Buko Pandan Cake

Buko Pandan Cake

Inspired with the upcoming holidays, I like to have a green cake. This is a dry run for Christmas huh! So I tried the only green flavor I have at home which is buko-pandan powder. (gotta mention its from Phil.) I made it with the basic chiffon cake and just added the buko-pandan flavor. A lot of people don’t know how to make chiffon cake which I find it very easy. I think I have mastered this first among other cake mixtures. But I failed a lot way back High School days! (wink, wink J) I tried all kinds of failure! So, based on experience got some tips below to help those who would like to try making chiffon cake. In this recipe, you can substitute other flavors like vanilla, orange, etc.

Ingredients:

5 tablespoons buko pandan powder flavoring
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
5 eggs
1 cup sugar (devided into 2)
½ cup water
½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Procedure:

Flour circular pan (12 inches diamenter) preferably faked bottom pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees C.

In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and buko pandan powder and sift all the ingredients together. Set aside

Separate eggs, one bowl for yolks and another for eggwhites. Using an electric mixer, beat egg yolks for 1 minute and gradually add ½ cup of sugar beating egg yolks constantly until pale and thick. Add ½ cup water gradually, beating at low speed until well blended. Add flour mixture. Continue beating until well blended. Set aside.

Add cream of tartar to the eggwhites. Beat eggwhites (make sure the mixer is clean and dry) at high speed until soft peaks forms. At this stage, gradually add the remaining sugar 1 tablespoon at a time beating constantly until stiff. (stiff stage is when eggwhites form peaks and the tips of the peaks don’t bend down).

Add ½ of the beaten eggwhites to the yolk mixture and gently fold-in. Now, fold-in the yolk mixture to the remaining beaten eggwhite until well mixed.

Pour cake mixture into a prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees C.;lower temperature to 200 degrees C and bake 15 minutes further; total baking time 35 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back when pressed at the center. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 45 minutes. Loosen the sides by tracing a metal spatula or knife.

Tips in making sponge cake:

Beating eggwhite is very important for sponge cakes therefore its stages are critical. Always make sure the bowl for eggwhites is dry clean otherwise the egg will not reach peak stage. This is the time sugar is added to hold the eggwhite. Soft peak stage is when eggwhite forms like mountain peaks and peaks are soft that they bend down when you lift the mixer. Stiff stage is when eggwhite forms very still peaks and wont bend down when you lift the mixer. When at stiff stage, you should stop adding sugar and stop beating.

Folding In is also very important to achieve a perfect sponge cake. It is important to fold in gently and quickly. Move the spatula in a circular motion over and under the cake mixture. Do not fold in too long otherwise you will lose the airy texture of the eggwhite, which you will end up like pie texture.

Banana Cake

Banana Cake

Banana cake is not my favorite but since I have plenty of bananas in the fridge and they are quite over ripe, I have to make something out of it. It is made of basic butter cake recipe and added freshly mashed banana to add flavor.

Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas (mashed)
2 ½ cup all purpose flour (sifted)
1 cup sugar (sifted)
½ cup butter
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup milk
Pinch of salt

Preparation:

Preheat oven at 350 degrees C. Grease a round pan (preferably with fake bottom) with oil.

Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one by one, mixing after each addition, continue mixing until mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add alternately flour and milk, mixing after each addition. Continue beating until mixture becomes thick. Add mashed bananas. Mix thoroughly and pour the cake mixture into the prepared pan. Lower oven temperature to 200 degrees C. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Serve with chocolate syrup. To get the appearance in the picture, drizzle the syrup rapidly over a plate of sliced banana cake in a steady stream, creating a zigzag pattern.