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Learn how to make an amazingly soft and airy sponge cake infused with aromatic durian flesh. It smells heavenly when the cake is baking in the oven. The recipe can also be used to bake durian chiffon cake using a tube pan.
When durian is in season, I love to use them to make dessert. To tell you the truth, I don’t like eating durian on its own 🙂 I know..I know..I’m the only one in my family who doesn’t eat durian. My siblings often teased me when we were kids. They were feasting on durian when they were in season in Indonesia. I tried to stay away as much as I could because I couldn’t stand the smell LOL! It’s funny because I enjoy jackfruit, which has quite a strong aroma too.
So, what’s changed now? I guess ever since I became a food blogger many years ago and I have tried so many different recipes, mainly Asian, I have somehow able to tolerate durian when I put them in cakes or dessert 🙂 I still won’t eat them on its own, but I would when I made durian cream pancake, no-bake durian mousse cake, easy durian basque burnt cheesecake, durian cream puffs, and durian snow skin mooncakes.
How to bake a durian sponge cake
1. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent water from sipping into the pan since we will use a hot water bath to slowly bake the cake
2. Get another pan large enough for your 7-inch square pan to sit inside for a hot water bath
3. Puree the durian flesh in a blender and blend into a paste consistency
4. Separate the yolks from the whites
5. Whisk egg yolks, oil, milk and durian puree until smooth
6. Sift in the cake flour and pinch of salt. Whisk in a “Z” motion to combine. Don’t overmix
7. Please make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. I use a stand mixer. Whip the egg whites at medium speed (speed 4 on KA)) until bubbly. Add the acid and then whip again for another minute. Increase speed a notch (speed 6) Gradually add in 1/3 of the sugar and whip for one minute, then add the next 1/3 and continue until you are done with the last 1/3. Increase the speed to high (speed 8 on KA) and whip until you just reach the stiff peak. If you lift up the meringue with the whisk, it will stand up straight proudly. It will look shiny, smooth, and glossy. Stop beating. If you beat further, the meringue will break and turn foamy, this is a sign of overbeating.
8. Take 1/3 of the meringue and use a whisk to fold (my old video shows me using a spatula. I prefer using a whisk now for the first 2/3 of folding meringue). Use a whisk to draw a “J” motion by swiping down and fold over. Continue with the next 1/3. Work fast but gentle. When you get to the last 1/3, switch to a spatula so you can scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure no cake batter is left unmixed. The final batter will be light, voluminous. You shouldn’t see any more white meringue
9. Take about 20 grams of the batter and add 1 tsp of cocoa powder and mix. Transfer to a small piping bag or plastic bag
10. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan from the height to pop any large bubbles. Use a skewer or chopsticks to go around the cake batter to further pop any large bubbles inside the batter. Tap the pan on the counter 2-3 times
11. Pipe lines of chocolate batter horizontally on the surface of the batter, about 1/2 inch apart. I didn’t do a very good job here. It’s kinda messy
12. Use a toothpick to drag the chocolate batter down vertically. It will create this flower pattern (as shown in the video)
13. Pour about 1 inch of hot water into a large cake pan. Put the cake pan inside this large pan
14. Carefully transfer this into the oven, lowest rack. Set timer to 2 hours. My oven needs 2 hours, yours may not, but this cake needs to be baked for at least 90 minutes. You can start checking after 90 minutes. The surface should spring back when you touch or if you insert a cake tester, it should come out clean. It is actually safer to “overbake” the cake than “underbake”. Underbake sponge or chiffon cake will collapse and shrink when you take it out from the oven. If you aren’t sure, I would say bake an extra few minutes will not hurt
15. Carefully remove from the oven and out from the water bath. Tap the cake pan 3-4 times on the counter to minimize shrinkage
16. Lift the cake out from the pan by grabbing the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack
17. Peel off the parchment paper from the side and let it cools down completely this way. Don’t leave the cake cools down in the pan. The cakes will wrinkle
This cake, like many other cakes, tastes the best the next day. The durian aroma will be more intense and the cake is much moister than if you eat it on the same day (if you can resist).
Did you make this durian sponge cake recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Soft Fluffy Durian Marble Sponge Cake/ Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
Cake batter:
- 120 gr durian puree
- 5 large egg yolks (room temperature) about 18-20 grams each
- 50 gr cooking oil
- 70 ml milk room temperature
- 120 gr cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 5 large egg whites about 27-30 grams each
- 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
- 80 gr granulated sugar
For chocolate batter:
- 1 tsp cocoa powder
- 20 gr cake batter
Instructions
Preheat oven and prepare the cake pan:
- Preheat the oven to 300 F (150 C). My oven is conventional with bottom heat. If you use a convection oven, you may want to adjust the temperature by 20 degrees lower. So, in this case, it would be about 280 F (140 C). I bake at the lowest rack. This is just a reference, you know your oven the best
- Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil to prevent water from sipping into the pan since we will use hot water bath to slowly bake the cake
- Get another pan large enough for your 7-inch square pan to sit inside for a hot water bath
Prepare the cake batter:
- Puree the durian flesh in a blender. Whisk egg yolks, oil, milk and durian puree until smooth. Sift in the cake flour and pinch of salt. Whisk in a "Z" motion to combine. Don't overmix
Prepare the meringue:
- Please make sure the egg whites are at room temperature. I use a stand mixer. Whip the egg whites at medium speed (speed 4 on KA)) until bubbly. Add the acid and then whip again for another minute. Increase speed a notch (speed 6) Gradually add in 1/3 of the sugar and whip for one minute, then add the next 1/3 and continue until you are done with the last 1/3. Increase the speed to high (speed 8 on KA) and whip until you just reach the stiff peak
- You can stop halfway to check on the meringue and don't just keep beating. You do not want to overbeat the egg whites. If you lift up the meringue with the whisk, it will stand up straight proudly. It will look shiny, smooth, and glossy. Stop beating. If you beat further, the meringue will break and turn foamy, this is a sign of overbeating. Overbeaten meringue doesn't mix well with your cake batter
Fold meringue into the cake batter:
- Take 1/3 of the meringue and use a whisk to fold (my old video shows me using a spatula. I prefer using a whisk now for the first 2/3 of folding meringue). Use a whisk to draw a "J" motion by swiping down and fold over. Continue with the next 1/3. Work fast but gentle. When you get to the last 1/3, switch to a spatula so you can scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure no cake batter left unmixed. The final batter will be light, voluminous. You shouldn't see any more white meringue
To bake as a sponge cake:
- Take about 20 grams of the batter and add 1 tsp of cocoa powder and mix. Transfer to a small piping bag or plastic bag
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan from the height to pop any large bubbles. Use a skewer or chopsticks to go around the cake batter to further popping any large bubbles inside the batter. Tap the pan on the counter 2-3 times
- Pipe lines of chocolate batter horizontally on the surface of the batter, about 1/2 inch apart. Use a toothpick to drag the chocolate batter down vertically. It will create this flower pattern (as shown in the video)
- Pour about 1 inch of hot water into a large cake pan. Put the cake pan inside this large pan and carefully transfer this into the oven, lowest rack. Set timer to 2 hours. My oven needs 2 hours, yours may not, but this cake needs to be baked for at least 90 minutes. You can start checking after 90 minutes. The surface should spring back when you touch or if you insert a cake tester, it should comes out clean. It is actually safer to "overbake" the cake then "underbake". Underbake sponge or chiffon cake will collapse and shrink when you take it out from the oven. If you aren't sure, I would say bake an extra few minutes will not hurt
Cooling down:
- Carefully remove from the oven and out from the water bath. Tap the cake pan 3-4 times on the counter to minimize shrinkage. Lift the cake out from the pan by grabbing the parchment paper and place on a cooling rack. Peel off the parchment paper from the side and let it cools down completely this way. Don't leave the cake cools down in the pan. The cakes will wrinkle
- The cake is bounciest when it's warm. When you tap on it, it will jiggle. Once it has cooled down completely, it won't be as bouncy, but still incredibly soft and airy
- The cake may shrink a bit when cools down, mine shrunk probably about 1/4 inch or so, not much at all
To bake as a chiffon cake using 20-22 cm (8-9 inches) tube pan:
- Preheat the oven to 330 F (165 C) before you start working on the recipe. Pour the cake batter into an ungreased chiffon tube pan. Use a chopstick or a skewer to go around the cake to pop any large bubbles. Tap the pan on the counter a few times to pop any large bubbles
- Pop into the oven, middle rack, and let it bake for 50 minutes. DO NOT open your oven door at least for the first 30 minutes of baking or you will deflate the cake. Then lower the heat to 300 F (150 C) and bake for another 10-15 minutes
- Don't be alarm if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake. I know many people mind it a lot and make a big fuss when the top of the chiffon cake cracks, but actually it's not a flaw.
- Once out of the oven, drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter several times to prevent shrinkage. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. 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 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
Serving:
- This cake, like many other cakes, tastes the best the next day. The durian aroma will be more intense and the cake is much moister than if you eat it on the same day (if you can resist)
- The cake can be kept in an air-tight container at room temperature for max 3 days. If it is very humid where you are, keep them in the fridge, but try to finish in 3 days or as soon as you can since the longer you keep them in the fridge, the drier they will get
7 comments
Hi Marvellina, to add on, the cake was wet and dense at the bottom, while the top was already dark brown and crusty. If I had continued to bake any longer, the top would have burnt and turned really hard. I have an oven thermometer in the oven, and it was set at 150 degC. Hope you’ll be able to shed some insight as to why this could have happened.
Hi Iris, May I know if you have a convection oven? top and bottom heat? When the cake rises high too quickly and then deflates, it could be that the baking temperature is too hot for the cake. If you have top and bottom heat, you may want to experiment lower the temperature by 20 degrees and see. Usually, after the cake deflates, it will for sure becomes a dense cake.
Hi Marcellina, I’m using a conventional oven with top and bottom heat. I just remembered that I had used low fat milk instead of whole milk, so not sure if that was the cause of the sinking.
As for the cake turning dark brown and hard and crusty on top and undercooked inside, is it cos of the deflating. I will try again and let you know.
Hi Iris, what temperature did you bake the cake? my oven only uses bottom heat (so my temperature needs to be higher) but if yours have top and bottom heat, you want to adjust it 15-20 degrees lower. The milk fat content shouldn’t cause the cake to deflate because I use skim milk too. I would say to keep an eye on that temperature. If the cake rises too quickly, it will deflate. Yes, please let me know how the next round turns out!
Ok noted. Will adjust temp accordingly. Btw, is the cooking oil unit in grams correct. Cos notice the milk is in ml.
Yes, I measure the oil in grams, but it comes out very close if you convert to ml too.
Hi Marvellina, my sponge cake “ballooned” to double the height of the batter after about 30 mins in the oven, and it stayed like that for about another 30 mins. After that, it sank to half its original height and never recovered. So when I eventually took it out after 90+ mins, it was only about 1.5 inches think. May I know what could have gone wrong. It was really fluffy and high in the oven for a good 30 mins.