Chiffon Cake Without Cake Flour! How is it done?
Last month, I already taught a class on chiffon cakes with tube pans. Before the class, I was thinking about which flavors to choose! Eventually, I decided on three flavors that are both popular and classic: Vanilla Lemon, Yogurt, and Rich Chocolate. [The course is available in the Kitchen Studio section on XiaChuFang; feel free to check it out if you're interested.] For those who have been following me for a while, you know that I've shared many chiffon cake recipes on XiaChuFang, some of which I adore, like Cheese Chiffon, Orange Chiffon, and Milk Tea Chiffon. These are all recipes I'm very fond of. Today, I'm sharing a unique recipe for a glutinous rice flour chiffon cake. How does this chiffon cake taste? It has a unique aroma—soft yet fragrant. To clarify, glutinous rice flour is essentially rice flour. Looking deeper into it, the aroma comes from the rice itself. It's mild yet noticeable, and indeed, this chiffon tastes better than those made with cake flour. [This chiffon cake was made by my dear sister Han and me. Although there are some air pockets in the texture, it was our first attempt to make it together, and we even kept a record of it. It was truly joyful.] Recipe adapted from Aoi Muneko. Can make one tube pan of size 17cm shallow with a high dome or 18cm standard height.
Ingredients
Steps
Prepare the tools and ingredients. Let me add here: for chiffon molds, my top recommendation is those from Shallow井 (Shallow井), not SanNeng which I personally don’t fancy. This recipe is suited for tube molds, but if you insist on using a round mold, go ahead. I used the Three Elephants glutinous rice flour, available on Taobao.
Weigh the vegetable oil and milk together.
Mix well with a whisk until evenly combined.
Sift the glutinous rice flour into the mixture and whisk until smooth. Make sure there's no dry flour left.
Add the egg yolks all at once and mix with the whisk.
Initially, kids might not be able to mix, so I took over until it was roughly combined and then let the kids take over! The egg yolk mixture should be smooth and liquid-like when ready.
Start whipping the egg whites. I like my egg whites slightly frozen, with tiny ice crystals around the edges.
Beat the egg whites until they form large bubbles, then add lemon juice and 1/3 of the granulated sugar. Continue beating until fine bubbles form, then add another 1/3 of the granulated sugar. Once you see streak marks forming, add the final 1/3 of the granulated sugar.
Combine the meringue and egg yolk mixture together.
I usually divide this step into two parts. First, mix 1/2 of the meringue with the egg yolk mixture until combined. Then pour the combined batter back into the remaining 1/2 meringue.
The final batter looks good; pour it into the mold.
Bake in the oven on the middle-lower rack at 170°C for about 42 minutes.
Invert immediately after removing from the oven. Once cooled, remove from the mold. Once unmolded, you can slice and enjoy!
There are a few air pockets, but I think it’s acceptable. Overall, it turned out great, and the flavor is fantastic. This is yet another chiffon cake that left a deep impression on me—truly satisfying! Give it a try, and you might fall in love with it too!