PASSION FRUIT CHIFFON CAKE

It is the season for passion fruits. Personally I do not really fancy the fruits on their own due to sourness, but my children love them! However, I love the taste when it is made into desserts. The fragrance and sweet-sour taste is absolutely my all-time favourite. 

Using recipe from my favourite pandan chiffon cake as reference point, I came up with this amazing cake. The result is a fragrant, moist and soft cake, and I simply love the crunch from the seeds. No essence is required, only real fruit pulp is used. If you are into all-natural cake, then just omit baking powder. The cake may not rise as much without baking powder, but the texture and taste is not compromised. 

To ensure softness of cake, make sure the egg whites are whipped nicely and gluten is not activated from flour.  It may look like a lot of sugar, I assure you the taste is well balanced. But if you still wish to reduce sugar anyway, please only reduce from the 63g that is to be mixed into egg yolks. Refrain from reducing from egg whites portion.

This recipe is for 21cm chiffon mould or 2 x 16cm chiffon moulds. Cake not stored in fridge must be consumed in three days. Can keep for a week in fridge.

PASSION FRUIT CHIFFON CAKE
Ingredients

4 egg yolks (from 50g eggs)
63g caster sugar

36g canola oil
70-80g fresh passion fruit pulps and seeds (abt 2 fruits, do not exceed 80g)

82g low-protein flour
2g baking powder (optional)

5 egg whites (from 50g eggs)
43g caster sugar
Pinch of salt and dash of vinegar

Method

1. Preheat oven at 150C using conventional mode and place rack at lower level. 

2. In a clean, grease-free, water-free mixer bowl, place in egg whites and whisk at medium-fast speed till foamy. Add a pinch of salt and dash of vinegar.

3. Add sugar from 43g by the tablespoons slowly. When the egg white is whisked to 70-80% stiffness, switch to whisk at low speed for 3 minutes to reduce air bubbles. My mixer takes about 10 minutes to make this meringue.

4. While the egg whites are mixing in low speed, we can prepare the egg yolks.
In a separate mixing bowl, put in egg yolks and sugar. Use a hand whisk to stir till combined. The yolks do not have to thicken.

5. Stir canola oil and fruit pulps together. Add into egg yolk mixture and stir well to combine.

6. Sift in flour and baking powder mixture (if using baking powder) into egg yolk mixture. Use hand whisk to just combine. There should be no lumps and flour is not overworked.

7. Scoop a third of meringue into egg yolk mixture. Fold in gently.

8. Pour egg yolk mixture into the gap left in meringue. Fold in gently until no white streaks is seen.

9. Pour into chiffon mould(s). Level top and give a few taps to pop air pockets.

10. Bake for 70-90 min. You should see golden crusts around the raised hole in middle of cake. Remove from oven and drop mould to ground from height of 1 feet to shock the cake. Quickly invert cake to cool completely in the mould. Then remove cake from mould and serve.

Tip: It is important that the cakes are inverted with at least 15cm height so that heat is dispersed well and not sweating the cake. Try to let cake cool in normal circumstances without fan or air-conditioning.