Here is my second attempt on apple chiffon cake. I've made a 17cm and a 22cm round chiffon. It took some time to made this cakes as the apple need to be cooked first before making the cake. I bought few apples that came with very red skin to produce a lovely pink color for the cooked apple.
Most of the chiffon cake I've been making consist of corn flour. I followed a recipe book named "戚枫蛋糕秘法转授". I think it's the best chiffon recipe book I had so far. The book stated that adding some corn flour in the egg whites will absorb the liquid of the egg whites in order to stabilize the meringue and produce a special texture. I guess its chemical reaction is quite similar with cream of tartar or lemon juice. I like the recipe because it don't consist of chemical element such as baking powder or cream of tartar but just the ordinary ingredients like egg, water, oil, flour, sugar and natural color from fruits or vegetables.
Recipe for 17cm round chiffon
For the egg whites mixture:
110g egg whites
55g caster sugar
5g corn flour
For the egg yolks mixture:
40g egg yolks
36g water
36g vegetable oil or olive oil
55g plain flour
150g cooked apple
For decoration:
200ml Whipping cream
12g caster sugar
some cooked apple
few pieces of mint leaves
How I made it:
- For the cooked apple, peel 3 large apple and finely chop the skin or blend it in the blender. Cut the apple in small cubes. Mix the chopped skin with apple cubes. Weigh the mixture.
- Mix 15% of caster sugar from the weight of mixture (1) and cook with 4 tablespoon of water until the juice absorb and the cooked apple appear soft pink color.
- For the chiffon cake, mix all the egg yolks mixture except flour. When everything well combined then gradually add in sifted flour (I used electric mixer, its came very handy for this process). Mix everything well combine and no lumps left. The mixture would be very thick and and smooth. Gently mix in the cooked apple (make sure the cooked apple had completely cool down).
- Beat the egg whites in a clean large bowl until peak foam. Gradually add in sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Then finally add in corn flour. Make sure the corn flour mix well in the egg mixture (Using an electric mixer would be great!). The egg whites mixture should be peak foam, smooth and shiny.
- Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites mixture into the egg yolks mixture. When everything well combine then gently fold in the 1/2 of the remaining egg whites mixture. Lastly, fold in the remaining egg whites mixture. (Note: This stage took some times and patient and practice. Make sure all the egg whites mixture well combine with the egg yolks mixture without breaking the egg whites. Little egg whites left will cause a big hole in the cake during baking. And, over mixing will cause it hardly rise during the baking.)
- Pour the well mix mixture into a 17cm chiffon cake tin and bake at a 160-170'C preheated oven for 40 minutes. After baked, let the baked cake turn upside down for cooling before unmold it. (Note: The recipe book stated that to cling wrap the entired cake tin and place in a big plastic bag once its completely cool down. Then, place in the fridge for over night to emit the fragrant of the cake and stabilize the cake for decoration).
- Unmold the cake and whip the fresh cream with sugar. Decorate it like the picture shown above or decorate it with your creativity.
- Keep the cake in the fridge it could last for 4 - 5 days. Best serve in 3 days.
