Cocopandan Chiffon

I think making chiffon is part of my comfort zone. It relaxes and calms me down. :) I have to say that this is the one recipe that you almost couldn't fail - it's foolproof. I give ALL the credit to my dear mom. I used the basic recipe that I used here and added 1/2 tsp of cocopandan extract for this one.

I had brought this to church on Sunday and it received a very warm welcome by my friends there. This is what makes me really happy... when my baked goodies can put a smile on some one's face. :)

There's been a lot on my mind lately - wedding preparation, engaged life, marriage preparation, moving back to Indonesia, work-life balance, work-hobby balance, and all kinds of other stuff that crowds my brain. I want to be a good daughter, sister, friend, fiance, christian, and coworker. And I'm trying real hard - but I was reminded that I can't do all that on my own. I was reminded that I need to constantly be recharged in God's grace.

Especially with the big day (wedding day) and the bigger day (moving to Indo/Singapore with Alvin) coming up, there's been quite a bit of things that I need to think and pray about. While I was at Sunday service, God reminded me in my heart of this verse:

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

:)

I'm in good hands. Are you in good hands?

Tiramisu Chiffon

If I'm not mistaken, a while ago someone had asked if I've ever made a tiramisu chiffon. I had never done it before and it sounded like a good idea to put to practice. My first thought was to use tiramisu paste/extract to give the flavor, but it doesn't feel like I'm making a tiramisu chiffon at all. So I decided to try my own concoction. :p I thought about the components of tiramisu: strong coffee, mascarpone cream, and rum. So I took my mom's to-die-for chiffon recipe (in my humble opinion) and played around with it. Here's the result:

Some of the changes I made on the recipe:
- I used espresso instead of milk
- added 1 tbs of dark rum
- use diplomat cream to frost the cake (instead of buttercream)
- added some mini chocolate chips in the batter

I think overall the cake was okay. It tasted more like a mocha chiffon rather than tiramisu chiffon. Maybe it's the chocolate chips. Or maybe there's not enough rum. Or maybe, I need to use the tiramisu paste. I still haven't found the right combo for this yet. I'll continue on my search... and I'll keep you guys posted. :)

Cheese Chiffon is Back!

Yep, the cheese chiffon craze is back for me! It's been so long since I made these, my favorite cake of all time. :) I've been so caught up with chocolates, fondant, and other cake experiments that I forgot to make this simple cake. Several incidents that caused me to bake chiffon cakes are (1) a request for the recipe and (2) a request for the cake.


The recipe for this cake is really simple actually. It's just like any other chiffon cake recipe where you beat the egg whites separately and then fold it into the egg yolk mixture. In the many times I made this cake, I've only ruined it twice. :p I don't know if the probability is good or bad, but it is what it is. :)

My Mom's Famous Chiffon Cake

8 eggs, separated

50g + 150g sugar

100 ml milk

100 vegetable oil

140 g all purpose flour

20g cornstarch

20g milk

1tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

Processed cheddar cheese from Kraft, shredded to cover the cake

Buttercream, any kind that you like

Heat the oven to 350F and get ready your chiffon cake pan. In a large bowl, combine the milk, oil, and 50g of sugar and mix until well combined using a hand mixer (1-2 minutes). Add to the liquid the flour, milk, and cornstarch and mix until well combined. Then add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

In another large bowl, whisk the egg whites until frothy and add a pinch of salt. Continue whisking until you reach soft peaks. Add the sugar slowly and continue to mix at high speed until you get a glossy meringue with medium peaks.

Fold the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture in additions, being careful not to over deflate the batter. Add some of the shredded cheese in the batter if you like. Pour the batter to the pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until tester inserted to the center of the cake comes out clean. Once the cake is fully baked, take it out of the oven and hang it upside down (my chiffon pan has feet - if yours doesn't, just hang it upside down from a narrow necked bottle) until the cake cools to room temperature (I usually just leave the cake hanging overnight).

Unmold the cake, frost it with buttercream, and cover it with the shredded cheese. Ta-da!!

I had lots of fun with the cake and it's always been popular among my Indonesian friends. Give it a try - my mom's recipes are treasures to be cherished. :p

Almond and Cheese Chiffon Cake

This is my first baking moment back in Houston. It had been an eventful weekend with a wedding and a funeral at the same weekend. I had a totally wonderful time during the wedding - every moment of it was very warm, fun, and memorable. I am very happy for my friends! I wish them all the love and joy in their marriage.

The funeral, on the other hand, was really depressing for me. I never would have thought that the last time I saw her (in December 2008 before my vacation to Indo) was the last time I ever saw her. I was really sad and confused. This incident really shook me up and made me realize that my time here is limited - I should make the best out of it.

Anyway - back to the Chiffon. When I was in Indo, my mom's friend came over to the Villa and cooked for us. She also taught me to bake a Chiffon cake with coconut milk (a new recipe!). But more than the new recipe, she gave me an idea to mix almond into the batter to give the cake a more unique feel. In this cake, I folded in grated cheddar cheese (Kraft from Indo) and sliced almonds.

I actually think that this is the best looking chiffon that I had ever made. The complexion of the cake was uniform throughout and the way the almonds and cheese showed up at the top was really nice too. The texture of the cake was also very soft and moist. Alvin ate 2 slices at once. And I think Ryan ate a couple of slices too. I ate a good slice myself too! I still have some leftover at home - let me know if you're interested! :)

The Last Indonesian Cheesecake (for now)

This is it! No more Indonesian Cheesecake for me for now. And this last precious cheesecake is dedicated to Yuri & Ricky. :)

This cake uses Kraft cheese from Indonesia, which is a rare jewel here in Houston. Only 2 out of the many Asian grocery stores carry this brand. And they both ran out-of-stock. I have been cheese-hunting for the past month but to no avail. But I had 1 more packet at home and it was, in my opinion, the last Indonesian Kraft cheese in Houston.

This cake is always a favorite among my friends and yesterday was no different. I really enjoy watching them ate the cake while smiling and chatting. I somehow feel that I have contributed a little bit to their joy that night. :)

Anyways, happy birthday to Yuri and Ricky! Cheers!

The Long Story Chiffon

For our girl's bible study group, someone requested that I made the Cheese Chiffon Cake. I was very excited to make the cake because I just went hunting for the Indonesian Kraft Cheese and found them!

At first everything went smoothly. I pre-heated the oven, I worked the batter, poured it to the pan, and then put it in the oven. I turned the timer on for 30 minutes and then waited. After about 20 minutes, I took a peek at the oven to see how my cake is doing and strangely, the batter didn't rise at all, which is very unusual. I started to trace back my steps to see if I had done anything wrong to cause this, but I couldn't think of anything. So after 30 minutes, I checked on it again and the batter still looks the same from 10 minutes ago. It didn't rise and nor was it brown at the top. This is VERY strange because even if the batter didn't inflate, the cake would've been baked. Then I noticed... the oven was turned OFF! *GASP!!*

I panicked and I felt really upset. I thought my cake would be ruined! All those eggs gone to waste! But in the spirit of not giving up, I turned the oven back on and put another 30 minutes on the oven. I checked on my cake every now and then. The batter started to inflate and the top started to brown. I used a skewer to check if the cake has been thoroughly baked after 30 minutes, and then I took it out.

It turns out that the cake was just fine. The taste and the texture of the cake was like normal. I was very surprised myself. :) Here is a picture of it after we ate some at the small group meeting.

Mocha Chiffon Cake

As part of my chiffon madness, I made this Mocha Chiffon Cake. I've been wanting to make this for a while but I haven't settlted on how to make a good mocha flavor. I finally found a good chocolate and coffee extract! Yay! So here it is...

I made this cake for Ci Lia's birthday. :) Alvin helped me with sprinkling the cake with chocolate.

Indonesian Cheesecake - Chiffon Style

My very first cake order! Yayyy!! I was super duper excited about this cake because this was the first time someone had ordered a cake from me. Jess had tried my cake at Andrew's farewell party and she liked it. :) Thanks, Jess!



This cake is based of my mom's chiffon cake recipe, which I have memorized by heart now. :) I have covered the cake with Indonesian Kraft cheese (very hard to find in Houston) and I have decorated it with some red cherries.

I like the overall look of the cake. It's rather simple, but at the same time it's quite pretty. I didn't get to try the cake as she brought it to CS. I hope she enjoyed it!

Chiffon Cake Madness

My mom has this super wonderful chiffon cake recipe and she passed it on to me. I have made this cake a lot of times and everytime it is a delight watching the faces of my friends who ate the cakes. The cake has a very light, spongy texture and it's also very moist.

I've tried variations of the cake: orange chiffon, pandan chiffon, and indo-style cheese chiffon.