There’s a first time for everything.
And for me this time it’s writing my first ever blog post.
I´ve been toying with the idea of starting a food blog for a while now and when I researched on how to do it, all the other bloggers just kept saying to not be afraid, to just jump in and do it.
So I did!
Expect mainly food posts, mostly sweets as I love to bake, with family meals thrown in and some DIY activities for my almost 2-year old daughter that I think will be good to share.
I start my journey into blogging with a post about chiffon cake. I suppose you would say that there is nothing memorable about a chiffon cake, but to me, it holds a special place.
Growing up, we would look forward to our birthdays as that would mean birthday cake from Lola Eve (“Lola” is Filipino for “Grandma”. She was my Dad’s aunt, but us kids called her “Lola”.) What was even better was having leftover cake, toasted, with cheese for breakfast. The icing turns meringue-like and the saltiness of the cheese offsets the sweetness of the cake. That remains one of my favorite breakfasts.
Fast forward to high school and we had to make chiffon cake for Home Economics. It was a disaster. Our cake was so flat and I was scared to attempt to bake it again until years later when I was in Luxembourg. I read on ways on how to successfully attempt one, but the perfect cake still evaded me. They would rise nice and tall in the oven, but almost immediately deflate once I take them out. I went through my process and it hit me! My impatience was the cause! I was beating the egg whites too soon at high-speed when I should start low and slow.
So don’t follow what I did. Instead set out all the ingredients mise en place (I do this, because I forget to include one ingredient occasionally, and as a result, ruin the recipe.) Make sure that your bowl is clean and grease-free by wiping it with a paper towel soaked in white vinegar or lemon juice.
Mix water, oil, egg yolks and vanilla in a measuring glass. Then sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl, then add ¾ cup sugar. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Mix well.
Now it’s time to beat the egg whites. Start on a medium low-speed, (that is 4 on my KitchenAid Artisan) until it looks foamy. Then increase the speed to 6 until soft peaks form. Gradually add 6 tablespoons sugar and when the sugar is all in, increase the speed to 8, until stiff peaks form.
Carefully fold the beaten egg whites into the first mixture, pour into cake pans and bake. If you did everything right, they will come out nice and tall, and will not deflate. To avoid further deflating, invert the cakes on cooling racks.
When the cakes are cool, run a knife around the edges of the cake to release. I like working with cold cakes, so I usually bake them the day before I ice them and keep them in the fridge. You may also bake the cake up to 3 months ahead of time and keep in the freezer. Defrost in the fridge the night before and it will taste just as fresh.
Make the icing of your choice. For this one, I made a Swiss meringue icing (not buttercream) to finish the cake.
Ahhh, the simplest of cakes do bring back memories.
Other desserts you might like:
Chocolate and Brown Butter Naked Cake
Pin this chiffon cake recipe for later!
Tweety Golez Matzat
Yields one 8 inch/20 centimeter cake
a classic Filipino birthday cake
Save Recipe5 based on 6 review(s)
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ cup (225 grams) cake flour, sifted
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons (225 grams) granulated sugar (divided into ¾ cup (150 grams) and 6 tablespoons (75 grams))
- 2 ½ teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon (5 grams) fine sea salt
- ½ cup + 2 tablespoon (150 millilitres) cold water
- 1/3 cup + 2 teaspoon (100 millilitres) canola oil
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 2 ½ tsp (12 millilitres) vanilla extract
- ½ tsp (3 grams) cream of tartar
- 4 large egg whites
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla extract
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F/160°C.
- Line two 8-inch/20 centimeter round baking pans with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix cake flour, ¾ cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, baking powder and sea salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the cold water, canola oil, egg yolks and vanilla. Mix well until smooth.
- Prepare mixing bowl by wiping it thoroughly with a paper towel and lemon juice or white vinegar to get rid of any remaining grease. Pour in egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat gradually at low speed until frothy (I start at 2 for 30 seconds, and then increase to 4). When frothy, increase to medium high (6 on my mixer) and gradually add in the remaining 6 tablespoons sugar until stiff.
- Gently fold in the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk mixture.
- Divide the mixture into the two prepared pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
- Cool completely before icing. Invert the pans on a cooling rack. Cool completely before icing. I found it best to refrigerate the cakes overnight before icing. To remove from the cake pans, run a knife around the cake so that the cake pops out easily. If it doesn't, help it a bit by lifting the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake pan and lifting the cake out.
- Fill a saucepan where your bowl can fit on top with at least 1 ½ inches (4 centimeters) water and bring to a simmer.
- Combine the sugar and egg whites in the mixer bowl. Set on top of the saucepan and whisk constantly until the sugar has melted (rub the mixture between your fingers and if it’s smooth, you’re good to go), or it has reached a temperature of 140°F/60°C.
- Transfer the bowl to the mixer and whisk, starting on low speed, until stiff peaks form. Fold in vanilla extract. You may color the icing as needed.
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