Learn how to make soft, fluffy, and moist dragon fruit (pitahaya) chiffon cake. Easy step-by-step guides making sure you can replicate this at your kitchen.
Perfectly Soft Fluffy Dragon Fruit Chiffon Cake
Making chiffon cake used to be my nemesis. I couldn’t seem to be able to get it right. Finally I did when I make this soft and fluffy pandan chiffon cake (complete guide)
It actually isn’t as scary as I thought. My kids love chiffon cake and so it’s been quite a frequent in this house. I love making chiffon cake now. Since I have a few dragon fruits left that my friend sent me, I decided to make chiffon cake with it.
WHY YOU’LL LIKE THIS DRAGON FRUIT CHIFFON CAKE
1. PERFECTLY SOFT AND FLUFFY
The chiffon cake is so light and airy and it has a nice height
2. LOVE BITING INTO CRUNCHY LITTLE SEEDS
The dragon fruit seeds are slightly crunchy, which is perfect with the soft fluffy texture of the cake
3. USE OF COCONUT MILK
I don’t know about you, but growing up in Southeast Asia, coconut milk runs in my blood! I love using coconut milk in chiffon cake. It gives the cake a nice texture and mild aroma
4. TRIED AND TRUE RECIPE
I’ve made chiffon cake dozens of time using this recipe and they always come out perfect. In fact, this recipe is a slight modification of the basic pandan chiffon cake I made
SQUEEZE OUT EXCESS JUICE FROM THE DRAGON FRUIT
Dragon fruit has high water content. Since this recipe also calls for oil and coconut milk (I’m not willing to give up that coconut milk), I want to make sure the cake doesn’t come out “wet” and collapse later. Squeezing out the excess juice helps. My kids volunteered to drink the juice LOL! It’s so refreshing
You can read more in detail about the basics of making chiffon cake successfully in this pandan chiffon cake post if you are interested.
HOW TO BAKE DRAGON FRUIT CHIFFON CAKE
1. SEPARATE THE YOLKS FROM THE WHITE
Separate the egg yolks from the white and let them sit out for 30 minutes at room temperature. The meringue whips better at room temperature
2. PREPARE THE DRAGON FRUIT
Cut the dragon fruit in half and then peel off the skin. Puree the flesh in a food processor and squeeze out the excess juice as much as you can. You can drink the juice (it’s refreshing!)
3. PREPARE THE THICK BATTER
Whisk the egg with sugar and cooking oil, then add coconut milk, dragon fruit puree and turmeric powder (if using). In a separate mixing bowl, mix the cake flour, salt, and baking powder.
Gradually add the cake flour to the egg batter while mixing
Mix until smooth and no lumps. Strain the batter if necessary to get rid of any lumps
4. WHIP THE MERINGUE
Place the egg whites in a clean bowl. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there’s 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 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
5. FOLD THE MERINGUE INTO THE BATTER
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 repeat this motion several rounds
Continue on with 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
6. TRANSFER TO CHIFFON CAKE PAN
Give the pan a strong tap on the side for a few times before pouring in the batter to remove any air bubbles. Pour the batter in. Smooth the batter with rubber spatula. Give the pan a tap again to remove any bubbles or you can use toothpicks to do so
7. BAKING THE CAKE
Pop into the oven and let it bake at 330 F for 50 minutes. Then lower the heat to 300 F and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. DO NOT open your oven door at least for the first 30 minutes of baking or you will deflate the cake
8. INVERT THE CAKE PAN UPSIDE DOWN
Once out of the oven, 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
9. UNMOULDING THE CAKE
use a spatula knife to run through the edge of the cake and around the middle tube 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
WHAT TO EXPECT
What you are looking at will be the bottom of the cake. Don’t be alarm if your cake has some cracks on top. Usually, I find that baking at this temperature in my oven prevents the cake from cracking, but even if it cracks on top, it’s really not a big deal, nobody is going to see it 🙂
I don’t know about you but I love those cake crumbs on chiffon cake 🙂
Now it’s time to enjoy the soft and fluffy dragon fruit chiffon cake
Perfectly Soft Fluffy Dragon Fruit Chiffon Cake
How To Make Soft Fluffy Dragon Fruit Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
Thick batter:
- 5 egg yolks from large eggs about 58 gr each with a shell
- 20 gr sugar
- 50 ml cooking oil
- 70 ml coconut milk
- 120 gr dragon fruit flesh 1 medium-size dragon fruit
- 120 gr cake flour sifted
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- tiny pinch of turmeric powder optional-for natural yellow color if you are using white flesh dragon fruit
Meringue:
- 5 egg whites from large eggs about 58 gr each with a shell
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 60 gr 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
Separate the eggs:
- Separate the egg yolks from the white and let them sit out for 30 minutes at room temperature. The meringue whips better at room temperature
Prepare the dragon fruit:
- Cut the dragon fruit in half and then peel off the skin. Puree the dragon fruit flesh in a food processor and set aside. Squeeze out extra liquid as much as possible
Mixing the thick batter:
- Whisk the egg with sugar and cooking oil, then add coconut milk, and turmeric powder (if using) until combined. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the cake flour, salt, and baking powder.
- Gradually add the cake flour to the egg batter while mixing. Mix until smooth and no lumps. Strain the batter if necessary to get rid of any lumps. Fold in the dragon fruit puree
Whipping the meringue:
- Preheat your oven to 330 F. 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 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 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
- 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 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
- DO NOT grease your chiffon pan. The cake needs to cling to the pan to rise. Give the pan a strong tap on the side for a few times before pouring in the batter to remove any air bubbles. Pour the batter in. Smooth the batter with rubber spatula. Give the pan a tap again to remove any bubbles or you can use toothpicks to do so
- Pop into the oven and let it bake at 330 F for 50 minutes. Then lower the heat to 300 F and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. DO NOT open your oven door at least for the first 30 minutes of baking or you will deflate the cake
- 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
- Once out of the oven, 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 of the cake and around the middle tube 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
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3 comments
can i subtitude coconut milk with whip cream?
Hi Tania, I’ve never tried it with heavy whipping cream (I assumed not whipped yet), but I believe it should work too considering the consistency is pretty similar and fat content is pretty close too.
i’ll try it soon, i have a left over whipping cream on my fridge. better not to waste it. thank you 🙂