Mocha Chiffon Cake

I was not sure if this cake would turn out good or not.  First, I am not a coffee drinker, I don’t even know how to brew a cup of coffee.  Second, I couldn’t find a recipe that is light in sugar and flour, the ones found online were more dense.  Since my friend gave me a pack of instant black coffee, I decided to give it a try.  Again, I created this recipe based on Christine Ho’s black sesame chiffon cake which is the first chiffon cake I posted on my blog.  The cake was decorated with whipped cream frosting, it was very moist, light and fluffy in texture.  Please scroll down to the bottom for the whipped cream frosting recipe.  This cake was gone in one day!!

Ingredients (for a 10″ pan):

7 95g 1 tsp

Egg whites Caster sugar Cream of tartar

125g 1/4 tsp 1 tsp 1 tsp 7 35g 58g 95ml 2 Tbsp (4g)

Cake flour Salt Baking powder Vanilla extract Egg yolks Caster Sugar Olive oil Hot water Instant black coffee

Method:

• Preheat oven to 340F.
• To separate eggs, place 3 small bowls side by side. Crack the first egg and pull the shell halves apart. Pass the yolk back and forth, letting the white fall into the first bowl. Put the yolk in the second bowl. Transfer the white to the third bowl and repeat with the remaining eggs.  By doing it this way, if you have one bad egg, you do not need to discard all egg whites.
• Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. It is best to begin at a slow speed and gradually move up to high when beating.  Add cream of tartar. After mixing well, add 90 grams of sugar in three batches, about one-third at a time, and beat well between additions.  Continue to beat until the egg whites are stiff and glossy.  Don’t over beat it, overbeaten whites look lumpy and watery.

• Dissolve instant black coffee powder in 95ml of hot water, set aside and let it cool. (Picture 1)
• Weigh all ingredients, combine cake flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.   Set aside (Picture 2)
• Mix egg yolks with 35g caster sugar until sugar dissolved.  Stir in oil until completely combined.  Add vanilla extract and black coffee and mix until well combined.  (Picture 3)
• Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, in three batches. Combine well.  The mixture is slight thicker now. (Picture 4)
• Fold-in the beaten egg whites with a spatula in three batches.  (Picture 5)
• Pour the batter into a 10″ tube pan and bake in the preheated oven for about 60 minutes.  (Picture 6)
• After baking the first 15 minutes, if you find the cake surface gets browning, reduce heat to 320F.  Continue to bake until cooked through.  A needle comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

• Remove the cake from the oven.  Invert the pan immediately on a wire rack.  Let it cool completely (at least an hour).  (Picture below)

• Remove the cake by running a thin-bladed knife around the pan, angling the knife towards the pan to try to get the full crust on the cake.
• I decorate the cake with whipped cream.  Please see below for the cocoa whipped cream frosting recipe.

How to make Cocoa Whipped Cream Frosting:

Ingredients:

3 cups 3 Tbsp 3 Tbsp 2 Tbsp 1 Tbsp

Heavy Whipping Cream Powdered Sugar Vanilla Instant Pudding Rum* (optional) Instant black coffee

Method:

1. Dissolve instant black coffee powder in 1 tbsp. of hot water, set aside.
2. Whip the heavy whipping cream with medium speed until it is smooth and firm, add powdered sugar and whip for another 1-2 minutes.
3. To make the cream more firm, add vanilla instant pudding and whip for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add in coffee and/or rum and whip for another minute.

Notes:

• My friend worked at a restaurant, he told me to use Vanilla Instant Pudding to make the cream more firm.
• *I only used 1 Tbsp. of rum as my kids are eating this cake.  If you prefer to have a stronger flavor, use 2 Tbsp. of rum.
• Whipped cream can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.