Recently, I have been asked to name my favourite Asian spices. Without pausing to gather my thoughts, I was quick to declare Pandan and Lemongrass as my most favoured Asian spices. Both spices have a calming effect on me, a whiff of the scent from these 2 plants has the ability to lull me into a state of spa-like bliss. The Pandan fragrance is best described as a subtle freshness with a hint of sweetness while the Lemongrass is laced with a subtle citrusy under note. The Pandan has long been used in numerous South East Asian desserts. The Pandan Chiffon cake is one of the most popular western cake recipes that celebrates the Pandan Flavour. In fact, till a few years ago, many of us here were still under the impression that Chiffon Cakes have to be green in colour :) !
Those who have been reading my blog would know that the Chiffon is my favourite cake genre. I have already posted a few different chiffon cake recipes but interestingly, till date, I have still not posted a Pandan Chiffon cake.
This here, is not your typical Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe. Delighted with the results of my last Angel Chiffon Cake, I decided to take it further by turning it into a Pandan Angel Chiffon. Lacking the typical fragrance from the traditional egg based cake, the Angel Chiffon is milder. This is where a good Pandan extract takes center stage and for authenticity, I had replaced the milk with coconut milk.
The result is a very moist and soft Pandan Chiffon cake with a clean and subtle nuance of the Pandan flavour. If you’ve been collecting different Pandan Chiffon Cake recipes, this will be a delightful addition.
- (For a 17cm Chifffon Cake Mold)
- 40ml Salad Oil (Canola or Grapeseed oil)
- 80ml Coconut milk
- 70g All purpose flour
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 1tsp Pandan paste (if you can extract this directly from fresh pandan leaves that would be best but colour will be paler)
- 200g Egg white
- 70g Powdered sugar (Icing Sugar)
- Preheat oven to 170C
- In a mixing bowl, mix oil, pandan paste and coconut milk together with a hand whisk.
- Sift flour and salt into (2) and mix well with hand whisk until a smooth paste is formed and no lumps are visible.
- In another clean mixing bow, add egg whites and powder sugar. Mix with a mixer fitted with a ballon whisk until soft peaks are formed.
- Add ⅓ of meringue from (4) into (3) and mix well. Add the remaining meringue and fold to combine using a rubber spatula.
- Pour batter in chiffon pan and bake at 170C for 40mins.
- Remove cake from oven and cool by standing the pan upside down.
{ 35 comments… read them below or add one }
I like the sound of using the angel cake as a base.. This makes a chiffon cake so much easier to think about to make for me. Also, I am so glad you used pandan paste as that is what i can find here!
Hi Daphne – I was really too lazy to grind the pandan leaves to get the extract.. ;P
I made this angel chiffon cake before but the result wasn’t as good as those common chiffon cake which we usually separate the egg white and egg yolk. The surface of the angel chiffon I made tend to be wet and sticky after cooling down at room temperature. The picture look great, the surface looks dry, how did you do that??
I am guessing that the recipe you are using could have too much sugar…. the recipe could have used too much sugar to get a more stabilised meringue but may be I am wrong. Please try this recipe. I have used this recipe twice now and have no problems with it.
Shirley, love chiffon cake and that looks awesome. Twitter is all set now
Hi Sandra, thanks for dropping by. Glad that you had sorted out the Twitter issue.
Wow! That is so amazing good! Gorgeous! I just love the pastel green!
I just adore the pale green of the Pandan Angel Food Cake! It is a spring delight.
I envision serving with fresh strawberries and a dollop of cream.
Yum it looks great!!! I had never heard of Pandan before, but I will have to find some to make this recipe
Beautiful photo 
cake looks fabulous
I love pandan chiffon, homemade ones, not store bought. I love the natural green hue of yours, unlike those awful green used commercially!
Have been looking at cakes like this .. before, but I can’t get the baking tin for it over here in Sweden, have to look when I go to US & Canada this summer. This kind of cake really talks to me – not a big fan of sponge cake, but those chiffon cakes I really want to do. Your lime green here looks gorgeous!
There are a few “ways” around using the tin with the funnel.
You can use a bundt cake tin or… like me
Empty a drink can, fill it with uncooked beans, wrapped it with foil and put in the middle of a round cake tin. It works.
Hi Shirley, thank you for stopping at my blog and leaving your lovely comment. I fell in love with your pandan lapis on Tastespotting and was delighted when I realised that that was YOUR creation! Your blog is gorgeous, as is this pandan chiffon. I have to totally agree with you – I cannot get enough of pandan and lemongrass either. In fact, now I think of it, that’s what I should’ve called my blog…
Very tall and nice chiffon. Love especially the light green color.
angel cake ..i could touch heaven with such a chiffon !!! need to find pandan !
Cheers from paris
pierre
What a great idea! This might just be the world’s first Pandan Angel Food Cake! Chiffons are common in Asia, but Angel Food Cake are more common in North America! I love how you blended the idea together to create this decadent dessert! Perfect for whipping up after making a Lapis.
Pandan and lemongrass are definitely amongst my favourite asian spices too!
I’ve always wanted to make a pandan chiffon cake, but sourcing pandan paste or fresh pandan leaves is slightly difficult- I’ve previously attempted one using pandan essence, but the flavour isn’t quite what I’d expected. This is the first time I’ve seen pandan angel food cake- the texture looks so amazingly soft and fluffy! When I finally get around to purchasing some pandan paste/leaves, I’ll be sure to give this recipe a go!
Loved your Pandan Angel Food Cake, especially the lovely pastel colour.
Hi Shirley!
I do love your baking blog. And i tried some of them. I would like to know why my sponge cake that without egg yolks turned out hard compare with the one with egg yolks.
Thanks!
Airell
Hi Airell – do you mean your angel chiffon cake turned out denser? Usually when that happens, it could be that the baking temperature is not right. The moisture did not dry out properly. As a result of which, the cake could collapse and remain very dense. If this is not the case, please email me at kokken69blog@gmail.com
Hi, this chiffon is so nice and soft. I did not know that we can use icing sugar to beat meringue. May I know did you put the icing sugar with the egg white and beat or do we have to beat the egg whites till foamy first before adding the icing sugar? THanks
Hi Yin, indeed, this is also the first time for me to use icing sugar for meringue. It’s suprisingly stable. I added in the icing sugar in 3 additions after the egg white turned foamy. That is a good practice when beating meringue.
I like this cake & will try it soon.
Thanks for sharing.
Hi Shirley’s, this cake looks awesome! I tried baking chiffon cakes twice, but failed twice! The second orange chiffon was much better, but I wasn’t able to get the light chiffon cake feel. Was it because of the way I mixed the meringue in? Or more likely to be when beating the egg whites? The beating of egg whites confuses me too as I don’t seem to get the correct texture. I’m very new to baking and would really love to bake better cakes! Thanks!
Hi Mel- sorry for not getting back to you earlier. I was out for the whole month…. Yes, the chiffon cake is indeed not easy. One needs alot of practice. I still fail when I try out more tricky chiffon cake recipes. Usually the failure of the chiffon is due to the instability of the egg white and also the temperature of the oven. Do not overbeat the egg white otherwise the cake will turn out coarse and dry. However, if you do not get the meringue to the right stiffness, your cake will collapse- hence you will need to bake this more often to understand the right consistency of the meringue… keep trying!
Hi, how much to use if using fresh pandan juice? 1tsp is too little right?
Thank you for sharing, nice day…
Hi FW, sorry for the late reply. I just got back from my vacation. Yes, typically, 1tsp for fresh pandan juice is too little. I have not tried using fresh pandan juice for this recipe but I would suggest 2-3 tsp to start with.
Hi
Your chiffon cake looked very nice and delicious. From your receipe above,
I noticed that there aren’t any egg yorks. Did you omitted the egg yorks?
Hi Michelle, sorry for the late reply as I just got back from my vacation. This is an Angel Food cake so there is no egg yolks.
I like all the recipe from you blog and make me tried to bake my 1st cake ever but i can’t understand why my sponge cake came out to be very very thin >.< Follow the steps but not sure where went wrong =.=
Hi Elynn, I am so glad that you have started to try to bake your first cake. It sounded like you may not have creamed your cake well enough to introduce the air into the cake. A couple of questions : what did you use to cream your butter/sugar/eggs? Do you have a mixer? Also, what is the size of the baking tin you were using? How was the texture of the cake? You can also email me.
where did u buy your pandan paste??
Hi Student baker – if you are based in Singapore, you can get it at Phoon Huat or Sunlik at Seah Street.
Thank you, now all I need is to beable to get the pandan. First I need to find out where I can get the paste and or leaves Thank you Joyce