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!
Table of contents
- Is a chiffon cake a sponge cake?
- What is pandan chiffon cake?
- What is pandan?
- What does pandan cake taste like?
- Ingredients for pandan chiffon cake
- Step-by-step: How to make a pandan chiffon cake
- Tips to make the perfect chiffon cake
- Don’t have the right chiffon pan size? I’ve got you covered!
- Why chiffon cakes go wrong: Troubleshooting tips
- Frequently Asked Questions
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
- Extract natural pandan juice (Steps 1 to 6 above). Store in an air-tight jar or container in the refrigerator.
- 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.
- Without disturbing the sediment, carefully scoop out or pour away the water leaving behind the pandan extract.
- When pouring away the water, make sure you have enough pandan extract for the recipe.
- 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
- 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.
- Use the recommended pan size. As a general guideline, you’ll want to fill the chiffon pan no more than three-quarters full.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!
- 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
Chiffon cakes are best baked in a chiffon tube pan that is not coated with a non-stick layer. This is because the batter needs to cling to the sides of the pan as it rises, which is what gives the cake its height and airy crumb.
The best pans are made of aluminium with a removable base. In general, baking in dark-tinted pans will give you a dark coloured crust, while light-tinted pans will yield a light coloured crust. Be careful with dark-tinted pans as they could have a non-stick coating, so avoid these for chiffon cakes.
Also, do not grease the pan for the same reasons that you would not bake in a non-stick cake pan.
Please have a look at the adjusted recipe amounts I’ve provided above for the most common chiffon cake pan sizes.
You need to use the right pan size if you want the cake to rise tall and fluffy. A general rule of thumb is that the cake batter should not fill more than 3/4 of the pan’s capacity. The remaining batter can be baked subsequently in cupcake or muffin moulds lined with paper liners.
When you lift the
You can also test if the meringue is stiff enough by slowly inverting the bowl. If the meringue shifts or slides even slightly, it is not yet at the stiff peaks stage. Continue whipping at medium speed in short intervals and test. Once the meringue sticks firm to the bowl when the bowl is fully inverted, it is stiff enough.
A pandan chiffon cake will keep well at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, including the day it is baked.
Due to the coconut milk content, this cake is best kept in an air-tight container and chilled to extend its freshness. Pull it from the chiller at least 20 minutes before serving, though it’s also really enjoyable when eaten chilled.
Chiffon cakes, in general, are suited to freezing for up to two months. To freeze, allow the cake to cool completely. Wrap it loosely, but completely sealed, in several layers of cling wrap so as not to damage its shape. Then, wrap in a final layer of aluminium foil, and place it in the freezer.
On the day, thaw out the frozen cake at room temperature for 2-3 hours, or until it comes to room temperature.
Save for Later:No-Fail Pandan Chiffon Cake
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No Fail Pandan Chiffon Cake {with Video}
Ingredients
For the pandan juice:
- 10 pandan leaves washed and cut into 2-cm lengths
- 5 – 6 tbsp water
For the batter:
- 5 egg yolks
- 45 g caster sugar
- 85 ml coconut milk I recommend KARA brand
- 3 tbsp plus 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp pandan juice
- ¾ – 1 tsp pandan paste
- 100 g cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
For the meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 55 g caster sugar
Instructions
Make pandan juice:
- Place chopped pandan leaves into a blender or food processor and add water. Process to a pulp. Note: Depending on your blender, you may need to add 1 – 2 tbsp more of water to get the blades turning well enough to process.
- Place the pulp in a metal strainer. Press the back of a spoon against it to obtain the juice. Set aside 1 tbsp. The leftover can be kept chilled.
Make the batter:
- Preheat oven to 170°C (338°F). Position the oven rack on the lowest in the oven.
- Have a 20-cm (8-inch) chiffon tube pan ready. DO NOT GREASE.
- Sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate, large mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until thick and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the coconut milk, oil, pandan juice and pandan paste. Stir with a whisk until until well combined.
- Add the sifted flour mixture in 2 additions. 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.
Make the meringue:
- Fit an electric mixer with a whisk attachment. In a dry, grease-free mixer bowl, pour in egg whites and sprinkle cream of tartar over.
- Whisk on medium speed (speed 4 on my Kitchen Aid). When the egg whites become frothy, add sugar bit by bit in a steady stream. Whip until stiff peaks form. This may take 5 to 7 minutes, depending on your mixer and speed.
Fold the meringue into the batter:
- Add ⅓ of meringue (whipped egg whites with sugar) to the batter. Fold in gently with a whisk until well incorporated.
- Add another ⅓ of the meringue and again, fold in gently.
- Add the remaining meringue and fold in gently. The final batter should feel light, and have no visible streaks of meringue.
- Pour into the chiffon tube pan from one place, and let the batter spread to fill the pan.
- Gently run a thin spatula in an ‘S’ motion throughout the batter to reduce large air pockets. Smooth and level the surface. Give the pan a few taps on the counter top to minimise air pockets.
Baking and cooling:
- Bake on the lowest rack in the oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until done. DO NOT open the oven door. Only do so about 5 minutes before the end of baking, to test if done. The cake is done when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Note: A bit of cracking on the surface of the cake as it bakes is perfectly alright!
- Immediately invert the pan over a bottle neck once it is removed from the oven. Allow it to ‘hang’ until completely cooled.
- To release the cake, run an offset spatula gently around the sides of the pan, pressing against the pan as much as possible.
- Then invert the pan again so that the bottom is now facing up. Gently tap or push the pan’s base to loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Then run the spatula around the base to release the funnel.
- Chiffon cake is served ‘upside-down’.
Thank you for sharing the pandan chiffon recipe, the cake was moist and was delicious with the right amount of sugar. My family and friends all loved it.
I have tried all other recipes online but they failed but your recipe was perfect. I used Wilton angel 7inch chiffon pan with feet.
Hi Celia,
Since this is home baked, it would be better if all natural pandan extract is used instead of adding artificial pandan paste which consists of harmful chemicals.
Just a suggestion.
Ong
Thank you for the suggestion, Veron! The choice to omit the pandan extract or paste is a personal one, it’s there in the recipe so home bakers who can’t access fresh pandan leaves where they live know that there’s always the option to use the extract.
I’ve tried 5 other pandan chiffon cake recipes and they all failed. This time – SUCCESS! The 5-7 min whisking of the merange made the difference (It’s too hard to judge if it is firm or stiff peak). Previously I stoped after 3 mins thinking I had the firm peak so the cake didn’t rise. Now it rises over the top of the tin.
Thank you.
Hi Celia,
Can I use this same recipe if I only have a 10 inch chiffon tube pan?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Cris, I have included the recipe adjustments for a 10-inch chiffon pan in the main content of the post. That way, you can make enough batter to have a nice, tall chiffon cake. Let me know if you have any questions!
Made this – just as titled – it doesn’t fail! Thank-you!
hi celia, i’ve tried baker this cake for my mama’s birthday and its so amazing….i even double the recipe and it was my first try…i’ve make chiffon cake with others recipe but not the same as this recipe…amazingly failproof…and we finished the cake in one sitting…i paired the cake with IMBC.
Hi Celia,
I have tried a few Pandan cake recipes and have found yours the best in terms of taste and texture. The only problem I have is the shape of the cake. When I remove the cake from the pan after cooling it down, it caves in a bit at the bottom half instead of standing tall. As such it doesn’t look so nice. What could be the cause of the issue and how can I fix it?
Thank you
Sock Hwei
Hi Sock Hwei, this sounds like a ‘waistline’ on the chiffon cake. When it comes to chiffon cakes, there are always a few possible causes and you’ll have to do a process of elimination to see which factor could be the cause.
Possible causes: (1) too short a baking time (try extending the baking time by 5 to 10 minutes); (2) too much egg whites or water (try using smaller eggs which means less water content from the egg whites); (3) under-whipped meringue (egg whites could be slightly under-whipped – do the inverted bowl test. If the meringue doesn’t shift and sticks firmly to the bowl when you overturn it, it’s stiff enough). Hopefully this helps you! Do note that sometimes, it can be more than one cause affecting the outcome. Let me know how you work it through, I’d love to know!
Hi, I’ve followed your recipe to a T 10+ times now, and each time the cake turns out beautifully. However, I have 2 aluminium chiffon tube cake moulds (one detachable at the bottom and one non-detachable) – I have found that the non-detachable one always has my cake falling out in no time whenever I invert it to cool done so it becomes a yummy but ugly mess… Whereas, the detachable mould doesn’t have the cake falling out when cooling upside down. Was wondering if you had any tips to prevent the cake from falling out? Moulds are made if aluminium and are not greased. Thanks!
Hi Teresa! Thank you for writing in, my sincere apologies for a delayed reply due to my overseas travel. I don’t have a sure answer for you, though I can say that I have had this happen with different chiffon pans I used as well (and they’re both the loose-bottomed type). I eventually replaced the one that was giving me problems (cake slipping out ever so slowly as it cooled in an inverted position, but it slipped out nonetheless) and had no problems since with the new one. My old pan was 20 years old, so I figured that constant use had taken it’s toll.
I do think that chiffon pans made with different materials do bake differently, and there’s no way to know if the pan conducts and transfers heat equally as another. The one thing I have done is use smaller eggs (which would affect the amount of liquid in the recipe by reducing it a bit), or lengthening the baking time (to cook off a bit more moisture – same intention, to reduce the amount of liquid). That has helped me avoid the issue of chiffon cakes slipping out in most cases. I hope this helps you! If you do try it again, please let me know how it works out – I’d love to know!
I had success with this recipe where a previous one failed. This is super soft and delicious. Great that there is different quantities for different pan sizes too
Thank you for leaving a review, Stephanie! I’m so thrilled you love it!
Hi, can I use sugar replacement in this recipe?
Hi Phoebe, I’m not sure which sugar replacement you have in mind. I would advise to stick with caster sugar or regular granulated sugar because you need the fine sugar particles to cut through the egg whites and trap air bubbles.
This is to ensure the egg whites can be whipped to their optimal volume so that the chiffon cake has the best chance of baking up airy and fluffy.
Hello,
Can you please clarify if sugar used is castor sugar. The ingredients list sugar but the bottom it reads castor sugar.
Taking a go at this; thank you for sharing.
Hi Claudina, thank you for pointing that out. It should have read caster sugar (it’s extra fine particles is preferred for whipping meringues, creaming butter, etc.) though if you can’t or don’t have any on hand, regular sugar will work well too.
I really want to make this cake for my birthday, but I only have a non-stick 23cm bundt pan! If I line it with foil will that undo the non-stick qualities…?
Hi Luci, I’d really love you to try this cake but I’ve never tried the foil technique, so I can’t say. I would be so sad if this doesn’t work out for you, especially when it’s for your birthday. Chiffon cakes would simply not work out well when baked in bundt pans as they’re quite delicate and tender. You might even have better chances baking the batter in regular cake pans.
If you do chance upon a couple of regular cake pans (maybe borrow from a neighbour?), do not grease the sides but grease the bottom SPARINGLY ONLY (grease with oil and use a paper towel to wipe off the excess). You must still invert the cake immediately out of the oven as per the recipe instructions and let it hang until the cake cools. But removing the cake can be a bit tricky, so tap lightly on the bottom of the pan, repeatedly, while it’s inverted to gently loosen the cake.
I’m sorry I can’t be of more help. I want to take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy Birthday, Luci!
Thanks for your advice Celia! I ended up giving it a go with my horrendous foil idea and despite looking a little wonky, it was all cooked through and tasted divine!! Since I’ll probably be making this again I think I’ll invest in a chiffon tube pan.
Thank you so much, I had an excellent birthday with a great cake.
Hello, just wanted to ask if I can use this recipe and make it into a 3 layer cake? Thank you.
Hello Mel, I’ve not tried making this recipe as a layer cake as it would require baking in regular cake pans and not a chiffon pan (unless you wouldn’t mind a chiffon-shaped cake sliced into 3 layers). Technically, the texture of the chiffon is best (airy and fluffy) when it can be inverted. So if you plan to bake the batter in a regular cake pan, aluminium pans without non-stick coating work best. Do not grease the sides but you can grease the bottom SPARINGLY ONLY (grease with oil and use a paper towel to wipe off the excess) and invert the cake immediately out of the oven as per the recipe instructions. But removing the cake can be a bit tricky, so tap on the base lightly and repeatedly to gently loosen the cake off the base. Hope this helps! I’d love to know how it works out if you try it.
Dear Cecilia
Thank you for the recipe . It turned out well and it is the best pandan chiffon cake . Unfortunately I was a bit impatient and a small part broke away, hence no photo
Can I bake in an aluminium pan (square) so that I can try the ondeh ondeh version with gula fillings. Thanks
This was the first time I ever made a Chiffon cake, and the first time I ever used Pandan leaf flavor in cooking. The recipe is so well written, that the cake was amazing!! I topped it with a coconut cream/ pandan glaze and it looked as impressive as it tasted!!
Hi Nita, that’s so awesome – I’m thrilled for you! And that coconut cream/pandan glaze sounds absolutely divine! I appreciate the feedback and sharing, thank you so much!
I tried your recipe and am delighted to say my pandan cake turned out wonderfully delicious and fluffy. However, for some reason my cake only took 25 mins to cook on 170c which is a mystery to me. After reviewing your batter recipe, I realised that I only put 1 tbsp of oil instead of 3tbsp and 1tsp of oil so that might be why it took a lot shorter time to cook and the cake was a bit stuck on the tube tin.
My hubby and I were very pleased with the authentic result.
Thank you so much.
Hi Angie! That’s so wonderful to hear! Thank you for sharing your success with me! Every oven behaves differently and has hot spots – I’m glad you went with your gut and took out your cake when it was good and done. Congratulations!
Hi. Do u have the recipe for 21 or 22cm mould?
Hi Angela, you can either go with the 5-eggs recipe (for 20-cm chiffon pan) or the 6-eggs recipe (for 23-cm mould) I’ve provided in the post. If you have a 22-cm mould, you could get away with the 6-eggs recipe, but if you do end up with extra batter left over, you can bake them in a muffin pan lined with paper liners. Hope this helps, and let me know how you got on!
Thank you.
Thank you so much for the recipe! It looked daunting at first but it was a success! I used a 22cm cake tin and made double portion of your recipe😋
Celine, I’m so thrilled to hear this! Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your success with me!
Hi Celia. Thanks so much for the recipe for 18cm mould. The texture was perfect super soft and fluffy. However i find it lacking in pandan taste and has stronger coconut taste. Can I dilute the coconut milk more? Or use less coconut milk but add more pandan juice? Also the cake didn’t rise all the way up to the brim of the mould. It’s about 2cm shorter. Should I have used 5 eggs instead?
Hi Celia. I’m very keen to try your recipe but only have a 18cm mould. Do you have a recipe that can fit this size? Many thanks.
Hi Jay, you can try these adjustments for a 4-eggs recipe. For the yolk batter: 4 egg yolks; 35 g caster sugar; 70 ml coconut milk; 40 ml oil (2 tbsp + 2 tsp); 2 tsp pandan juice; ¼-½ tsp pandan paste; 80 g cake flour; ¾ tsp baking powder; ⅛ tsp salt. For the meringue: 4 egg whites; ½ tsp cream of tartar; 45 g caster sugar. Hope this works out, would appreciate if you could let me know!
Hi Celia, thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe – my first attempt at chiffon cake & it turned out beautiful! 😀 Will try the 6 egg recipe next as per your reply to one of the comments as my tube pan is 23cm diam. Look forward to trying your other recipes too.
Hi Susan, I’m so happy to hear it. Nothing beats the satisfaction of a first-time success – you totally nailed it. Thank you very much for taking the time to share. Happy baking and have a great week ahead!
Dear Celia, thank you for sharing this fab recipe. I e tried baking it 3x, but all 3x didn’t turn out tall. I follow your recipe closely. What could have gone wrong? Kindly advise, thank you.
Hi Jaslyn, I can think of a few possibilities if the cake didn’t rise quite as tall: (1) the meringue might have lost a bit of volume and deflated during the folding process, thereby losing some trapped air bubbles; (2) the meringue could have been slightly under-whipped so it hasn’t trapped as much air as it could; (3) may need to check if your baking powder is still active; (4) check the size of eggs you use – the recipe calls for large eggs (56 – 60 g, without shells); (5) Also, I use an 8-inch (20-cm) chiffon pan, so if your pan is a bit bigger, the cake won’t be as tall as what you see. I hope this helps you!
Hi Celia, your video and instructions are so clear that I feel confident enough to give your recipe a go :). I just have a few things to check first …
1) For a 16-cm tube pan, do we measure the diameter of the top or the bottom of the pan, as it is not of uniform cross-section?
2) Can the pandan paste be omitted? If yes, do I increase the amount of pandan juice and my how much?
3) Can the coconut milk be omitted or substituted?
Thanks.
Hi SY, thank you for your kind words! To answer your questions:-
(1) A chiffon pan is measured by its widest width, so that would be the top of the pan.
(2) You can omit the pandan paste. I recommend pandan paste or pandan essence because it gives a stronger pandan flavor. You can increase the pandan juice, but you need to decrease the amount of milk by the same amount to make sure the recipe ratios work well. For example, if you increase the pandan juice in the recipe from 1 tbsp to 2 tbsps (meaning you added 1 tbsp more), then you need to decrease the amount of milk by 1 tbsp.
(3) You can replace coconut milk with full-cream dairy milk or even water. However, the aroma and flavor of the pandan cake will definitely be different, not quite like the traditional pandan chiffon cake if you don’t mind it that way.
Hope this helps! Do let me know, I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Celia, if I have a 16cm mould for this chiffon cake … How should adjust the portion for it?
Hi Denise, a 16-cm chiffon pan can accommodate a 2-eggs or 3-eggs recipe, depending on the height of the pan. I’m giving you the amounts for both so you can try. Do let me know which fits your pan better!
For the 2-eggs batter:2 egg yolks; 20 g sugar; 35 ml coconut milk (2 tbsp + 1 tsp); 20 ml oil (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 2 tsp pandan juice; ¼ tsp pandan paste; 40 g cake flour; ½ tsp baking powder; pinch of salt. For the meringue: 2 egg whites; ¼ tsp cream of tartar; 20 g sugar.
For the 3-eggs batter: 3 egg yolks; 30 g sugar; 50 ml coconut milk; 2 tbsp oil; 2 tsp pandan juice; 1/4 to 1/2 tsp pandan paste (to your liking); 60 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/8 tsp salt. For the meringue: 3 egg whites; 1/4 tsp cream of tartar; 35 g sugar.
Hi Celia, thanks for your recipe, the pandan chiffon cake is delicious! Do you have the recipe for a gula melaka chiffon cake for a 9-inch pan?
Hi Jamie, thank you so much for sharing! I’ve got a gula melaka chiffon recipe in the works, you’ll be sure to know once it’s up (ps. you can sign up to receive my recipe updates, it’s free for everyone). Have a great weekend ahead!
Dear Celia, thank you for sharing the recipe. The Pandan chiffon cake turned out beautifully baked, browned, tall and fluffy. It’s delicious too. My family and friends love it. Thank you.
Hi Celia, thanks for the detailed recipe! I would like to try this recipe since I’ve never tried made any recipe with pandan before because I couldn’t get fresh pandan leaves at my place. I only can find pandan essence, emulco and paste at bakery store. Are those the same thing? Which one of those should I buy for this recipe?
Thank you.
Hi Jacky, thank you for writing in. Pandan essence or pandan paste would work just fine. I tend to use pandan paste over pandan essence as it yields a more intense flavour and colour. Also simply substitute the fresh pandan juice in the recipe with same amount of milk or water. I’d love to know how it works out for you!
Hi Celia,
Appreciate your kind advice on the following, many thanks!
(1). Recipe for an 9-inch chiffon tube pan
(2). Baking time for an oven with top and bottom heating elements. No option to choose only bottom heating element.
(3). Do I still put it on the lowest rack in the oven?
Many thanks in advance for your advice?
Hi ML, you can try this 6-eggs chiffon recipe – For the batter:6 egg yolks; 55 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 60 ml oil (4 tbsp);1/2 tsp pandan paste; 120 g cake flour; 1 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt; For the meringue: 6 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 70 g sugar. Bake at 165 to 170 deg C on the lowest rack with top and bottom heating for 50 mins to 55 mins, depending on your oven. I usually start checking at 45 mins, then every 5 mins after, until cake is done. I’d love to hear how it turns out!
Hi Celia,
Thanks for adding this amazing recipe! The cake turned out great. I was wondering if you have tried baking a gluten free cake before and if you had suggestions for when baking a gluten free chiffon cake to ensure it turns out just as good?
Thanks
Hi Ava, thank you so much! So glad to hear this turned out great. I’m afraid I haven’t turned this into a gluten-free cake before so I can’t say from experience.
I have been eyeing this recipe for so long, wondering if I would fail again making Pandan cake…
Not only did I succeed with this recipe, I had a fun time learning the tips and conditions around baking it- i.e., dry bowl, well separated eggs, folding with whisk etc. Btw- i had to go “6” fon my kitchenaid to get the meringue to the right peak form.
Thank you … My family in Singapore was just as impressed when I shared a picture of it. I actually said “wow” out loud when it came out of the oven. Happy Camper! 🙂
Patricia (NYC)
Hi Patricia, thank you so much for sharing how well this turned out for you!👏😃 I’m so thrilled, and thank you for giving this recipe a try. I would have loved so much to see it! Glad all the tips helped too. I’m sure you’ll be baking more of this to enjoy whenever you want to have a taste of home! Have a great week ahead and stay safe!
Hi Celia, I baked pandan chiffon cake using your recipe and it turned out well. I just learnt baking chiffon cake last month and had tried a few recipes. I love yours but I need some adjustments in the amount of the ingredients as my cake pan is 18 cm / 7 inch and 5 eggs batter are too much for my cake pan. Is it possible for you to help? Thank you very much.
Hi Salmon, I’m thinking a 4-eggs recipe would fit an 18-cm (7-inch) chiffon pan? You can try this. For the yolk batter: 4 egg yolks; 35 g caster sugar; 70 ml coconut milk; 40 ml oil (2 tbsp + 2 tsp); 2 tsp pandan juice; ¼-½ tsp pandan paste; 80 g cake flour; ¾ tsp baking powder; ⅛ tsp salt. For the meringue: 4 egg whites; ½ tsp cream of tartar; 45 g caster sugar. Hope this works out, would appreciate if you could let me know!
Hi Celia.. thank u so much for this pandan cake recipe. I have tried others online but did not turn out too well.Yours allowed me to succeed on first try! The cake was enjoyed by my colleagues n friends. Thk u
Hi Evelyn, I’m always immensely thrilled when my readers succeed and enjoy a recipe, it means so much to hear from you! Thank you for sharing.
Hi there, I tried the recipe and i lower to baking temperature to 160 degree instead of 170. Everything turns out perfect except i have a cracked top. Is there any reason why the chiffon cake has a cracked top? Thank you.
Hi Emily! Thank you for writing in, glad to hear this turned out well. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with chiffon cakes cracking on the top 😄. The expansion of trapped air, moisture, as well as chemical reactions that happen when leavening agents do their work, is what creates lift (rise) and these need to eventually find an outlet. So when the top cracks, it allows these to release, thereby allowing the cake’s structure to stabilise. So, I personally see this as a good sign, so long as the top doesn’t collapse on itself before it’s done baking – that would be a sign of other issues. If the cake rises, even if the top cracks but settles into a slight dome top, and the crumb is airy and fluffy, that’s a good bake! Hope this helps!
Great recipe! I think I under whipped my eggs and my cake didn’t rise as much but I am excited to try this again. I did find it a tad too sweet though so may have to adjust the sugar
Hi Anita! Thank you so much for sharing and for the 5-star rating. You can definitely reduce the sugar to your liking, but I would suggest by no more than 20%, as sugar also contributed to the moistness of the cake. Hope it’s a total success the second time round! Happy baking!
Hi Celia,
I have made your pandan and orange chiffon cakes and both were amazing. I’m thinking of trying a hojicha chiffon cake (using hojicha powder) but I don’t know which of your chiffon recipes I should adapt for it. Maybe the chocolate one?
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you for the recipes. My family loved the cakes!
Thank you so much, Nhi! I’m really happy to hear these chiffon cakes have worked out so well for you. Coincidentally, I’m working right now on a recipe for matcha chiffon cake this month, and I’m sure it would work well for hojicha too. It might still take a bit of tweaking (have yet to test it thoroughly), but if you’re willing to test bake it, here’s the recipe. For an 8-inch (20-cm) cake: For the batter: 80 g cake flour; 10 g green tea (or hochija) powder (1.5 tbsps); 0.5 tsp baking powder; 5 egg yolks; 20 g caster sugar; 70 g milk; 60 g oil. For the meringue: 5 egg whites; 90 g caster sugar; 0.5 tsp cream of tartar. Method: Sift the cake flour, green tea, and baking powder together twice. In a separate bowl, beat yolks and sugar well until sugar dissolves. Add milk and oil, mix well. Add the flour-green tea (hojicha) mixture and mix – batter may be a bit sticky. Whip egg whites with cream of tartar, once foamy, add sugar bit by bit and whip until stiff peaks. Lighten the batter by folding in lightly one-third of meringue, then add remaining meringue (all in one go) and fold gently until well-incorporated. Pour into chiffon pan, and bake in preheated oven at 160°C on lowest rack for 40 – 50 minutes (give or take). Would love to have your feedback on this recipe!
Hi Celia
I finally succeed in baking the pandan chiffon! Tried the orange chiffon and it was really citrusy, soft and airy plus not too sweet. Thank you for the recipes!
Hi Lenny, I’m so happy to hear of your success! Thank you for your confidence in persevering with these recipes, and for generously sharing! Have a great weekend!
Hi Celia,
I tried this today. It turned out well, and my family loved it, much to my relief as I had to substitute cream of tartar with white vinegar.
The only thing was that a tiny portion of my batter seeped out of the pan while in the oven. Is it because I used vinegar?
Hi Nisa, so glad to hear you and your family enjoyed this! Vinegar shouldn’t cause the batter to weep, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Though, just to be sure, cream of tartar definitely does a better job of stabilising the meringue. The only other thing I can think of, is possibly the chiffon pan was starting to warp a bit from years of use? But you can easily rule this out if your’s is fairly new and if you’ve not been using it frequently. Hope this helps!
Absolutely divine!!!!!
Was soooo fluffy airy and moist.
Question:
If I don’t let it cool completely will it stick to the tin?
I made it this morning. It cooled down ( but not completely ) and was hard to come out of the tin..
Ur recipe says 3 table spoons of oil plus 1 tablespoon. But I don’t know where the last spoon goes
Hi Diana, so glad to hear this turned out well! Thank you for sharing. The recipe says 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon as the total amount of oil, so you just mix it with the eggs, coconut milk, pandan juice, etc. I find that if I let the cake cool a while, and not wait until it cools completely in the pan, it will be easier to release. Usually, I release it after inverting for about 20 mins, only because I’m impatient to eat it!
Hi Celia
I made the cake according to your recipe, the top is dense but middle till the end is spongy. Why is that so? Is it due to the temperature of the oven, over whipped meringue or over mixing?
Hi Lenny, chiffon cake issues are a little tricky to diagnose. Usually, when the cake has both spongy and dense textures, it could be due to uneven distribution of the meringue when mixing, or over-mixing so the cake loses volume. But it could also be due to hot spots in the oven unless you know your oven very well. Just to be clear, when you say the top, did you mean when the cake is in an inverted position, or the top of the cake before turning upside down?
Hi! Thanks for sharing the recipe and I can’t wait to try it 🙂 may I know whether we need to increase the speed after adding the sugar? If so, what speed did you increase to? Thank you!
Hi Stephanie, thank you for writing in! You can whip the egg whites at a steady medium to medium-high speed, and keep it at this speed while adding the sugar bit by bit. I use a Kitchen Aid mixer, so I keep it at speed 4 because it allows me to recognise when the meringue reaches stiff peaks without running into the danger of over-whipping, it just takes a bit longer. I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe!
Thank you so much for this recipe. My first try of Pandan Chiffon cake on 29 May 2021. It was very good. Your instructions provided are very clear and easy to follow. I can do it in a very organised and sequential way. Cooling down my second Pandan Chiffon cake now…my second:)
Hi Kim, that’s so wonderful to hear! I’m so thrilled you found the recipe was easy to follow and turned out a delicious cake to enjoy. Success on first-time baking a chiffon cake is awesome – congratulations! Definitely keep sharing, I’d love to hear how your bakes go. Have a great week ahead.
hi!! the cake was super good!! tried it on wednesday and all my family members said it was awesome! but my cake was slightly tough on the bottom may i know why? but overall it was super nice!
Hi Sheralyn, thanks so much for sharing and I’m thrilled to hear this turned out so well. It’s hard to say why the bottom would be a tad tough. Just to be clear, did you mean the bottom after or before inverting the cake?
Hi Celia
I don’t usually post comments on recipes but this is a really good recipe. Thanks so much for sharing and posting it. I had sucess in every attempt of following this, and it will be my only recipe from now on for pandan chiffon cakes!
Hi JT, thank you so much for leaving your comments here! I’m thrilled this turned out so well! Happy weekend!
Hi JT, thank you so much for taking the time to write! I’m so thrilled this turned out successfully and for proving that the recipe works. Happy baking!
It was my first time baking a chiffon cake. And the taste and texture were perfect. I dont need to test other recipes. I only used pandan juice, more diluted than expected. So I used 130g of flour instead of 100g.
Hi Phany, thank you for sharing! Glad you had such a success with this recipe, and adjusted it perfectly!
Hi Celia, thank you for sharing, i have a 26 cm tube pan, can you please advise about the ingredients measurements. Awaiting your advice to try.
Hi Natalie! It’s either a 7-eggs or 8-eggs recipe, and to be honest, I’m not too sure which will fit better! I’ve given suggested recipe amounts for both. For 7-eggs batter: 7 egg yolks; 65 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 20 ml pandan juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp); 1/2 – 3/4 tsp pandan paste (your preference) ; 140 g cake flour; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 80 g sugar.
For 8-eggs batter: 8 egg yolks; 70 g sugar; 135 ml coconut milk; 25 ml pandan juice (1 tbsp + 2 tsp); 80 ml oil (5 tbsp + 1 tsp); 1 – 1.5 tsp pandan paste (your preference) ; 160 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 3/4 tsp baking powder. For the meringue: 8 egg whites; 1 tsp cream of tartar; 90 g sugar. Hope you’ll share how it turns out!
Hi! I am getting a new tabletop oven. Can you recommend me what oven to get, that can give a more even baking results. Currently I am looking at Tefal OF2818 and OF2858 , Mayer MMO38D or Rowenta OC3858. Do you have any idea which one is better. Or any other brand? Thank you.
Hi Sim, you’re getting a new oven! How exciting! I don’t have any experience with table-top ovens so I can’t advise on which models/brands. In any case, it’s a good idea to research the ones you have in mind, and read up on consumer reviews online. A good one should give you various baking modes (wide area grill, small area grill, top and bottom heating, etc). with a high temperature range, and have well-sealed doubled-glass doors. I have heard of table-top ovens that had its glass doors crack after a few uses. Happy hunting and good luck!
Hi Cecille can I use any kind of vegetable oil? How does it differ from a corn oil? and which is better as far as it brings to the softeness and fluffiness of the texture of chiffon cake please? Thanks and really love your website.
Hi Gigi! You can use any kind of oil, the moistness and tenderness of the chiffon cake will be there. It’s best to use oils that are quite neutral in flavour. Coconut oil would work well though, as it will compliment the coconut milk and pandan flavours. Thank you for your compliments! I hope you’ll enjoy this!
Hi Celia,
It’s me again. I forgot to ask you what grade are your eggs? I used grade B which is about 55g each. Could this be the reason for the lack of height?
Cheers,
Sally
Hi Sally, I usually use Grade ‘AA’ 65 gm eggs for baking, as well as 60 gm eggs. These work out well for me.
Hi Celia,
Thank you so much for sharing your Pandan chiffon and the Very rich butter cakes recipes. Made those two on two different occasions and it was a success. However my chiffon cake didn’t have the height. I used a 8 inch tube pan like you suggested without greasing it. Wonder what’s lacking.
Cheers,
Sally
Hi Sally, thank you so much for you kind words! I’m thrilled to hear these recipes worked out successfully. If the pandan chiffon cake lacks height, it’s likely that the batter lost some volume. This happens either (1) when folding the meringue into the batter – too much folding or too vigorous, leading to loss of whipped air volume, or (2) the meringue didn’t quite reach the ideal stiffness yet during the whipping. But do be careful not to overwhip, as it can lead to a drier cake crumb, or a collapsed cake during baking. Hope this helps!
Hi Celia. Is the oven temperature and baking time the same for 6″ chiffon cake. Can I double the recipe and bake into two 6″ chiffon cake? And also if for two 6″ chiffon cake what is the oven temperature and baking timing like? Thank you.
Hi Sim, sorry this took a while to get to you. The baking time will be slightly shorter for a 6″ chiffon cake, maintaining the same temperature. But it’s best to check around 40 mins, and every 5 mins after that until baked. If doubling the recipe, you might have some batter left over after filling two 6″ pans. You can bake the leftover in paper muffin moulds, it’ll take much shorter time so do this after baking the 6″ cakes.
Hello! I made this tonight and it looks gorgeous and smells divine, cant wait to dig in tomorrow.
It’s cooling as we speak, however when I tried to invert the pan over a cooling rack and let it rest on its “3 legs”, the whole cake slid right out, would you know why? Its cooling upside down now on a cake tray out of its pan.
Thank you!
Hi Mel! Thank you so much for trying this out. Could be the case of a slightly under-baked cake, so you can try baking for longer as the stipulated baking time is a guideline and may vary from oven to oven. The only other factor could be the tube pan itself, which might have some kind of coating. I bake in aluminum pans without any coating, and the cake clings and rises up the sides and funnel really well. Hope this helps!
Hi Celia,
I tried your pandan chiffon cake twice, both turns up tall, fluffy and soft, very delicious. Wondering why the sides of the cake is not brown even though i set the temperature to 170 deg and 180 deg for an hour. Your advice please.
Hi Jessie, thank you for sharing! I’m thrilled to hear the texture of the chiffon cake turned out great. I’m not entirely sure, but this happens to me too especially when baking in certain chiffon pans. I’ve baked this in a dark grey aluminum pan, and it browns nicely all around. But when I bake in light aluminum pans, the browning is really light. Also, depending on how you release the sides of the cake from the pan, the brown crust could have stuck to the insides of the pan. Hope this sheds some light!
Dear Celia
i use your 23cm version recipe but change tartar to 1/2 tbsp white vinegar
the cake turn out to be moist, soft, very ‘suntan’ taste.. BUT not much pandan taste.. even after using exact pandan extract from phoon huat…
only very eggy.. *chinese say jitankao
same like any of my other chiffon cake…
vanilla.. no vanilla flavour
lemon.. not much lemon flavour (i really use alot until 2 Tbsp)
helpp… i wonder if it is the white vinegar substitute…
or cuz i use jumbo 60g egg..
Hi Kit, a very happy new year 2021 to you! What you’ve described is so unusual and it’s never happened to me. Haha.. I wish I could offer an explanation. I can only tell you what I use. I use Kara coconut milk, Redman pandan paste (not extract) in addition to fresh pandan juice, Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract, and cream of tartar. I didn’t use lemon juice or vinegar for this recipe, as I usually prefer cream of tartar for a more stable meringue.
Hi, thanks for the recipe. It tastes so good. Can I check hw i can adjust my recipe for a 6 inch cake tin?
Hi Grace, here’s the 2-eggs recipe for a 6-inch chiffon pan. For the batter:2 egg yolks; 20 g sugar; 35 ml coconut milk (2 tbsp + 1 tsp); 20 ml oil (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 2 tsp pandan juice; ¼ tsp pandan paste; 40 g cake flour; ½ tsp baking powder; pinch of salt. For the meringue: 2 egg whites; ¼ tsp cream of tartar; 20 g sugar. Hope this is good!
Hi Celia, for the batter i used 35gm lakanto and for the meringue its 45gm lakanto.
I used Philips pressure cooker. It has a “bake” function. I set it to 52 mins baking time, seal at “bake”. And when baking is completed, i switched off the power, leave cake in the cooker for another 10 mins and then only open the lid. Once again, thanks so much for the recipe. Ive gifted quite a few cakes last week ?
Hi Sun, thank you very much for sharing. It’s fascinating to know you can bake in pressure cookers these days! Also, thank you for sharing the amount of lakanto and extra tips! Appreciate it so much! Keep sharing your baking stories, ya? Take care!
Hi Celia, thanks so much for sharing your recipe. Just tried your recipe. My first ever chiffon cake! Baked in pressure cooker and replaced sugar with lakanto. Great success. My son gave his seal of approval.
Hi Sun, I’m so thrilled this recipe worked out so well for you and your son enjoys it! Thank you for taking the time to write to me. I learnt something new from you – I’ve never baked in a pressure cooker before nor have I used lakanto. I’d love to know how you do it! Did you use a regular pressure cooker? I have one but never imagined I could use it for cakes.
Hi there ! My cake came out dense and soggy :/ any tips/idea why and how can I fix this ?
Hi Jessie, the trickiest part of a chiffon cake is commonly the meringue. Dense crumb could be the result of an under-whipped or over-worked meringue. The meringue either didn’t hold as much air as it optimally could (under-whipped) or lost the trapped air during the folding process (over-worked). The cake crumb should be moist, might even feel a bit damp when first removed from the pan, but not soggy. Soggy crumb could be due to under-baking. You can try whipping the meringue using caster sugar (the finer sugar particles will cut through the egg whites more effectively) and be gentle with the folding. Also, baking times can vary from oven to oven, so you may need an extra 5 to 10 minutes of baking to allow the moisture to escape. Hope this helps with your next bake!
hello celia! i tried this pandan chiffon cake and it tastes amazing. but sadly it’s still a little bit wet on the bottom of the cake eventho i put 50 mins inside the oven with both fan top and bottom. do you have any solution to this? thank you very much!
Hello celia, wanna ask if sugar can be replaced with sweeteners as for diabetics patients and also isit possible to omit the coconut milk?
Hi Rachel, I haven’t used sugar substitutes like sweeteners, so I can’t say for sure how the texture and moistness will be affected. You could try whipping the egg whites with agave, I’ve read that it does work. You can replace coconut milk with regular milk, though of course the rich and creamy flavour won’t be quite there for a pandan chiffon cake. Hope this helps!
Hi Celia, thank you very much for this very detailed and clear recipe! I would like to omit the pandan paste and use purely homemade pandan extract. May I know how much pandan extract should I put in order to get more visible green tint & pandan flavor? I only have a 18cm chiffon pan.
Hi Seraph! Thanks so much for writing in! Using home-made pandan extract alone, without the pandan paste, may not render such a vivid green tint, and will be mild in flavour. But if you wish to use this alone, here is a modified 3-eggs recipe for an 18-cm chiffon pan. For the batter: 3 egg yolks; 30 g caster sugar; 50 ml coconut milk (3 tbsp + 1 tsp); 30 ml oil (1 tbsp); 2 tbsp home-made pandan extract; 65 g cake flour; ½ tsp baking powder; ⅛ tsp salt. For the meringue: 3 egg yolks; ¼ tsp cream of tartar; 35 g sugar. Hope this works out well!
Hi Celia, came across your Pandan chiffon cake blog recently . Just wondering , I notice that some chiffon cake uses more flour & egg ratio . For 7 eggs recipe it’s about 3/4 cup cake flour. Can u comment on why is that so?
Will definitely try your recipe . Also , how come your chiffon do not have a dark crust ? Like that very much .
Thanks for sharing, stay safe.
Hi! Thank you for sharing! There are varying flour to eggs ratio for chiffon cakes, and these all make good chiffon cakes too. It’s a personal preference, I feel, how you enjoy the texture of a chiffon cake. Personally, I go by fats (including liquids, but not eggs) to flour ratio, rather than flour to eggs. For me, I like chiffon recipes with a minimal ratio of ⅔:1 liquids + fats to flour. As for the dark crust, it’s more to do with the tube pan you bake in. I baked the same recipe in a dark tube pan, and it had a nice, deep browning all around the sides. I prefer the dark crust, but my 8-inch (20-cm) aluminum tube pans don’t render the browning as deeply. Hope this helps! Take care and stay safe too!
Hi Celia – I’m from the States and don’t have pandan leaves or pandan paste, but I do have pandan essence. Would that work for this recipe? Instead of 1 TBSP pandan juice and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Pandan paste, can I replace with pandan esscence and how much should be used?
Hi Ping, greetings! Yes, you can definitely use pandan essence. I’m not sure if your essence is clear or green-coloured. If it’s clear, then you may wish to add a few drops of green colouring to get the characteristic green pandan hue. I would start with 1 – 1½ tsp pandan essence. Hope this works out well for you! Happy baking and stay safe!
Hi Celia, thanks so much for this recipe. I tried and it turned out soft and yummy. There’s just one part that isn’t satisfactory. My cake didn’t rise as much as yours. May I know how to create a tall chiffon cake like yours?
Hi Jaslyn, thank you for sharing! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this pandan chiffon taste and texture. It’s natural for the cake to rise quite a bit and then lose a bit of height towards the end of baking as the cake structure reaches stability. If your crumb was airy and fluffy throughout the cake, and not dense or compacted towards the bottom when inverted, meaning the top is now the bottom, then it’s a good and successful bake. I can think of a few possibilities if the cake didn’t rise quite as tall: (1) meringue might have lost a bit of volume during the folding process, thereby losing some trapped air bubbles; (2) meringue could have been slightly under-whipped so it hasn’t reached the optimal amount of trapped air bubbles; (3) may need to check if your baking powder is still active, or might have lost some efficacy. I hope these can help you with your own observations when you next bake it again! I’d love to hear from you how it goes!
Celia – many thanks for all your hard work to put out such a thorough and detailed recipe! We had this all the time as kids and I’m so chuffed to be able to recreate it for my family and my little girl. Thank you!!!
Hi Ann, thank you for your kind words of sharing and encouragement! So thrilled this humble recipe can bring you and your family enjoyment and happiness! Have a wonderful weekend, and happy baking!
Hi Celia, thanks for the 6-inch chiffon pan measurements! My chiffon cake finally finally came out fluffy and moist 🙂 For your other chiffon cake recipes (looking at attempting the chocolate one next!), would it be ok to use roughly the same measurements for the 6″ tin as this and just tweak them accordingly?
Hi Celia, thank you for your advise. I will try again cos is really very delicious! Thank you very much ?
Hi Min, I’m happy to help in any way I can with your baking adventures! Have a wonderful weekend and stay safe!
Hi Celia! I finally tried your chiffon cake recipe! But I used a 23cm mould recipe which you advice others. Is delicious and end product looks presentable even though encountered some problems…?
1. The upper SIDES split open during baking (like a cartoon froggy opening its mouth smiling☺)
2. The cake dropped out after I turned it upside down for maybe around 15 mins..
May I know what could have gone wrong? Seeking your advice. Thank you!
Hi Min, thanks so much for sharing! I haven’t encountered the sides ‘cracking’ open before. I can’t say for sure but this may be due to uneven folding of meringue into the batter. If the cake dropped out shortly after inverting, this is possibly due to under-baking or baking in a pan that has a bit of a non-stick coating.
Hi Celia, I’m a newbie in baking but I would like to try your recipe.. I only have a 6inch pan to start with…. May I request for the amount of ingredient needed. And I don’t know if my question is silly or not…? May I ask for the oven mode. Top n bottom heat setting? Should I on the fan or not? Appreciate if you can answer my query…. ?
Hi Min, welcome! Sure, you can try these quantities for a 6-inch chiffon pan. For the batter: 2 egg yolks; 20 g sugar; 35 ml coconut milk (2 tbsp + 1 tsp); 20 ml oil (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 1 tsp pandan juice; ¼ tsp pandan paste; 40 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; pinch of salt. For the meringue: 2 egg whites; ¼ tsp cream of tartar; 25 g sugar. Bake with top and bottom heating mode, but without fan-assist. Hope this work out for you, Min, I’d love to know how it goes! Happy baking!
Hi Celia, your recipe taste really fragrant and it rises well too . Unfortunately I have tried a few times but I always get dense bake – there will be some part that is still wet , the bottom esp (which means the top when it is in the oven ) , what could be the reason? I use TOP and bottom heat at 170 deg and my baking time is extended to 85mins , still the same . Thanks in advance for your advice .
Hi Wendy, thank you for persevering with this recipe. I’m happy to hear you like the flavour! I’d really like to help. I’m wondering if you took pics of your cake you could share? You could email me at celialim@foodelicacy.com. Because there could be a few possible causes, I’ll try to cover these in a separate email to you. I’ll be in touch soon.
Hi Celia, thanks for the detailed recipe! I tried it today and made 2 changes: coconut oil and 2 tsp pandan powder instead of juice and paste. My tube pan is 23cm. Resulting cake didn’t rise much unfortunately. Taste and look fine. Oh well.
Hi Mel! Thank you so much for trying this out! The substitutions sound good! If you find that the cake didn’t rise much, the likely issue is the meringue. Could have been slightly under-whipped, or perhaps its volume was lost a bit when folding into the batter. Less likely issue, but possible, is the efficacy of the baking powder. Glad it looked and tasted fine!
Hello Celia,
Thank you for sharing your recipe but I am unable to find the pan size you used for this, please help ???
Hi Cecilia! What kind of pan size do you have? If you scroll through the recent comments at the end of the recipe post, I’ve given ingredient measurements for various pan sizes in response to several readers. Let me know if you’re in need of any help.
Hi Celia,
I would like to fully omit the dandna juice. How much pandan paste do I have to add in?
Hi Val, you can use 1/2 tsp pandan paste, or even a tad more. I wouldn’t put too much as colour-wise, the green colour could be a bit much unless you don’t mind. Happy baking!
What a great recipe! Thank you for the step by step instructions, excellent photos and easy to understand recipe. I have always wanted to make a chiffon cake but assumed it was too difficult. Then I came across this website and thought I’d give it a try. Fantastic results, my family and friends love the chiffon cakes I’ve made. Thank you again!! 🙂
Hi Angela, thank you very much for sharing! So thrilled to hear your bake was successful! Keep sharing your stories, ya? Happy baking and have a great week ahead.
Hello Celia
Thank you for sharing the recipe. The cake looks superb. I’m making this today.
Would you be very kind to post an Angel Food Cake recipe, please? That’s on my wishlist (to bake and to eat!).
You sounded so lovely in all your comments, by the way.
Have a nice day ahead!
Hi Sofia! Thank you so much! I hope the pandan cake turned out well for you if you tried it. I will definitely try to put up an angel food cake recipe, and am adding it to to my list right away. Stay in touch and keep baking! Have a lovely weekend!
hi! Thanks for sharing this recipe! Mine came out really sticky and crumbly so it doesn’t look too nice when I scrapped it out from the tin. Had a hard time scrapping it out though the texture and taste are all ok! What could be the reason may I ask?
Hi Eunice, thank you for sharing! A sticky and crumbly texture is new to me, to be honest. Chiffon cakes are kind of tricky because there could be not just one, but a combination of several factors. The most common issue has to do with how well the meringue was whipped. If under-whipped, it could cause a dense and compact cake texture. The second is an overworked batter, which usually happens when there’s too much folding causing the meringue to lose volume – this too, results in a dense and compact crumb. The third has to do with oven temperature (some ovens have hot spots which means that baking can be uneven) and baking time, especially if not long enough for the sides and centre of the cake to bake through completely. Hope these give you some idea!
Hi Celia, can I check if i have a 10 inch tin instead, how do I calculate the ingredients to make it work? Thank you!
Hi Ping, sure! If it’s a 10-inch (23/24 cm) tube pan, use these amounts – For the batter: 7 egg yolks; 65 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 20 ml pandan juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp); 1/2 – 3/4 tsp pandan paste (your preference) ; 140 g cake flour; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 80 g sugar. Happy baking, Ping, and wish you every success!
Hi Celia
I used your 6eggs recipe & it turned out well, I baked for 60mins & texture is abit moist so maybe I should bake abit longer next time. Thanks again for sharing this recipe & of coz it’s going to be my to go chiffon recipe for my family!
Hi Jamie, that’s so wonderful to hear! Congratulations! You could also reduce the coconut milk a bit (say, 105 ml instead of 120 ml) if it was a bit moist. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Celia,
Thanks for the detailed sharing! Just wondering whether I can substitute the coconut milk with milk instead? Tks ☺️
Cheers,
Doreen
Hi Doreen, thank you for writing in! Yes you can replace the coconut milk with full cream milk, though the cake won’t have quite the flavour intended. I suggest adding a bit more pandan paste as well if you prefer. Hope you’ll like it!
Hi Celia
Thanks for your reply. Do u hv a 6 eggs recipe? Coz I feel 7 eggs seem abit too much for my pan. And what’s the baking time for both? I have been using your bread recipe & my family loves it, its my to go bun recipe now. I hope your this pandan chiffon will be my to go chiffon recipe too. Many thanks again for working out the recipe for me.
Hi Jamie, sure. Try this – For the batter:6 egg yolks; 55 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 60 ml oil (4 tbsp);1/2 tsp pandan paste; 120 g cake flour; 1 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1/4 tsp salt; For the meringue: 6 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 70 g sugar. Bake at 165 to 170 deg C, for 50 mins to 55 mins, depending on your oven. I usually start checking at 45 mins, then every 5 mins after, until cake is done. I’d love to hear how it turns out! Happy baking, Jamie!
Hi Cecilia, I cannot find pandan paste where I live. What would be a suitable replacement? Many thanks!
Hi Dana, you can make this with pandan juice as the only pandan flavouring but the taste will be really mild and the colour of the cake will be very pale (unless you add a few drops of green food colour). Overall, the cake will still taste good with coconut milk as the hero flavour. I’m afraid I haven’t found a suitable substitute for pandan extract or pandan paste that imitates its flavour. If you can’t get the extract in stores, you could try buying pandan extract or flavouring online on shopping sites like Amazon.
Hi Celia
My chiffon pan is 23cm, how to adjust the recipe & what’s the baking time? Can I omit the pandan juice & use only the pandan paste? I have tried a few recipes but always failed. Hopefully yours will work for me. Thanks!
Hi Jamie, you can certainly omit the pandan juice. For a 23/24 cm chiffon tube pan, you can use these amounts. For the batter: 7 egg yolks; 65 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp); 1/2 – 3/4 tsp pandan paste (your preference) ; 140 g cake flour; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 80 g sugar. I hope you can succeed with my step-by-step visual guide! wish you every success, Jamie!
Is coconut cream able to be substituted in place of the coconut milk?
Hi Samantha, I haven’t tried using coconut cream because product brands do vary in how they classify coconut cream as coconut milk, and vice versa. But I believe coconut cream will work fine!
Hello Celia:
thanks for the detailed instructions and photos. I plan to make the cake as soon as I get my pandan flavor bottle.
I have a 17 cm pan. Could you please help me with the correct ratio of all ingredients. Thanks much.
Neha
Hi Neha, that’s awesome! Here are the amounts adjusted for a 17-cm tube pan. For the batter:3 egg yolks; 30 g sugar; 50 ml coconut milk; 2 tbsp oil; 2 tsp pandan juice; 1/4 to 1/2 tsp pandan paste (to your liking); 60 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/8 tsp salt. For the meringue: 3 egg whites; 1/4 tsp cream of tartar; 35 g sugar.
Hi Celia,
Can I replace cream of tartar with baking powder or baking soda?
Thanks to advise.
Regards,
J
Hi Jessie, you can substitute with lemon juice or vinegar. The recommended substitution ratio is 1:2; meaning if the recipe calls for 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, replace with 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar. Happy baking!
Hello Celia,
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. It worked out really well!!! My family enjoyed it a lot!
Much appreciated!
Hi Pamela, so glad to hear it! Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope you can leave a star rating and review for this recipe, it would mean so much! Have a great week ahead and stay safe!
Hi Celia, is it ok to use coconut oil i/o veg oil?
and wad are the size used for the eggs?
Hi Fel, sure you could! Coconut oil would add its own flavour and should work nicely here with the coconut milk. I use large eggs, typically between 56 to 62 gm each.
Hello celia, May i use coconut oil instead of veg oil?
and wad size of the eggs shld be used? 🙂
Hi Celia, can i replace pandan paste with more pandan juice? Will omitting it result in lack of pandan flavour?
Hi Celeste, adding more pandan juice might throw off the ingredient ratios a bit as there would be too much liquid. There would need to be some compensation by adding more flour/egg whites. Even then, the pandan flavour might not be as pronounced compared to pandan paste. But if you want to try, may I suggest using 1 tbsp concentrated pandan juice or extract, as explained in my post. Hope this helps. Whichever you decide, I hope it turns out well!
Whats the reason why do not open oven door during baking?
Some video says cover woth alu foil from the start to prevent top cracking and remove foil aft 20mins. What do u think?
Hi Sally, it’s generally recommended not to open the oven door during the baking process, especially during the first half of the baking period for a chiffon cake. This is around the 20-22 minute mark, so it’s probably about there as well in the videos you refer to. So it’s not that you cannot, just that a sudden temperature fluctuation in the oven can cause the cake to collapse. I personally don’t cover chiffon cake when baking, and some cracking is normal. Hope this helps!
If I were to self raising flour instead of cake flour, will it be the same amount of flour, no need baking powder? What about salt?
Hi Sally, I wouldn’t recommend using self-raising flour as the cake won’t be as tender. You might be better off making your own cake flour, using plain flour and corn starch (my recipe post has a link to an article that shows how to make your own cake flour). If you use self-raising flour, you may want to replace 1 – 2 tbsp with corn starch, as well as reduce baking powder and the salt a bit. I haven’t tried this myself, so I can’t determine the quantity exactly.
Hi Celia
so sorry, i posted in review instead of comment!
I just wanted to check if i have a 24cm tin instead, how do I calculate the ingredients to make it work? Thanks so much and so sorry for boo boo!
Hi Wenny, no worries! I wish I had a 24-cm tube pan to bake in! For the batter: 7 egg yolks; 65 g sugar; 120 ml coconut milk; 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp); 20 ml pandan juice (1 tbsp + 1 tsp); 1/2 tsp pandan paste; 140 g cake flour; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder. For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 80 g sugar. You can still make the pandan juice as per the original amount, as there is more than for what you need here.
Hi,
I have followed all the measurements correctly except I baked on a normal pan instead of a tube pan as I don’t have one. The cake rised beautifully mid baking but it sank later on. May I know why?
Hi! This sounds like the problem of oven temperature being too hot, so the cake rose too quickly and then collapsed before the end of baking. An oven thermometer is highly recommended because oven temperatures can lose their calibration, so this is to be sure if your oven is at the temperature setting that you want it to be. If your oven temperature is accurate, and the cake still collapses mid-baking, try baking at a lower temperature, 165°C. Baking times may vary also if baking in a regular pan, may take slightly longer. Also, it’s necessary that the pan you use, even if it’s not the chiffon tube pan, does not have a non-stick coating. I hope this helps!
Hi Celia, I have only 7 inch pan, how should I reduce the ingredients please?
Thanks in advance
Hi Evanni, reduce the recipe ingredients by 20%. For the pandan batter: 4 egg yolks, 36g sugar, 65 ml coconut milk, 40 ml oil (2 tbsp + 2 tsp), 2 1/4 tsp pandan juice (or pandan extract), 1/4 tsp pandan paste, 80g cake flour, 3/4 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt. For the meringue: 4 egg whites, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 45g sugar. You can still make the same amount of pandan juice than what is needed in the recipe, if you’d like to keep extra on hand for other uses.
Hi! What if I don’t have cream of tartar? Can I omit it or should substitute?
Hi! You could in fact, omit entirely or substitute. Cream of tartar helps to stabilise whipped egg whites so you can get those nice, firm peaks and the trapped air will be more stable. If you choose to omit, you might lose a little air when folding into the batter, so the cake might not rise as much as it potentially could. The other option is to substitute every 1/2 tsp cream of tartar with 1 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar, as they have the same acidity as cream of tartar. It should have minimal impact on the overall flavour, and are usually handy in the kitchen.
If you have a 23cm chiffon pan instead of a 20cm – how would you adjust the recipe for a bigger pan?
Hi Charmaine, I would use 1.5 times the amounts in the recipe – it’s just easier to handle. You might have some extra cake batter left over after filling a 23-cm chiffon pan. You could fill in paper or cupcake muffin moulds, and bake separately after the cake. It’ll take much shorter time.
Hi Celia, Tried the recipe and cake turn out fine except a little dense. What could be the problem? Is it with the folding? And I used coconut oil instead of corn oil.
Hi Liz, coconut oil should work out fine, and I think even better for flavour! Over folding can cause the batter to lose trapped air (volume), or could be the egg whites were either slightly underwhipped or overwhipped. If you had blobs of beaten egg white in the batter which required more folding on your part, to incorporate into the batter, that would be a sign of overwhipped whites. Because you have to work in more folding, the batter could lose volume resulting in a denser texture. Does this help?
Hii!! I have tried it but ny cake deflates after rising while still in the oven! Why does that happen? Also its de se at the bottom!
Hi Rachel, from my experience, this could happen if the oven temperature is too hot, so the top of the cake expands and rises too quickly before the base and sides have baked through, then deflates. This could leave you with a dense base. It could also be due to placing the cake pan too close to the top heat, so usually, I place my cake pan on the lowest rack in my oven. It could also be due to how well you beat the egg whites, and the technique of folding it gently into the batter so that you don’t lose too much of the trapped air bubbles in the whipped egg whites, which helps the cake to rise evenly and uniformly. Hope this helps!
Hi thanks for your quick reply. Can I just put it on the kitchen counter top, cover it loosely, if I don’t have a such big air tight container? Will it be ok? Thanks
Hi Connie, sure you could. Cover loosely over the top and sides with clingwrap, but sealed around the base at the edge of your plate, so as to prevent the cake from drying out. Hope this helps!
Hi may I know how I can store the cake? Will it be ok to keep the cake on the counter top (spore is very humid n hot) for just 1 day (make on thu, consume on fri)? I think putting it in the fridge will change the texture. Thanks
Hi Connie, it should be fine when kept overnight at room temperature, if stored in an air tight container in a cool, dry place. The cake has to completely cool down to room temperature before storing so as to avoid moisture building up in the container. I usually store the cake in the fridge after a day out (if there’s even any left?), and when you want to eat it, I find it’s as good after microwaving for 10 to 15 secs on medium high. Enjoy!
Hi Celia, Last week, I started to bake your Pandan chiffon cake using exactly your recipes and steps and it was the best Pandan cake I ever made. I surprised myself even when I tasted it and so did my Family. You know how many other Pandan recipes I have tried and it fell short. I baked two cakes using your recipes within 1 week. Thank you for your sincere sharing because for us amateur bakers, the best bake made our ingredients and efforts worthwhile. To everybody reading this post, just trust this recipe and enjoy.
Hi, which brand of Pandan paste do you use and where do you buy from? Coconut milk can be the usual Thai coconut milk in UHT brick packets?
Hi Hui Ling, I usually buy pandan paste from Phoon Huat outlets, or from NTUC supermarkets – any brand will do. When it comes to coconut milk, I highly recommend the KARA brand, but again, any packet brand should be fine.
Hi, can i use coconut oil instead of canola/sunflower oil?
Hi Bel, coconut oil sounds interesting, though generally speaking, vegetable oils with neutral tastes are recommended. But since this chiffon cake uses coconut milk, I’d be interested to know if the flavour of coconut oil intensifies the overall flavour of the cake, so I hope you can share if you do try this.?Happy baking!!
Hi Celia, I tried this recipe and it was a success. I selected this for my first baking session with my bestie. I gave the cake to my colleague and frends. They said it was yummmm…and it’s super soft!! I love it. What gives it the softness? egg white or the oil? & while typing out this, my 2nd attempt is in the oven! However, this time the batter was abit less fluffy then the prev time. Hope it turns out fine! Hope to bring over to my cuz place later. ?
Hi Ana, wow!????? That’s so wonderful to hear! Congratulations.. the credit is all yours as you must have followed the recipe carefully and handled the batter perfectly to get it soft and fluffy! Generally, egg yolks, oil and sugar give the cake it’s moistness, whipped egg whites and leavening agents like baking powder, cream of tartar, etc, gives it the volume (rise and fluff) and flour provides the structure. The use of cake flour which has a lower protein content compared to plain flour, is also what gives the chiffon cake it’s soft and tender texture. If you find your batter less fluffy than usual, the common causes are usually under-whipped egg whites (i.e. not stiff enough) or over-folding the whipped whites, or over-mixing the cake batter – these all lead to loss of trapped air bubbles and thus less volume = less height = more denseI texture.? Hope your second attempt goes perfectly! I’d love to see your bakes so if you’re on Instagram, feel free to #foodelicacy, ya??
Hi Celia!
I love your recipe! I’m a beginner at baking but managed to somehow bake this successfully ?
Everyone who tasted it, love it! Thanks to u!
Hi Wati, that’s wonderful to hear! Thank you so much for giving this recipe a go!? please keep your comments coming, ya?
Hi Wati, thank you so much for your feedback! So thrilled to hear it turned out well for you! Thanks for trying this recipe, and if you try other recipes as well, please keep your feedback coming!?
Hi Celia!
I tried the coffee chiffon cake too! It turned out beautiful. I love your recipes, will try more. hehehe. Thank you!
Hi Wati! Yayyy! So happy to hear that! Thank you so much for trying out the recipes and for leaving your comments. You’re a gem!
Hi celia,
May I know if it’s OK to use 50g eggs? Or do I need to use 60g eggs?
Hi Fiana, I think you could get away with 5 egg yolks and 6 egg whites if you’re using smaller 50gm eggs.?
Ok, thanks.
Hi Celia,
Thanks for the flavourful recipe ! I love the taste but I was not successful even after 2 attempts. Both occassion, the cake raised after baking. The first time, I did not flip over and it shrunk. Second time, I inverted the cake tin immediately after taking out from the oven. The whole cake fall off after like 5 minutes. What could have gone wrong? Over whisking of egg white or the folding was not complete and thorough?
Hi Stella, thank you for writing! Sorry to hear that, but believe me, I’ve had the same issues before. Chiffon cakes MUST be inverted once they’re out of the oven to let it ‘hang’, so you did identify the problem correctly after your first attempt, and inverted it on your second attempt. To prevent chiffon cakes from falling or slipping out of the pan while inverted, try to use a cake pan without non-stick coating (the cake needs to ‘hang’ or stick onto the sides as it rises and later, when it’s inverted). Using a chiffon or tube pan would be best. Do not grease the sides or base of pan. It could also be that the cake was not baked long enough, or the temperature was too low, or the egg whites were not whipped enough to stiff peaks. Over-whipping would result in a drier cake, so if your cake was still moist but a little dense, it’s likely an underwhipped egg white issue. I realise there could be various contributing factors, so hope I’ve helped you identify what the possible issue or issues might be.
Hi Celia,
Thanks for reply so soon. I shall try again and bearing in mind the pointers that you raise. Thanks !
You’re most welcome, Stella! Keep at it, okay, you WILL succeed!????
Hi Celia,
I have forgotten to mention that I used a 23cm cake tin with your recipe for 100g flour. Could the tin be oversize?
Hi Stella, using a slightly larger cake pan would impact baking time, i.e. shorter baking time. Doesn’t sound like this posed a problem.?
my pandan cake rises but it sink after over turn to cool. texture dry. surprisingly top did not crack.
Hi Catherine, it sounds like the egg whites might have been over-whipped if the cake rose and then sank after cooling, and also if texture turned out dry. Try whipping to stiff peak stage – this is when you lift the whisk and turn it upside down, the egg whites on the whisk should hold its shape straight up, and maybe droop just a little at the tip. Also, another readon that the cake could sink is if the egg whites were not folded evenly or well enough into the batter. Hope you keep trying – chiffon cakes are a little tricky and takes practise to get it right, but you will get there!??
I tried your recipe and it didn’t turned out right, my chiffon cake, doesn’t look good. It’s not raise straight. What you think, cause of this? Please help.
Hi Celia, aw..bummer, sorry to hear that?. It’s hard to say without seeing it first hand. When you say it didn’t rise straight, did you mean it was lopsided? It could be that the batter wasn’t made level all around in the pan before baking. If it was level, then the next issue could be that it might not have been baked long enough. You also need to invert the cake pan immediately when it’s done baking and out of the oven, and let it cool completely inverted. If you did all that, then the usual issues with chiffon cafe could likely be that the egg whites were not beaten sufficiently to just stiff peaks, or over folding the batter which could cause the cake to lose volume and become denser. It’ll help a lot if you could tell me what the texture was like.
Hi Celia. I got a newbie question. I have a chiffon tin: 20cm diameter for the shorter side (top part of the cake) and 24cm diameter for the longer side (bottom part of the cake). Therefore, my question would be, is this a 20 cm or 24 cm tin? I cannot seem to find the answer online. =( Thanks.
Hi Fennie, sounds like you’ve got a 24-cm chiffon tin – it’s the wider base of the chiffon tin, which also becomes the base or bottom of your cake when turned over, that’s considered as the size of the chiffon tin. This is usually the standard size of chiffon tins widely available in Singapore, so if you’re baking a chiffon cake that calls for a 20-cm chiffon tin, I usually use 1.5 times the amount of ingredients, to make enough cake batter for a 24-cm tin. Hope this helps you! Happy baking, Fennie!
Thanks for your prompt reply. This is certainly helpful. Happy baking! =D
You’re most welcome, Fenni! I wish you success! Do feel free to ask me anything, I’m happy to help!
Hi, may i know how To adjust the ingredients’ mEasurements for a 23-cm chiFfon tin?
Hi Yvonne,
You could try using 1.5 times the portions stated. For example, in place of 100 gm top flour, use 150 gm, in place of 4 eggs, use 6 eggs, and so on. That should make enough batter for a 23-cm chiffon cake tin. If you do end up with some extra batter, what I usually do is bake the rest in paper muffin cups, but do these after you have finished baking the larger chiffon. Hope it works out for you! Do let me know how it turns out. Happy baking!
Thank you so much celia!
Your welcome, Yvonne! Please feel free to ask me anything. Thank you!
Hi, may i know how to adjust the ingredients measurement for a 23cm chiffon tin? Sorry for all cAps cos the comment box only allow all caps..