BAKING PROJECT

After making this cake halfway, I realized that I had,  in my earlier post,  baked a Lemon chiffon cake.   That chiffon cake episode was quite a disaster as I didn’t had the right pan, and the cake came crashing down when the pan was flipped.  This time I followed a tip given by a reader, Cik Zarida on preventing the cake from slipping out when inverted.   She said to heat the baking pan for a few minutes before pouring in the cake batter.  That’s what I did this time and it worked ! Tkasih..   The cake stayed in the pan all the time and once cooled, I use a serrated knife to go round the edges to help the cake out.

Anyway, the difference between chiffon and angel cake – I personally like chiffon better coz there’s oil and yolks and a richness to the cake.  Angel cake is just sugar, flour and lots of egg whites.  Oh, but the texture.. it is so, so soft and hence the name “food for the angels”.  Its almost like eating pavlova.   And it is *take note*  cholesterol-free.  No fat.   Good for those on diet  (but then what to do with leftover egg yolks ? Turn them into crème brulee, and thus forfeiting the whole purpose of making the angel diet cake.. hmm).

Anyway, here is the recipe.

Preheat the oven at 170C.  Mix the icing sugar, cake flour and salt and sieved them.  Set aside.  Whip the egg whites and cream of tartar in the mixer, I use medium speed (KitchenAid speed 4) Once the egg is foamy, pour in the sugar bit by bit.  Continue beating on medium speed till you get stiff peaks.

Remove the mixer bowl, now add in the flour mixture, zest and essence.  Add the flour gradually, folding into the egg whites gently so you do not loose all the air created.

As for the baking pan, do not grease them.  You can try heating the pan like I mentioned earlier.  Another method is to brush the insides of the pan with some water to ensure the cake will cling on to the pan and climb higher.  Pour the cake batter into the pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.  Bake for about 40 minutes or so.   Once done, remove from oven and invert it.  This way the cake will not sink down on itself.  You can leave it like that for an hour, or less.  Use a serrated knife to cut the cake.

Some enjoy the cake with a dusting of icing sugar, or fruit syrup.. but I think it is sweet enough on its own.  I had actually cut down the sugar qty from the original recipe.  Not sure if I can reduce the sugar anymore, as it will affect the consistency of the whipped egg whites.

Hope you’ll try this recipe.  Super soft cake.  You won’t be disappointed.