Irresistibly moist and fragrant Pandan Chiffon Cake that anyone can make

Hello! I am excited to share my treasured fluffy pandan cake recipe with you today. This is the recipe that I always go back to because my family loves this even more than the Bangawan Solo one, probably because I only use freshly plucked pandan leaves and not pandan essence. I guarantee that this recipe should be easy to follow, and this post is short and sweet (literally).

I grow my own pandan plants in my small edibles garden, and the pandan plants are flourishing really well. Please refer to this post on how I take care of and propagate my pandan plants.

---

Pandan Chiffon Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

1st bowl - Egg yolk batter:

1. 6 eggs yolks (room temperature)

2. 120g sugar (I prefer fine raw cane sugar that is slightly yellow)

3. 50ml vegetable cooking oil (not olive oil)

4. 100ml coconut milk (fresh coconut milk is better, but you can also use the boxed UHT cream)

5. 50ml pandan juice (or 1 tsp pandan paste diluted in 50ml water)

2nd bowl - Dry ingredients:

1. 190 plain flour (all purpose flour)

2. 2 tsp baking powder (Optional. Baking powder will help to ensure fluffiness)

3. 1 tsp salt

3rd bowl - Egg whites:

1. 6 egg whites (make sure the bowl is completely clean and dry, with absolutely no traces of egg yolk, water and oil)

2. 60g sugar

3. 0.5 tsp cream of tartar or a few drops of lemon juice (Optional. I do recommend using this if you are not experienced with making meringues)

Tools you will need:

1. 3 big bowls

2. Hand mixer / egg beater

3. Food processor (if you use fresh pandan leaves)

4. Chiffon / angel food cake tube pan (necessary)

5. Spatular for mixing batter (optional)

Preheat the oven to 150 c (fan-assisted oven)

How to make this irresistible Pandan Chiffon Cake

Steps 1 - Prepare your ingredients:

1. Separate your eggs. In two big bowls, separate egg yolks and whites. Make sure the bowls are completely clean and dry. (Save the egg shells for later, you can make great fertiliser with them - click here to see how)

2. Make pandan juice. Pull out about 15-20 pieces of large pandan leaves, cut into small pieces, add about 20-50ml of water and put in your food processor to blend. When the leaves are finely chopped, use your hands to squeeze out the juice. Discard the pandan pulp (I put them straight into my compost bin). Depending on the size and the moisture content of your leaves, you should now have 50-100ml of fresh pandan juice.

3. Sift your dry ingredients. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt

4. Preheat the oven to 150 c (fan-assisted)

Step 2 - Make egg yolk batter

1. In the bowl with egg yolks, add 120g sugar.

2. Use a hand mixer, beat the egg yolk and sugar until creamy and fluffy.

3. Add in vegetable oil, and coconut milk and use a spatula to mix well

Step 3 - Sift in dry ingredients

1. Sift in the dry ingredients mixture (flour, baking powder, salt) - sifting is important for a light texture of the cake

2. Sift 1/3 of the dry ingredients first, use a spatula to lightly fold the mixtures together, then add another 1/3, fold again, and repeat. This process is to prevent clumps from forming. Do not over mix the batter as it will develop gluten and reduce fluffiness

Step 4 - Make meringue

1. Add 60g sugar and cream of tartar or lemon juice into egg whites

2. Using absolutely clean and dry whisks, beat the mixture on maximum speed for 5-8 minutes until a smooth and thick meringue is formed. (You can see stiff trails and soft peaks on your meringue）

Step 5 - Fold in

1. Take 1/3 of the meringue into the pandan batter, use a spatula to fold in and mix until well combined

2. Add the remaining meringue and fold in gently until well combined. Do not over mix

Step 6 - Pour into the chiffon pan and bake at 150 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes (timing varies depending on the oven)

Pay attention to tips below:

1. Pour the batter into the chiffon pan evenly. DO NOT coat it with oil or put any baking paper. The use of the tube pan is to let the batter stick to the pan so it will not shrink. Line your work surface or table with a dish cloth, bang the pan on the cloth once or twice to remove large bubbles

2. Timing and temperature are important to your success - insert a stick into the cake to check if cake is done and do not rely only on the recipe. If you bake it for too long the cake loses moisture and will be dry. You also don't want an undercooked cake though, so be careful with baking time. If oven temperature is too high, the top of the cake might crack and turn brown before the inside is cooked. Some recipes use higher heat and longer baking time, but I prefer lower heat and shorter baking time to ensure the cake is moist.

3. Check the cake with a stick - If it comes out with a little bit of batter attached, it means the cake will be done within a few minutes. You can turn off the oven, keep it in the oven for only a few minutes more. If the stick comes out clean, the cake is dry. You need to turn off the oven immediately and open the door to let the cake gradually cool down a bit before taking it out. If you take it out immediately, the cake might shrink because of temperature difference

4. Invert the pan on a cooling rack. Let it cool down completely before cutting it out to serve

Now it's time to enjoy the cake!

How does it smell like? The divine combination of pandan and coconut fragrance.

Taste? Soft and sweet, you feel like you are in tropical paradise.

Perfect for enjoying with coffee or tea.

YUMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Click here to see how I grown my pandan plants and propagated them many many times too.