This recipe yields a fragrant, soft and moist Gula Melaka Chiffon Cake. Not forgetting the fluffiness texture. A wonderful Asian taste I would say. Gula Melaka is palm sugar, popular in South East Asian, Nyonya and Malaysian cooking. Commonly sold in cyclindrical blocks as the collected sap from coconut palm trees are boiled, thickened and poured into bamboo tubes to solidify. Comparing to white sugar, it has a deeper richer and smokier flavour and dark brown in color.
For me the sweetness is just perfect. Light sweetness, not overly sweet. But if you have a sweet tooth, you may slightly add a bit more gula melaka or castor sugar to the recipe.
Ingredients: (makes a 17cm pan + 1 cupcake)
90g Gula Melaka (chopped)
65g Coconut Milk
90g Cake Flour (sifted)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder (sifted)
4 Egg Yolk
3 tbsp Vegetable Oil (I used Canola oil)
pinch of Salt
Meringue:
4 Egg Whites
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
30g Castor Sugar
Step by Step:
1. Melt chopped gula melaka and coconut milk on low heat. Stirring once a while to prevent burning.
2. Strain and set aside to cool down abit.
3. With a hand whisk, mix egg yolk, oil until well combined. Then add in 1/2 portion of cake flour & 1/2 portion of gula melaka mixture (still warm at the time I mix in). Whisk to combine and pour in the rest of the cake flour & gula melaka mixture. Add salt and continue whisk till well combined.
4. In another big bowl, use a hand mixer, whisk egg whites until bubbly. Add in cream of tartar & continue to whisk till frothy.
5. Gradually add in castor sugar and whisk till meringue reach medium peak.
6. Preheat oven at 160C.
7. Take 1/3 of the meringue and use a silicone spatula to mix well with egg yolk batter.
8. Fold in another 1/3 of meringue, gently fold with egg yolk batter till slighty combined.
9. Pour the egg yolk batter to the balance meringue bowl and gently fold till well combined.
10. Pour into tube pan & tap the tube pan on table top a few times to remove excess air bubbles trapped inside.
Note : Do not grease the chiffon tin as the batter need to hold and climb in order to rise properly.
(It looks so full in my 17cm tube pan, so I pour some batter to a cupcake mould)
11. Bake at pre-heated oven at 160C (top & bottom heat setting) for 35mins at lower rack.
(Picture taken after 20 mins. At this point of time, the cupcake can be removed.)
(Note to myself : I am baking at 160C for first 10 mins, then reduce temperature to 150C) Temperature varies from brand of oven used.
12. Once baked, immediately remove from the oven & turning it upside down to cool completely.
13. Unmould from pan.
Note : Do not grease the chiffon tin as the batter need to hold and climb in order to rise properly.