A very popular Malaysian sponge or chiffon cake with very light and fluffy soft texture. Made with gluten free self-raising flour, olive oil, sugar, flour, baking powder and eggs infused with fresh pandan leaves juice.
It is easier to separate the eggs when cold and set aside on bench top for the eggs to warm up to room temperature. Use an egg separator for easier separation as the egg whites must not have any egg yolks in them.
For the pandan juice:
Add the cut pandan leaves and water to a NutriBullet or food processor, blend until you get a thick puree paste. Strain through a fine sieve, using a tablespoon to press on the pandan paste to release more juice. You need 250ml of pandan juice.
For the cake mixture:
Sift and combine all the dry ingredients and mix well in a large mixing bowl.
In another large mixing bowl, combine all the wet ingredients and pandan juice, whisk and mix well. Then add in the mixed dry ingredients in step 3 gradually and whisk until you get a thick and smooth paste.
For the meringue:
Mix together the sugar and the corn starch in a small bowl.
In a large mixing bowl of an electric stand mixer, add in all the egg whites, cream of tartar and add half the sugar and corn starch and whisk for 5 minutes.
Then add in the remaining sugar and corn starch, whisk and combine until you get a stiff and firm peak form. You can also use a hand mixer preferably with a powerful motor on high speed.
For combining the cake mixture and the meringue:
Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the cake mixture, then add the remaining meringue 1/4 at a time, fold lightly until all the egg whites are combined completely, with no dark green or white stripes remaining. Taking care not to deflate the batter. If not, the cake will not rise properly.
For baking the chiffon cake:
Position the oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the fan-forced oven to 160C or 325F.
Pour the batter into a dry and ungreased angel cake pan, rotating the cake pan as you pour and use a spatula to lightly even out the batter. Then tap the cake pan on the benchtop counter a few times to even the batter and to remove large bubbles. It is important that you do not grease the angel cake pan, otherwise the cake will not rise well.
Bake in the preheated oven for around 55 minutes to 1 hour. Do not open the oven door to check until the cake has been cooking for 55 minutes time, otherwise the cake will sink.
Remove from oven and immediately invert the cake pan either onto legs or an unopened wine bottle. Allow cake to cool completely in the cake pan upside down. Otherwise the cake will sink.
To remove and serve the cake:
Once the cake has cooled down completely, gently run an icing spatula or spreader or a sharp knife around the sides of the cake and around the tube. Using the center tube, pull the cake out of the pan. Then using the icing spatula or spreader or a sharp knife cut around the bottom of the cake to remove it out of the tube pan. Turn cake upside down onto a serving plate, dust with some gluten free icing mixture, cut and serve.