Super Soft & Moist Orange Chiffon Cake (with Wolf-berries & Raisins)

     

Many times, my cooking inspirations also depends on what I have at home.  I happened to have Sunkist naval orange at home, so I wanted to bake something orangy.  I vaguely remembered reading an article in the past about You Jin 尤今, a famous author who resides in Singapore, who loves to bake Orange Chiffon Cakes.  She said she was not aware then that her neighbors were “suffering” for a long time as they have to put up with the fragrance and aroma of the Orange Chiffon Cake every night but were not able to eat the cake.  I have been wanting to bake an Orange Chiffon Cake since reading the article but did not have the opportunity to.

This round, I wanted to bake a healthy Orange Chiffon Cake for my mum to eat, so I decided to add wolf-berries (good for the eyes) and raisin (good for the brains).  For the Raisin, I use Sun Harvest (that is low Sodium and Cholesterol free).  For the Wolf Berries, I rinsed in warm water for a few minutes, then pat dry.  I use Sunkist naval orange as it is sweeter than the most other oranges and it’s very juicy.  I added a drop of strawberry coloring to make the cake more interesting with patterns.  I reduced the sugar level to 30 grams, which is just sweet enough for my family, but I adjust to 40 grams below for a slightly sweeter taste.

For the recipe, I adapted the one from Bakeforhappykids, as it uses plain flour and corn flour together, which makes the flour similar to cake flour (that is ideal for making light and fluffy cake), but the proportion of corn flour to plain flour is much higher than cake flour.  So I have no doubt that the recipe will yield “Ultra Soft” Orange Chiffon Cake.

When the cake is baked, it is super soft, moist and light.  The sweetness level was just nice.  All the wolf-berries and raisins fell to the bottom of the cake.  There is the orange tangy-ness and fragrance due to the orange zest (I remove the white part, only the orange color skin is retained).  After eating the soft part of the cake, there is a slight chewiness at the bottom of the cake (the wolf berries and raisins turn soft and chewy after the baking process).  My mum ate and loves the cake, as it is soft and light and not too sweet for her.

I ate the cake the next day, it is still super soft and light…. yummy…… Try it!

   First pic is whisking the egg yokes with oil, then add in orange juice and orange zest.  Second pic is sifting in plain flour and corn flour, salt, whisk to combine.

   Third pic, add wolf berries and raisin to the egg yokes batter, mixed well.  Forth pic, in a separate clean bowl, use electric beater to beat egg whites till foamy, then add sugar in batches as the beating continues until firm peaks.

  Fifth pic, add egg whites in batches to the egg yokes mixture until well combined.  Six pic, I added one drop of strawberry coloring to a bit of batter.  Just to make the cake more colorful.

  Seventh pic, the cake after baking.  Eighth pic, the bottom of the cake when I invert over.

 

 

Orange Chiffon Cake (香橙戚风蛋糕) With Wolf-Berries & Raisins Recipe (6″ Cake Tin)

Preparation Time: 40 mins.  For 4 – 6 pax.

Recipe adapted from Bakeforhappykids.

Ingredients

3 Mid size egg yokes

18 grams Vegetable Oil

45 grams Orange Juice (I use Sunkist Naval orange)

1 Tbsp Orange zest

40 grams plain Flour

20 grams Corn Flour

1/8 tsp Salt

3 Mid size egg whites

40 grams Sugar (original recipe use 50 grams)

6 grams Wolf-berries (rinsed in warm water for a few minutes, wipe/pat dry)

6 grams raisins (I use Sun Harvest Raisin, low sodium Cholesterol free)

Method

  1. Pre-heat oven to 160 oC.
  2. Separate egg yokes from the egg whites.
  3. In the bowl with egg yokes, add in oil, use a hand whisk to whisk and combine.
  4. Add in orange juice and orange zest to the egg yokes mixture and whisk well.
  5. Sift in plain flour, corn flour and salt to the egg yokes mixture, whisk well to combine.  Add in wolf berries and raisins, mixed well to combine.
  6. In the separate bowl containing egg whites, use an egg beater to beat until foamy, then slowly add in the sugar in batches as you beat.  Beat until egg whites form firm peaks.
  7. Scoop out the egg whites in batches and add to the egg yoke mixture, use hand whisk to combine.  The first few batches, just lightly combine with some white foams still visible.  When the final scoop of egg whites are added, then whisk until all the egg whites are well combine (but do not over-mixed).
  8. Put the batter into cake tin, put into oven and bake for 55 mins.
  9. Once the cake is baked, take out, drop from a height for a few times to prevent sudden shrinking.  Then quickly invert the cake tin and let it cool down.  This will prevent the cake from shrinking too much.
  10. Once the cake has cooled down, use the knife to cut the edges of the cake and remove the cake from the cake tin.  Serve the cake while warm.