Soft, fluffy, and spongey chiffon cake with a sweet and savory note is a great twist to a traditional chiffon cake. If you enjoy a sweet and savory combination in a cake or dessert, you will enjoy this salted egg yolk chiffon cake.
My chiffon cake collection is simply not complete without the addition of a salted egg yolk version 🙂 I’ve mentioned before that I love a sweet and savory combination of cakes and desserts. The savory and umami taste impart by the salted egg yolks are simply amazing. It works beautifully in a lightly sweetened cake such as chiffon cake (or pretty much any cakes I would imagine). You can use store-bought salted duck eggs or make your own salted eggs
The recipe rundown
Taste: Lightly sweet with a hint of savoriness and umami
Texture: Soft, airy, and bouncy
Level: Intermediate
How to make salted egg yolk chiffon cake
1. Steam the salted egg yolks for 10 minutes and then mash with a fork until they are fine and smooth. Set aside to let it cools down
2. Preheat oven at 330 F (165 C). My oven is a conventional oven with bottom heat. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 25 F (15 C). Mix egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk, and mashed salted egg yolks until combined
3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt into the egg mixture
4. Stir until combine and smooth. Set aside
5. Put the egg whites in a grease-free mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl. Whip over medium speed until frothy, then add the acid and whip again for another minute. Add the sugar gradually in 3 batches and increase the speed to high and whip until the egg whites just reach a stiff peak. You can always stop halfway to check. The meringue should hold its shape if you turn it upside down and has a slight bend on the tip that doesn’t move. Stop beating once you reach this stage
6. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the cake batter. You can use a rubber spatula or a wire whisk to fold. I actually prefer to use wire whisk lately. Swipe down and fold over to combine the meringue with the cake batter
7. Once incorporated, continue with the next 1/3 and so on
8. You want to work gently but efficiently. Don’t overmix that you deflate most of the air in the meringue. You shouldn’t see any more white meringue in the cake batter
9. Pour the cake batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Tap the cake pan on the counter 3-4 times
10. I use a bamboo skewer or chopstick and run through the batter to pop air bubbles inside
11. Put at the middle rack inside the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes for 7-inch cake and about 50 minutes for 8-inch cake, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) and bake for 5-10 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Immediately drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter to minimize shrinkage about 2-3 times and invert the tube pan upside down to let it cools down completely in this position
12. Once it has cooled down completely, use an offset spatula 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 offset spatula again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake onto a serving platter
Family’s feedbacks
All three of us enjoyed this salted egg yolks chiffon cake. My daughter didn’t care much for it because she never really liked salted egg yolks, but she did like how soft and fluffy the chiffon cake was. The salted egg yolks are bold enough in the cake but not overwhelming. You know that it’s there but it’s not too much.
Did you make this salted egg yolk chiffon cake recipe?
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The 8-inch recipe is adapted from here with slight modifications.
Sweet and Savory Salted Egg Yolk Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
For 18 cm (7 inches) tube pan:
Cake batter:
- 6 salted egg yolks
- 3 egg yolks (room temperature) about 18-20 grams each
- 50 ml milk (room temperature)
- 25 ml cooking oil
- 20 gr granulated sugar
- 60 gr cake flour
- ⅛ tsp baking powder
- ⅛ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 3 egg whites (room temperature) about 30 grams each
- ½ tsp lemon juice or vinegar
- 45 gr granulated sugar
For 20 cm (8 inches) tube pan:
Cake batter:
- 10 salted egg yolks
- 5 egg yolks about 18-20 grams each
- 85 ml milk (room temperature)
- 40 ml cooking oil
- 30 gr granulated sugar
- 100 gr cake flour
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 5 egg whites (room temperature) about 30 grams each
- 1 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
- 70 gr granulated sugar
Instructions
- Get the eggs and milk out from the fridge 30 minutes before you plan to make the cake. Alternatively, you can fill up a bowl with warm water (NOT hot water, you don't want to cook the eggs). It should feel comfortably warm if you put your hand in the water. Put the eggs in there for about 5-10 minutes. This will bring the eggs to room temperature
Prepare the cake batter:
- Steam the salted egg yolks for 10 minutes and then mash with a fork until they are fine and smooth. Set aside to let it cools down
- Preheat oven at 330 F (165 C). My oven is a conventional oven with bottom heat. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 25 F (15 C). Mix egg yolks, sugar, oil, milk, and mashed salted egg yolks until combined. Sift in the flour, baking powder,and salt into the egg mixture and stir until combine and smooth. Set aside
Prepare the meringue:
- Put the egg whites in a grease-free mixing bowl or stand mixer bowl. Whip over medium speed until frothy, then add the acid and whip again for another minute. Add the sugar gradually in 3 batches and increase the speed to high and whip until the egg whites just reach a stiff peak. You can always stop halfway to check. The meringue should hold its shape if you turn it upside down and has a slight bend on the tip that doesn't move. Stop beating once you reach this stage
Cake batter + meringue:
- Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into the cake batter. You can use a rubber spatula or a wire whisk to fold. I actually prefer to use wire whisk lately. Swipe down and fold over to combine the meringue with the cake batter. Once incorporated, continue with the next 1/3 and so on. You want to work gently but efficiently. Don't overmix that you deflate most of the air in the meringue. You shouldn't see any more white meringue in the cake batter
Baking:
- Pour the cake batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Tap the cake pan on the counter 3-4 times. I use a bamboo skewer and run through the batter to pop air bubbles inside
- Put at the middle rack inside the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes for 7-inch cake and about 50 minutes for 8 inch cake, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) and bake for 5-10 minutes or until tester comes out clean
Cooling down:
- Immediately drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter to minimize shrinkage about 2-3 times and invert the tube pan upside down to let it cools down completely in this position
- Once it has cooled down completely, use an offset spatula 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 offset spatula again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake onto a serving platter
Notes
- For 6 inch tube: use 2 eggs and multiply 0.4 the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 35-40 minutes , then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 5-10 minutes
- For 9 inch tube: use the same recipe with 8-inch tube pan recipe (the one I posted on the recipe card)
- For 10 inch tube: use 8 eggs and multiply 1.6 the rest of the ingredients. Bake for 50-55 minutes, then lower temperature to 300 F (150 C) for 10-15 minutes
2 comments
Hi, I was wondering if I need to put baking powder for this recipe or can I leave it out? I have previously use your recipe to make the pandan, ube, and black sesame chiffon cake. The pandan came out very soft, fluffy, and moist, but the ube and black sesame came out a bit dry and had many air bubbles in it. It still tasted good and it was still soft, but not as moist. It could be the baked temperature or it could be the baking powder. The first time I made the pandan one I didn’t add baking powder, but I did for the other two recipes. Can I use cream of tartar for this recipe instead of lemon/vinegar and how much? Also, can I substitute the milk with coconut milk as I have a lot leftover or would it change the taste? Lastly, do you have a recipe for a vanilla chiffon cake for 7in and can I use coconut milk in that one or just regular milk? Sorry for all the questions!
Hi Joseline, the baking powder shouldn’t affect the cake moisture I don’t think, it may however creates more air bubbles like you’ve mentioned. Make sure you bang the pan on the counter few times to pop large air bubbles inside the cake before baking. Overwhipping your meringue can also make the cake texture “drier”. You can definitely opt-out of the baking powder. It’s not a must in chiffon cake as long as you whip your meringue to the correct consistency, stiff peak but with some bent at the tail. which I know you probably are experienced with that. You can also use 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar instead of vinegar. You can use coconut milk and just make sure it’s the same consistency as the milk you use (not too thick of coconut milk). I don’t think it will affect the taste as much in this case. I don’t have a vanilla chiffon cake recipe but you can definitely tweak it from my pandan chiffon cake and just use all milk or coconut milk instead of pandan juice and vanilla extract instead of pandan extract.