Yes, I am fully aware that I am very behind since this was a Father's Day cake. Shame on me.
I decided to make an "Asian-y" cake for my dad for Father's Day. Chiffon cake is a soft, moist cake made with lots of eggs for a very soft, spongy texture.
This also became the cake where every single thing went wrong. I love to bake, but cakes really are not my forte.
Also, I realized that I did not own a food scale since this recipe was in grams...off to Bed Bath and Beyond I go...
Start out with the milk, sugar, and oil.
Here are the dry ingredients: AP flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and the matcha green tea powder (optional).
I sifted the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir it a little bit first so that the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere.
Add the yolks one at a time, blending a bit after each addition.
This mixture will be thick and gooey...if you're gonna add flavoring extracts or coloring, do it now.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites. Once they get frothy, add a pinch of salt and the remaining sugar.
They're done when it has medium peaks and is very glossy like this!
Fold the egg whites into the batter. I did 1/3 at a time. Be gentle and don't deflate the batter by stirring it!
Put the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Mine is just an angel food cake pan and it comes in two pieces.
Do the toothpick test to see if it's done.
Here's the strange part. Now, while it's hot, turn it upside down. I put it over a rack so that air could pass underneath it and it wouldn't get steamy or soggy. That's what the little feet on the pan are for. If you just let it cool sitting right side up, it could sink and become dense. Turning it upside down will allow the cake to stretch and be nice and soft and spongy. This is also why you don't grease your pan. If you did, it would just slide right out. If your pan doesn't have feet, you're supposed to put the hole over a soda bottle, beer bottle, or maybe a funnel.
Once it's completely cooled, run a butter knife around the edges and it should come right out. Then I put it on a foil-covered cake board. (I accidentally dented the top, but that's okay because I'm gonna lop it off)
Cut of the mounded top to even out the cake and then cut the cake in half if you want to put filling in between. I used pieces of the top of the cake to fill in the hole. At this point, once I had cut into the cake, I was very sad because the cake was a light tan color and not a lovely shade of green. I guess the matcha powder changed color during the baking process. Sad day. Next time, I'll just use green tea extract/essence and then some food coloring!!
Here's where I make some stabilized whipped cream to ice the cake.
I started with 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar (use as much or as little sugar as you want) and a tablespoon of clear vanilla. Pour in 16 oz of whipping cream.
Get a packet of unflavored, powdered gelatin and sprinkle it in the water that you put in a small saucepan. Heat it over very low heat until it dissolves. Let it cool.
Once the whipped cream is about half way there, add in the gelatin and keep whipping.
Done! You've got a bowl full of whipped cream that will not "weep" if you let it sit. You must use this IMMEDIATELY. Do not make it in advance. Wait until your cake is ready to ice and then make this, or else it will set-up...that's what the gelatin does!
I drained a can of fruit cocktail and mixed it with some of the whipped cream. I reserved some of the cherries and grapes to decorate the top of the cake.
Put the filling on the first layer and then place the second layer on top. Use more of the leftover cake to fill in the whole. Please eat the rest of the leftover cake for quality assurance purposes.
Here is the final product. As you can see, I have terrible cake decorating skills and I write like a 5-year old. Thank goodness this was for my dad, who loved it anyway.
I decided to make an "Asian-y" cake for my dad for Father's Day. Chiffon cake is a soft, moist cake made with lots of eggs for a very soft, spongy texture.
This also became the cake where every single thing went wrong. I love to bake, but cakes really are not my forte.
Also, I realized that I did not own a food scale since this recipe was in grams...off to Bed Bath and Beyond I go...
Start out with the milk, sugar, and oil.
Here are the dry ingredients: AP flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and the matcha green tea powder (optional).
I sifted the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Stir it a little bit first so that the dry ingredients don't fly everywhere.
Add the yolks one at a time, blending a bit after each addition.
This mixture will be thick and gooey...if you're gonna add flavoring extracts or coloring, do it now.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites. Once they get frothy, add a pinch of salt and the remaining sugar.
They're done when it has medium peaks and is very glossy like this!
Fold the egg whites into the batter. I did 1/3 at a time. Be gentle and don't deflate the batter by stirring it!
Put the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Mine is just an angel food cake pan and it comes in two pieces.
Do the toothpick test to see if it's done.
Here's the strange part. Now, while it's hot, turn it upside down. I put it over a rack so that air could pass underneath it and it wouldn't get steamy or soggy. That's what the little feet on the pan are for. If you just let it cool sitting right side up, it could sink and become dense. Turning it upside down will allow the cake to stretch and be nice and soft and spongy. This is also why you don't grease your pan. If you did, it would just slide right out. If your pan doesn't have feet, you're supposed to put the hole over a soda bottle, beer bottle, or maybe a funnel.
Once it's completely cooled, run a butter knife around the edges and it should come right out. Then I put it on a foil-covered cake board. (I accidentally dented the top, but that's okay because I'm gonna lop it off)
Cut of the mounded top to even out the cake and then cut the cake in half if you want to put filling in between. I used pieces of the top of the cake to fill in the hole. At this point, once I had cut into the cake, I was very sad because the cake was a light tan color and not a lovely shade of green. I guess the matcha powder changed color during the baking process. Sad day. Next time, I'll just use green tea extract/essence and then some food coloring!!
Here's where I make some stabilized whipped cream to ice the cake.
I started with 4 tablespoons of powdered sugar (use as much or as little sugar as you want) and a tablespoon of clear vanilla. Pour in 16 oz of whipping cream.
Get a packet of unflavored, powdered gelatin and sprinkle it in the water that you put in a small saucepan. Heat it over very low heat until it dissolves. Let it cool.
Once the whipped cream is about half way there, add in the gelatin and keep whipping.
Done! You've got a bowl full of whipped cream that will not "weep" if you let it sit. You must use this IMMEDIATELY. Do not make it in advance. Wait until your cake is ready to ice and then make this, or else it will set-up...that's what the gelatin does!
I drained a can of fruit cocktail and mixed it with some of the whipped cream. I reserved some of the cherries and grapes to decorate the top of the cake.
Put the filling on the first layer and then place the second layer on top. Use more of the leftover cake to fill in the whole. Please eat the rest of the leftover cake for quality assurance purposes.
Here is the final product. As you can see, I have terrible cake decorating skills and I write like a 5-year old. Thank goodness this was for my dad, who loved it anyway.
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