Orange Glow Chiffon Cake

I have never been a fan of chiffon cake as Ive always found it dry and lack of flavour....maybe Ive been trying the wrong ones....Ive never baked a chiffon cake before yet Ive always wondered...can a chiffon cake made to be moist and light yet flavourful.....

Eventually I got a tube pan but it has been lying in the drawer for months till this weekend when I decided to make something with oranges in the fridge...so I was looking for a moist orange chiffon cake and I came upon Cakes and More....a lovely blog with the cake I wanted.....and what she had was a very detailed version of Rosy Levy Beranbaum's Orange Glow Chiffon Cake Recipe....though I didnt read thru the whole post, I knew immediately, this was what I was looking for....

So, here goes...my Orange Glow Chiffon Cake...moist, airy, baked to perfection, smells awesome and tastes delicious......I admit that I did not follow every single helpful tip that she has given in the blog as I always like to keep it simple....so for those who wants to know more about the cake and the tips, do check out the blog...im sure it's very helpful....;)

Ingredients :

All purpose flour    190 gms
Corn Flour               34 grms
Superfine sugar       1 1/4 cups - keep aside 2 tbsps

Baking powder        2 tsps
Salt                          1/4 tsp
 Sunflower/canola oil    1/2 cup



Egg whites -    1 1/4 cup (I needed 8 eggs)
Egg yolks   -  1/2 cup ( I needed 7 eggs)
Orange juice - 3/4 cup
Grated orange zest - 2 tbsp


Vanilla extract    - 1 tsp
Cream of tartar  - 1 1/4 tsp

Method :
Preheat oven 160 degrees....do not grease ur tube pan as the cake has to cling to the pan to rise...

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornflour, baking powder all but 2 tablespoons of sugar and salt. Set aside.

Now to beat the egg whites, start with your hand mixer or pour into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low speed. When it starts foaming well, add the cream of tartar and continue beating using a balloon whisk. Continue to beat gradually increasing the speed to medium high. When the beater show soft peaks form, add the 2 tablespoons of sugar you have reserved. Continue beating in medium high till the whites form stiff peaks. Mine took a few minutes....keep monitoring...To check, stop your mixer, lift the beaters from the whites, you should be able to see peaks which stand straight. If they droop right away and fall back, you have to beat a little more. Do not want to beat the egg whites till they dry out. Once the whites are whipped to the right consistency, keep the bowl aside.

Now, with the dry ingredients. I just used a big spatula and mixed it all together for 1 minute to mix and aerate the mixture. Make a well in the center, add the orange juice, yolks, oil, orange zest and vanilla extract. Mix it all together till smooth. Do not overmix. Now fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the flour mixture. Mix to lighten the batter. Then add in the rest. Fold in quickly, gently, but thoroughly. The batter is neither thick nor thin. Try to incorporate it together but do not overmix as it will not be airy then.
Do not do it the other way around : mixing the dry ingredients to the egg whites....!

Pour the batter into the tube pan. The batter must be about 1 inch from the top.. Run a sharp knife or metal spatula through the batter to prevent air pockets. Wipe away any batter from the tube or the sides of the pan. Bake for 55 minutes or till a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean .Mine took 60 minutes. It all depends on your oven...do keep checking after 55 minutes till it's done....



Once out of the oven, turn the cake upside down to cool it....It helps it your tube pan has feet so the top of the cake wont touch your cooling rack...The cake will take 1 1/2 hours to cool.

After 1 1/2 hours, keep your serving platter nearby, loosen the sides of the cake with a long metal spatula or a knife. Run it along the sides of the core tube as well.. Place the serving plate on top of the pan, put the plate on the table and invert the cake. Then slowly remove the core...u may need to use a knife for this....

I watched this video by Rose and it really helped .....do watch it....

Part 1
Part 2

Now for more pics ;)

Linked this to :

Favorite Cake Recipes

Asam Pedas Fish

This is a famous Malaysian dish....a very flavourful one...I got the original version from Rasa Malaysia blog and made some changes according to my taste....turned out well ;)

Ingredients:

1 black pomfret (cleaned and cut to 3 pieces)
handful of small okras
1 tomato (cut into slices)
1 1/2 teaspoon of fish curry powder
3 sprigs of daun kesum
1 tablespoon of palm sugar/sugar
Salt to taste

oil

Spice Paste:

3 clove garlic
2 stalk of lemon grass (white part only) - sliced
4 shallots
5-7 dried chillies (depends on how spicy you like)
1/2 tablespoon of belacan (prawn paste)

Tamarind Juice:

1 1/4 cup of water
Tamarind pulp (size of a small ping pong ball)

Method:

1.     Grind the spice paste and set aside.

2.     Soak the tamarind pulp in warm water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the tamarind pulp  to extract the flavor into the water. Drain the pulp and save the tamarind juice.

3.     Heat oil and fry the spice paste for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

4.     Add the tamarind juice, fish curry powder and bring to boil.

5.     Add the tomato wedges and okras and bring to boil.

6.     Add the fish, salt, daun kesum and palm sugar/sugar.

7.     Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or until the fish is cooked.

8.     Serve with white rice

Mango Lassi

A treat on a sunny day....yummy mango lassi.....

Got some indian mangoes at a local supermarket...sweet, juicy and smells awesome.....;)

This recipe makes 2...

1 big ripe mango, cut and spoon out the flesh into a blender.
1/2 cup Greek style Yogurt
1/2 - 3/4 cup fresh orange / mango juice
1/4 tsp pure vanilla
ice cubes

Blend all ingredients togethervand pour into glasses..Serve immediately... so yummy ;)

Linked this to :
Simple and In Season
Cool Summer Sips
Only Mango
Dish Starts With M
Splash Into Summer

Rustic Strawberry Cake

Hi...im back with a new cake...a strawberry cake...something different than my usual bakes...worth the try and tasted yummy...here's the recipe..slightly  modified from Martha Stewart's Strawberry Cake ;)

 

Ingredients :

1 1/2 cups cake flour or all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated brown sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 pound strawberries, halved or quartered

Method :
Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C. Prepare a 10 inch (25 cm)  pie or tart pan.
Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a medium bowl; set aside. Beat butter and 3/4 cup sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer until light and fluffy, 3 minutes. Add in egg, buttermilk, vanilla and lemon zest. Add flour and mix to combine without over-mixing. Spread batter in the prepared dish. Arrange strawberries, cut-side down, on top of the batter, gently pressing to partially submerge. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake in oven until top is light golden and a cake tester inserted in the cake comes clean, about 45mins to an hour, according to your oven. Cool on a wire rack.

Linked this to :
Simple and In Season
Favorite Recipes -Cakes

'Scream Ice Cream' Round-Up

Hi all...Thanks for the wonderful summer entries..here's the round-up of the event....
I have 2 ongoing events this month :

Bake Fest #8 - guest hosting

Bake Along Challenge #3 - Berries

Do participate in this events ;)

Now, for the ice-creams :

Delicious Home Made Chocolate Ice Cream by Bonteka Speaks

Yummilicious Eggless Strawberry Ice Cream by Erivum Puliyum



Creative and yummy Orange Bombs by Anzz Cafe

Truly unique Lucuma Ice Cream by Chef Mireille's

Yummy Rosie Ice Cream by My Cook Book

Mouthwatering Strawberry Ice Cream with Chia Seeds by Few Minute Wonders

Lastly my first attempt at ice-creams : Eggless Durian Ice Cream

Bake Fest # 8 - guest hosting

Hi all...this month I'm mush privileged to announce that I'm guest hosting Vardhini's Bake Fest . Ive sent entries to this event but it's first time I;m guest hosting an event....and for that, I'm truly thankful to Vardhini....Now, here's the rules :

The event runs from June 1st - June 30th.

1. Send in any recipe which has been baked / broiled.

2. Only vegetarian or vegan recipes please..eggs in baking are allowed.

3. Usage of the logo is appreciated as it helps spread the word.

4. Link to Vardhini's Bake Fest announcement and to this page is mandatory. If sending an old entry, it needs to be re-published with the links.

5. You can send in any number of new entries and a maximum of 2 old entries.

Do link your entries to the linky tool provided on this page...a round-up of the event will be posted first week of July...happy baking ;)