Banana Chiffon Cake

by - November 18, 2020

Banana Chiffon Cake

Banana Chiffon Cake

It has been a while I since I have baked a cake. I have been busy making sourdough bread. We happened to have a lot of bananas at home and the banana had turned a little too ripe as we couldn't finish it all in time. So I used it to bake a Low Sugar Banana Chiffon cake for my mother in-law since banana cake is her most favourite, especially chiffon cake. The cake turned out to be really nice as the banana was really ripe.  

I have shared Banana Ogura Cake recipe before some years ago.  But, this Banana Chiffon cake is slightly different.  I also have Pandan Chiffon Cake recipe if you are interested.

I would suggest you read the following notes especially if you are don't bake often.

MERINGUE

Meringue plays a very important role in Chiffon Cake.  Over beating meringue may cause the cake to crack, while under beating will cause the cake to collapse or it may not rise much.

Use room temperature egg whites, this will yield more volume.  Cold egg whites will not whip well.  It is easier to separate your eggs when they are still cold, then leave the egg whites aside to come to room temperature. 

Make sure your bowl is clean and there is no any trace of egg yolk or fat.  Fat will interfere with the formation of meringue.

Use cream of tartar to stabilise the whipped meringue.  Cream of tartar is acidic and can be replaced with lemon juice or white vinegar. The replacement ratio is 1:2.  If your recipe asks for 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, then replace with 1/2 tsp lemon juice.

Sources from here, here and here

Stages of Meringue:

Soft Peak – The meringue is soft and unable to hold its form, it will drip after you turn your whisk upside down.  You will see the ribbon lines, but it disappears the moment you stop whisking. 
 
Firm Peak – The peak will hold and fold back slightly when you turn your whisk upside down.  The meringue is glossy and the ribbon lines stay. This is the stage we look for if you do not want your cake to crack. 

Stiff Peak – The peak will hold straight and doesn’t fold back when you turn the whisk upside down.  The meringue is very glossy and thick too.  Most chiffon cake recipes will prescribe this stage but the cake will easily crack when baking.  However, if you don’t mind the cake cracking then it is fine. It doesn’t affect how the cake tastes.

Over-beating – The meringue looks grainy, broken and dull. We do not want this stage in baking as you will not be able to fold it into the flour batter nicely.

OVEN TEMPERATURE AND BAKING TIME

Do note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven. 

It would be good to use an oven thermometer when baking. This will help you understand and know the actual temperature you are baking at. The actual temperature in the oven may not be the same as the oven’s setting.  Leave the thermometer on the same rack where you place your baking. 

I usually bake cakes with top and bottom heats setting.  I don’t encourage baking cakes with fan-forced mode as this setting uses a fan to circulate the hot air for quick baking or cooking at high temperature and may result in cracks on the cake.  However, if fan mode is used, it is recommended to reduce the temperature setting by about 20C if using a fan-forced mode.

WATER BATH vs DRY BAKE

For a water bath, the cake pan sits within another pan filled with a little water. Place the cake pan within a larger pan and pour hot water into the outer pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5cm – 2 cm.  Place the whole thing in oven and bake. 

The benefit of water bath is that it will moderate the baking temperature and prevent the cakes from cracking.  The cake texture will be very moist too.  

Chiffon cake baked without a water bath is more brown and crumbly.  Some may prefer this texture. Please make your own choice between water bath or dry bake. This is a very individual personal preference.  

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.

Recipe - Banana Chiffon Cake


Yields: 8 inch (20cm) round cake

INGREDIENTS:

95g cake flour or all purposed flour

1/2 tsp double action baking powder 

1/4 tsp salt

 

7 egg yolks (L size, about 60g - 65 each egg)

70g corn oil or any vegetable oil

175g mashed banana (best is using over ripe banana)


7 egg white (L size, about 60g - 65 each egg)

70g soft light brown sugar or caster sugar (please add more sugar if you prefer sweeter)

1/2 tsp cream of tartar 


Utensil : 
8 inch Japanese Chiffon Tin (203 X 182 X 112 mm)

METHOD:
  1. Preheat oven to 150C (top and bottom heat).  
  2. Sift flour and baking powder in a bowl.  Add in salt and keep aside.
  3. Separate egg whites from the yolks.
  4. Add in oil and mashed banana to the egg yolks.  Whisk until all well combined with a hand whisk.
  5. Add in sifted flour mixture in three batches.  Mix until well incorporated. Set aside.
  6. Using a stand mixer or hand electric mixer, whisk egg white until frothy before adding cream of tartar and continue to beat until foamy. Gradually add in sugar and whisk until firm peaks formed (when you turn your whisk upside down, the peaks will hold and curl over a bit).   
  7. Gently fold the meringue into the egg yolks and banana batter with hand whisk in three batches.  Change to spatula and fold gently until well incorporated.
  8. Pour the batter into the chiffon tin.  Skim the top with spatula gently while pouring to break the air bubbles.
  9. Dry Bake -
    1. Preheat oven to 150C (top and bottom heat) for 15 minutes before baking.  
    2. Lower to 140C (top and bottom heat). Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes at 140C. Increase temperature to 170C and continue baking for another 5 - 10 minutes or until the top is golden brown. If the cake starts to crack, reduce the temperature to 130C.  
  10. Remove from the oven and immediately invert the cake tin. This will prevent the cakes from sinking.  Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes or until cool enough to handle before unmolding. 
  11. To remove the cake from the pan - 
    1. Run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the cake tin.
    2. Run the same knife (a bamboo skewer works too) between the cake and the funnel.
    3. Turn the cake tin over and press down on the bottom to release the cake.
    4. Run a thin knife between the bottom of the cake and the base of the cake tin.
    5. Invert the cake on a cake board or round plate. 
Notes:
Please note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. It may not work for your oven. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.





Share
Tweet
Pin
Share
Tags :

You May Also Like

6 comments

  1. Mama mia4 December 2020 at 14:40

    Hi,
    Just wanted to ask isn’t 7 egg recipe too much for an 8 inch pan? Do you know why some chiffon cake uses very much less flour & others more in proportion to no of eggs.
    Would appreciate your comments , thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bake With Paws4 December 2020 at 21:54

      Hi, thanks for reading this recipe.

      (1) Just wanted to ask isn’t 7 egg recipe too much for an 8 inch pan?

      I used 7 eggs is because the chiffon pan I used is taller than the normal tube chiffon pan. You can refee the measurement on the above recipe.

      (2) Do you know why some chiffon cake uses very much less flour & others more in proportion to no of eggs?
      For this recipe, I used less flour if compared to my Pandan Chiffon Cake is because I do not add extra liquid beside the mashed banana.

      Cheers :)


      Delete
    2. Mama mia5 December 2020 at 01:49

      Thank you for your quick reply.
      I have an 8 inch pan that is only 9.5 cm high. So would it be better off using my 9 inch pan which is 10 cm high? Thanks

      Delete
    3. Bake With Paws5 December 2020 at 18:59

      Hi, My pleasure.
      Yes, I think it should be ok. Or you can reduce to the 5 eggs recipe for 8" tube tin.

      Cheers:)

      Delete
  2. =)1 January 2021 at 05:10

    Hi can I replace cream of tar tar and baking powder with lemon juice?

    Anyway, may I know what's the difference between double action baking powder and normal baking powder?

    Thanks hehe :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bake With Paws2 January 2021 at 02:58

      Hi, thanks for reading this recipe and your questions.

      A lot of recipes asked to replace lemon juice with cream of tar tar. I tried before but the meringue was not stable and abit runny and soft. It could be my lemon juice and I am not sure. You can try. You can omit the baking powder. Meringue will suppose to make the cake rise.

      Please read here for the difference between double action baking powder with normal baking powder:

      https://sciencenotes.org/difference-between-single-acting-and-double-acting-baking-powder/

      Cheers :)

      Delete

-->