Learn how to make super soft and fluffy pandan chiffon cake (or basic chiffon cake) every time at home. A complete guide and tips to make sure you can replicate this recipe at home successfully.
How To Make Soft and Fluffy Pandan Chiffon Cake (Complete Guide)
Every year we ask the same question. Where has time gone? Yet, I still don’t have the answer to that. Do you? Every year I told myself I’m going to be VERY organized. I usually am at the beginning of the years and then what I’ve written down have just left as well…written down! This Pandan chiffon cake that I’m writing while brushing my teeth for example. I’ve been wanting to make this cake for the past 5 years! What ?!? I know! Not sure what the hold up! I finally just decided to crack 5 eggs and started whipping the meringue !!! When that happened, I made three chiffon cakes in two weeks. That’s me! always on the extreme side!
PANDAN CHIFFON CAKE IS POPULAR IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Pandan chiffon cake is very well loved in Southeast Asia. In case you are wondering what pandan is, it is a leaf. Also known as screwpine leaf. You can extract pandan juice to be used in cooking and baking. It is so flavorful that I seriously want to bottle up the flavor and turn it into a fragrance. Pandan chiffon cake is basically just chiffon cake infused with pandan flavor and it’s green color. I love chiffon cake for its soft, pillowy, and spongy texture.
MAKING CHIFFON CAKE CAN BE INTIMIDATING AT FIRST
I failed several times and learn from them along the way. I had no clue about whipping meringue correctly because I had little baking exposure. Then I also didn’t know how to fold the meringue into the batter correctly, so on and so forth! But you know, all those sound more difficult than they actually are.
WHAT MAKES CHIFFON CAKE SOFT AND FLUFFY?
There are few things that contribute to the softness and that spongey texture of chiffon cake.
1. The flour
Use cake flour. I made two chiffon cakes, one with cake flour and one with regular all-purpose flour and I can immediately see the difference in terms of softness. The one made with cake flour is sooo soft!
2. The oil
The oil contributes to the moistness of the cake. Please DO NOT substitute with butter.
3. The yolks
The yolks contribute to the moistness and rich taste of the cake, though not as rich as let’s say a butter cake, it adds an amazing flavor to the cake.
4. Coconut milk/milk
Coconut milk or regular cow’s milk (I suggest using whole milk) improves the texture of the cake. It also gives you that nice crumb structure to the cake.
5. Cream of Tartar
Cream of tartar contributes to the stability of your whipped meringue. Your meringue is less likely to deflate quickly after whipping. If you don’t have any, simply replace it with another acid such as lemon juice or vinegar.
6. The whipped meringue
Oh yes, this whipped meringue is one of the most important things that is responsible for that spongey and airy (or fluffy) texture of chiffon cake.
7. Baking powder
This is another leavening agent that helps to add to that light and fluffiness to the chiffon cake.
KITCHEN TOOLS YOU WILL NEED TO BAKE CHIFFON CAKE SUCCESSFULLY
You don’t need any fancy kitchen tools, but there are several that will get the job done. You don’t have to use what I suggested here. You can use whatever similar tools you already have in your kitchen.
1. Chiffon Cake pan with a removable base
This recipe calls from 20 cm pan, which is about 8 inches. The removable base will make your life easier.
I strongly encourage you to use the chiffon pan with a removable base. I tried with the non-removable base and getting the cake out of the pan was pretty disastrous. I think it’s doable, but I haven’t figured out how to get it out without cracking the top of the cake.
2. Rubber spatula
3. Standmixer or handmixer
I prefer stand mixer just because I’m free to do something else while the meringue is whipping, but a hand mixer will do the job too.
TIPS ON HOW TO BAKE SOFT AND FLUFFY CHIFFON CAKE AT HOME EVERY TIME
1. Size of the eggs
I use large eggs for this recipe. One large egg with a shell is about 58 grams. To break it down, it is about 30 grams each for the white and about 18 grams each for the yolk in case you want to really measure them out.
2. The temperature of the eggs
Get the eggs out from the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to start the job. You can separate the yolks from the whites and let them sit for 30 minutes. The whites will whip better
3. No trace of yolks or any grease
When separate the yolks from the whites, make sure there’s no trace of yolks in the whites or you will have a hell of a time trying to whip that meringue. Make sure your mixing bowl is clean and no grease. You can wipe with some lemon juice to ensure
4. Do not grease your cake pan
The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to rise. If you grease it, the cake will never rise
5. Mix dry ingredients
Mix the cake flour, salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl
6. Mix wet ingredients
Mix the yolks, sugar, coconut milk/milk, pandan extract (or any extract), and oil together
7. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet ingredients
Don’t dump all at once. Add a bit by a bit while the other hand is mixing at the same time. You will have a better chance of getting a smooth batter without overworking the batter. Strain the batter if you can’t seem to get rid of lumps
8. Preheat your oven while you are doing the work
You don’t want to have everything ready and your oven is not ready. It’s going to be a disaster for your chiffon cake because it can’t sit on the counter and waiting for the oven to heat up
9. Whip the egg whites
Use a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites and cream of tartar (or lemon juice/vinegar) on medium speed until frothy
Once it’s frothy, gradually add sugar in 3 batches and turn the speed to high and whip until you get a stiff peak
9. Fold the meringue into the batter
You want to do this in batches, preferably in 3-4 batches. Take 1/3 or 1/4 of the meringue with your spatula and put it into the batter. Use this motion: Swipe from the side and gently fold up and do this several rounds until it’s mixed and then fold in the next 1/3 or 1/4 and do the same again until all the meringue is mixed in. You can check out the short video I made for this too.
10. Pour and smooth
Pour the cake batter into the pan and smooth the surface with a spatula
11. Pop any visible air bubbles
Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times
12. The cake is ready to be baked
Do not open the oven door for the first 30 minutes or you are risking deflating the cake
13. Invert the cake upside down
Once the cake is done baking, remove from the oven and invert the cake upside down immediately. The purpose of doing this is so that the cake will not collapse due to its own weight. This is where the little cake stands on the pan come in handy
14. Let the cake cool down completely
Once the cake cools down completely, about an hour or so, you can run a palette knife around the sides of the cake, and the middle to help release the cake from the pan. The removable base will still attach to the bottom. Gently run the knife through the base and make sure you have a plate or serving platter ready and the cake will release
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CAKE FLOUR
Yes, I hear you. I don’t always have cake flour in my pantry because I just don’t bake the cake that often. The good news is you can make your own by using only two ingredients: all-purpose flour and cornstarch
For example: This recipe uses 100 gr cake flour for 8 inch cake. You can use: 85 gr all-purpose flour + 15 gr of cornstarch. Easy as that!
BAKING TIME FOR DIFFERENT CHIFFON CAKE SIZE
For 6-inch chiffon cake: 330 F (165 C) for 35-40 minutes , then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 5-10 minutes
For 7-inch chiffon cake: 330 F (165 C) for 40-45 minutes, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 5-10 minutes
For 8-inch chiffon cake: 330 F (165 C) for 45-50 minutes, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 10-15 minutes
For 10-inch chiffon cake: 330 F (165 C) for 50-55 minutes, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 10-15 minutes
Recipe is adapted from Christine’s Recipe with some modifications. I updated this recipe on 10/22/2020 to include recipes for different tube pan sizes.
How To Make Soft and Fluffy Pandan Chiffon Cake (Complete Guide)
Ingredients
RECIPE FOR 15 CM (6 INCHES) TUBE PAN:
Dry ingredients:
- 50 gr cake flour 6 Tbsp
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp baking powder
Wet ingredients:
- 2 egg yolks (room temperature) from 58 grams egg (large egg) with a shell
- 30 ml pandan juice 2 Tbsp, or use 1/2 tsp pandan extract
- 13 gr cooking oil 1 Tbsp
- 25 ml thick coconut milk 1 Tbsp 3/4 tsp
To make pandan juice:
- 15 pandan leaves
- 150 ml water
Meringue:
- 2 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar or 1/2 tsp of vinegar or lemon juice
- 40 gr granulated sugar 3 1/4 Tbsp (please don't cut down on sugar)
RECIPE FOR 18 CM (7 INCHES) TUBE PAN:
Dry ingredients:
- 70 gr cake flour 9 Tbsp
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Wet ingredients:
- 3 egg yolks (room temperature) from 58 grams egg (large egg) with a shell
- 45 ml pandan juice about 3 Tbsp, or use 1/2 tsp pandan extract
- 20 gr cooking oil 1 1/2 Tbsp
- 35 ml thick coconut milk 2 1/2 Tbsp
To make pandan juice:
- 15 pandan leaves
- 150 ml water
Meringue:
- 3 egg whites room temperature
- 1/4 tsp cream of tartar or use 1/2 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar
- 50 gr granulated sugar 4 Tbsp
RECIPE FOR 20-22 CM (8-9 INCHES) TUBE PAN:
Dry ingredients:
- 100 gr cake flour 3/4 cup, see notes 1
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
Wet ingredients:
- 5 egg yolks (room temperature) from 58 grams egg (large egg) with a shell
- 20 gr granulated sugar 2 Tbsp
- 70 ml pandan juice about 5 Tbsp, or use 1 to 1 1/2 tsp pandan extract
- 30 gr cooking oil 3 Tbsp
- 60 ml thick coconut milk (about 4 Tbsp) + 70 ml if you are using pandan extract instead of pandan juice
To make pandan Juice:
- 15 pandan leaves cut into little pieces with kitchen shears
- 150 ml water
Meringue:
- 5 egg whites room temperature
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar or use 1 tsp of lemon juice or vinegar
- 60 gr granulated sugar 5 Tbsp (please don't cut down on sugar)
RECIPE FOR 26 CM (10 INCHES) TUBE PAN:
Dry ingredients:
- 175 gr cake flour 22 Tbsp
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
Wet ingredients:
- 8 egg yolks room temperature, from 58 grams egg with a shell
- 30 gr granulated sugar 2 Tbsp
- 110 ml pandan juice about 7 Tbsp, or use 2 tsp pandan extract
- 50 gr oil 4 1/2 Tbsp
- 95 ml thick coconut milk (about 6 Tbsp) + 110 ml if you are using pandan extract instead of pandan juice
To make pandan juice:
- 15 pandan leaves cut into little pieces with kitchen shears
- 150 ml water
Meringue:
- 8 egg whites room temperature, from 58 grams egg with a shell
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 100 gr granulated sugar 8 Tbsp (please don't cut down on sugar)
Instructions
- 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
- Before you start making the recipe, make sure eggs, pandan juice, and coconut milk (if you keep in the fridge) 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
Make pandan juice:
- Make sure you cut the leaves into little pieces to extract the juice out from the leaves. Put in a blender and add water and process for a minute or so or until it becomes paste-like. Transfer to a cheesecloth or muslin cloth or use a strainer to squeeze the juice out. Measure out the amount of pandan juice you need and keep the leftover in the fridge for up to one week
Mixing the thick batter:
- Separate the egg yolks from the white. The meringue whips better at room temperature
- Mix the flour, salt, and baking powder and whisk to combine and set aside
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks with sugar and cooking oil, then add coconut milk and pandan juice (or pandan extract)
- Gradually add the cake flour mixture to the egg batter while mixing OR if you have sieve or flour sifter, sift in the cake flour mixture into the batter, there will be no lumps when you do this, otherwise mix until smooth and no lumps, try not to overmix it too. Strain the batter if necessary to get rid of any lumps
Whipping the meringue:
- Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C). Place the oven rack 3rd from the top
- 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 or lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish. Gradually add the sugar as you beat. I beat them on high speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid) until you get a stiff peak. Stop once you reach a stiff peak. You will know you get to the stiff peak when you hold your whisk up and your meringue holds its shape. If you turn the bowl upside down, it won't drip
Fold meringue into the cake batter:
- Gently fold in 1/4 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 second 1/4 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
- Pour the batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the surface. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times. This helps to pop large bubbles inside the cake batter
Baking:
- Pop into the oven and let it bake at 330 F for 50 minutes (for 8-inch chiffon cake), see my post above for more details on cooking time for a different size). 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 or until the toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
- NOTES on baking time: I have a conventional oven (regular oven with bottom heat). Please note that the baking time is just for reference. Your oven may bake faster or slower and the type of oven you use may be different than mine, but for an 8-inch chiffon cake, I would start checking for doneness at around 40 minutes, if the cake springs back when you touch, then lower the temperature to 300 F and let it bake for another 5 minutes and check if cake tester comes out clean
- 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 find that baking at this temperature in my oven prevents the cake from cracking
Invert to cool down immediately:
- 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. 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
- Once it's cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge and the outer center of the tube to help release the cake. Gently push the base to lift the cake out. Use the knife again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake. There you have it !!! 🙂 Enjoy and try to finish it within 3 days (which I'm sure it will be gone before then)
Video
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81 comments
I have three 4.5inch nonstick springform pans. Will this recipe work if I line with parchment paper so the cake can cling to it? Which recipe/ ratio would I follow if I want to fill up three 4.5 inch pans? Also, how would this affect the baking time and temperature? Thank you in advance! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
You can try lining with parchment paper. It might work. I haven’t tried this myself. You can use the 8-inch recipe to fill up three of your 4.5 inch pans. You can try to bake at 325 F for 15-20 minutes or until the cake tester comes out clean.
For the 6” pandan chiffon, you did not indicate any sugar under the wet ingredients. Are we supposed to take some sugar from the 60gm sugar listed under the meringue?
Hi Felicia, you don’t need to divide the sugar for this 6 and 7 inches, I put all the sugar under the meringue so the meringue will have enough sugar to make it glossy and able to get to that stiff peak.
Is it possible to increase sugar for the 10 inch recipe?
Hi Katie, you sure can. Total sugar is 130 grams. You can try to increase to 150-180 grams, depending on how sweet of a tooth you are 🙂
Thank you! ! Should I add the additional sugar in the wet stuff or in the meringue? Not sure if it matters?
Hi Katie, I’m not sure which size you are making, but the extra sugar I listed under wet ingredients, please mix it with the ingredients under that list. The one I listed for meringue is for meringue.
Is it granulated sugar? Not castor sugar like Christine’s recipe? I always use Christine’s pandan chiffon cake recipe however the top cracks always and big cracks. I have an oven without bottom heat (top only) but has a fan that goes on intermittently (not convection mode). But i noticed your oven temperature is lower than Christine’s.
I always use granulated sugar and my oven is conventional with bottom heat only. I do bake at a lower temperature and I find that it helps to solve the crack problem on the surface.
I tried this recipe and followed all of the instructions. Unfortunately I had quite a dense layer at the bottom… is there any way I can prevent this in the future?
Hi Aisha, there could be several reasons. The meringue may not be stiff enough, you may have overmixed the batter while folding the meringue into the batter, and/or the meringue and the batter is not fully incorporated when you fold them. How’s the height of the cake ?
A light and fluffy cake. My husband and kids had never tasted pandan before. I cooked in a 10-inch pan on convection. Mine turned out very green using the pandan paste I got from Amazon
Hi Liz, I’m glad you enjoy the pandan chiffon cake 🙂
A winner. I just made it this morning. Baked everything as is for 7” tube pan with the exception of shorter baking time. It was already slightly golden on top at 330F for 35 min, then added another 5 min at 300F. The top of the cake in the pan after cooling is completely nice and flat, no visible shrinkage (the true test for a good chiffon cake recipe, imo). The cake was not too high to be able to invert it using the pan’s feet. Thank you Marvelina for another great recipe!
Hi Regina, so glad to know that the chiffon cake turns out great for you. Just curious, does your oven use both top and bottom heat ? Mine is a conventional oven (bottom heat only).
Hi Marvelina. I have what I thought is a conventional/regular oven. It’s a built-in Kitchen Aid double oven that came with the house. It seems that it has top and bottom heating elements and most likely the reason it baked faster. I rarely see the top turns on during baking once the set temp is reached. There is a “convection” option but I did not use it for this chiffon cake. I used the regular “bake” button. I googled the manual online and this is what it says: “ During baking or roasting, the bake and broil elements will cycle on and off in intervals to maintain oven temperature. If the oven door is opened during baking or roasting, the broil element will turn off immediately and the bake element will turn off in 30 seconds to 2 minutes. They will come back on once the door is closed.”
Hi Regina,
It does sound like your oven bakes faster and more evenly. That’s great! Mine has the convection (fan mode) option, but I usually don’t use it for baking cake anyway, unless a recipe asks me to do so. Thank you for taking the time to reply 🙂
Hi,
I baked two chiffon cake with your recipe today with an 8 inch tube pan. It turned out well BUT it did not rise as much as I wanted them .. Well reduce or increased the sugar for the meringue make any difference?
Hi Lynn, It depends on how much sugar you reduce. If you reduce it by half and more, that will definitely affect the structure of the meringue. The sugar does give structure to the meringue and stabilize it and give it that nice glossy texture. Meringue without much sugar gets deflated much easier and won’t give you much rise. If you don’t reduce the sugar by much, another culprit could be, the meringue didn’t reach a stiff peak or you may be overfolding it when you combine it with the batter and lost much of the air.
Another thing to double-check with you is that to make sure your chiffon cake pan doesn’t have a non-stick coating. If it has a non-stick coating, your cake will not rise much no matter what you do.
Hello! I have a 8” tube pan and had tried ur recipe but my cake overflows. Will It work too If I use the 6” recipe in my 8” tube plan instead?
Hello! perhaps the eggs you used were larger in size? the volume of the cake is basically “controlled” by the meringue. Try to use eggs about 58 grams total with shell (about 30 grams each for white and about 18 grams for yolk). If you are curious. The 6″ recipe will be too small for 8 inch tube pan. I have included a 7 inch recipe (uses 3 eggs) if you want to try that for the 8″ tube pan, it may work out better!
Hi Marv,
Thanks for the recipe for 6 inch tube pan. It turns out well!
Hi Irene, yay!! I’m happy to know that. Thank you for letting me know 🙂