Soft and Fluffy Gluten-Free Pandan Chiffon Cake

Step 1

Make sure your chiffon cake pan does not have a non-stick coating or your cake will not rise. The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to rise tall

Step 2

Before you start making the recipe, make sure eggs, pandan juice (or milk) are at room temperature. Get them out from the fridge 20-30 minutes and let them sit at room temperature before you plan to start working on this

Step 3

Make sure you cut the leaves into little pieces to extract the juice out from the leaves. Put in a blender and add coconut milk and water and blend until smooth. Transfer to a cheesecloth or muslin cloth or use a strainer to squeeze the juice out Set aside for later use. Make sure you get 100 ml of liquid total. Top up with a bit of water if needed to make up to 100 ml

Step 4

Separate the egg yolks from the whites and let them sit out for 30 minutes at room temperature. The meringue whips better at room temperature

Step 5

Sift the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Use a rubber spatula and combine. Try not to overmix it too

Step 6

Preheat your oven to 325 F (163 C). Place the oven rack 3rd from the top

Step 7

Place the egg whites in a clean bowl. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there's a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, add cream of tartar and whip until it turns whitish. Gradually add the sugar as you beat. I beat them for around 4-5 minutes on high speed until you get a stiff peak. You will know you get to the stiff peak when you hold your whisk up and your meringue holds its shape

Step 8

Gently fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter. Using a rubber spatula, swipe from the side and gently fold over to mix and then continue. Repeat this motion several rounds. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix. Continue to do this until you are done with the meringue and the batter and meringue are nicely mixed. You shouldn't see anymore white meringue

Step 9

DO NOT grease your chiffon pan. The cake needs to cling to the pan to rise. You can use a toothpick to pop any air bubbles you see and gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 3-4 times. This will pop any air bubbles inside the cake

Step 10

Pop into the oven and let it bake at 325 F for 1 hour. Please DO NOT open your oven door to peek or check on the chiffon cake during this baking time

Step 11

After the end of the baking time, you can open the oven door to check if the cake is done. The surface may have some cracks or it may not, but don't worry if there are some cracks, this will be the bottom of the cake. The surface should bounce back when you touch and no longer jiggly. If it is, bake a little longer in a 5-minute increment until a cake tester comes out clean

Step 12

Once out of the oven, immediately invert the pan upside down. Your chiffon pan may have the little stands for you to invert, but I find it not high enough. I use a glass jar and set the inverted pan on top of the jar or you can use a wine bottle and let it cool down completely. Please don't be tempted to remove from the pan if it's still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely

Step 13

Once it's cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge of the cake to help release the cake. Gently push the base of the pan down. Use the knife again to run through the top of the cake to help release it from the base of the pan