use non-stick pans, do not grease the chiffon pan as the grease acts effectively as a non-stick coating.
• Check to see baking powder/baking soda is still active. Although chiffon cakes not need leavening agents to rise and rely primarily on whipped eggs for aeration, baking powder or baking soda is simply there to make sure that the cake gets a good rise.
• Beat the meringue correctly. Check my tip above on how to correctly beat a meringue and recognise stiff peaks.

Chiffon cake rose but deflated before it finished baking/after baking.

• Oven is too hot. This causes the cake to rise too quickly, creating an unstable structure so the cake deflates or collapses before the rest of the cake has baked through. I recommend using an oven thermometer to check that the internal oven temperature is at the suggested baking temperature.
• Cake pan is too close to the top. Avoid placing the chiffon pan too close to the top of the oven. You should have at least 4 – 6 inches of space between top of the pan and the top heating element. Some pans may also be too big for the oven, especially if yours is a counter-top one. In this case, it would be better to adjust the recipe to bake in a smaller chiffon pan.
• Too much cake batter. If you over-fill a chiffon pan, it will not run out of room up the sides of the pan and the funnel to cling to as the batter rises. Instead, the expanding hot air will create an upward pressure in the centre causing the cake to dome too much. Lacking stability, the dome collapses on itself.

Chiffon cake turned out dry

• Egg whites were over-whipped. If you followed the recipe amounts exactly, then you may have over-whipped the egg whites. 
• Use oil not butter/margarine. Unlike butter which contains 20% fat (the rest is water), oil is 100% fat and is liquid at room temperature. This is why chiffon cakes remain moist and tender on the counter for days without drying out.

My chiffon cake turned out dense and heavy

• Egg whites did not reach stiff peaks. An under-whipped meringue lacks optimal aeration and volume, hence causing the chiffon cake to bake up short with a dense and heavy crumb.
• Egg whites beaten too stiff. On the other hand, an over whipped meringue is harder to incorporate into the yolk batter because it tends to form clumps. If you fold too many times, the meringue deflates and loses precious trapped air bubbles.

My chiffon cake has the right texture but baked up short

• Use large eggs. Large eggs mean more egg whites by volume, hence more trapped air bubbles.
• Not enough cake batter. If the cake batter fills up to only half or two-thirds of the chiffon pan, you’ll end up with a short chiffon cake. To get a good height, the batter should fill three-quarters of the pan (though I have had a successful rise with filling a chiffon pan 7/8 full).

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are more recipes to inspire you:

• Marble Chiffon Cake with Cocoa and Vanilla Swirls
• Matcha Chiffon Cake
• Vanilla Chiffon Cake + Tips for the Perfect Chiffon Bake
• Cotton-Soft Chocolate Chiffon Cake {Recipe Update!}
• Coffee Chiffon Cake with the Perfect Coffee Buttercream Frosting
• Beautiful Orange Chiffon Cake: Fresh & Zesty Citrus Flavour!
• Homemade Nonya Kaya (Coconut Jam)
• Sweet Mung Bean Soup with Sago Pearls
• Pandan Raisin Bread with Crumble Topping