Yuzu Chiffon Cake

 

 

Yuzu (柚子) or Japanese citron is a large orange-like fruit. It is related to its smaller cousin - the mandarin orange or tangerine (mikan). It is tart in taste, not sweet and is not peeled and eaten as it is. I was persuaded by the sales promoter at Isetan supermarket o buy a bottle of yuzucha (ingredients are yuzu, honey and sugar). You just need to add water to a teaspoon of it to make a drink to soothe your throat. I tried it out and I liked the taste. It's refreshing. You can even spread it directly onto your bread, just like jam. And I thought to myself - I can bake cakes or make desserts with it too.



That's how my yuzu chiffon cake is born. I modified my vanilla chiffon cake recipe (I used it as a layer sponge cake for my durian cake and mango mousse cake) to include the yuzu jam. As you can see from the pictures posted here, the cake is light, soft and fluffy. You can taste and smell a light hint of the citrus yuzu. However, I would prefer to have a little bit more of the yuzu scent and flavour. I will be trying it out again with more yuzu jam and a little less flour. In the meantime, here's the recipe for you all to try out.

Recipe

 

Ingredients:

120g cake flour

1/8 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp baking powder

4 egg yolks

¼ tsp salt                                 

½ tsp vanilla essence

30g sugar

55g corn oil

40g yuzu jam

80g water

4 egg white                               

90g sugar

½ tsp cream of tartar

 

Preparation:

Preheat oven at 180°C.

 

Method:

1.      Add 80g of water to 40g of yuzu jam and mix well. Leave it aside.

2.      Sift the cake flour, baking soda and baking powder into a mixing bowl.

3.      Whisk the egg yolks, salt, sugar and vanilla essence until slightly creamy.

4.      Add in the corn oil and yuzu mixture and whisk until mixture is blended.

5.      Fold in the sifted flour into the egg yolk mixture until well blended.

6.      Using a stand mixer, add the egg white into a clean mixing bowl.

7.      Start on low speed and add in the cream of tarter when the egg white mixture turns foamy.

8.      Increase speed gradually to maximum. When soft peak forms, start add the sugar in a steady stream.

9.      Beat until egg white mixture is shiny and stiff peak forms. Do not over beat. Gradually reduce the speed until low to relax the egg white mixture.

10.  Spoon a third of the egg white mixture into the egg yolk mixture and fold gently to lighten and incorporate the two mixtures together.

11.  Add in the balance egg white mixture into the above mixture and fold gently using the scoop, turn and fold method. Stop when it is well blended. Do not overfold or the egg white will deflate.

12.  Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and put into the oven.

13.  Bake at 180°C for about 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

14.  Remove from oven to cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before removing the cake from the tin to continue cooling, top side up.