Hi everyone, today we are going to make a mocha chiffon cake.
Mocha is a flavoring made from coffee and cocoa blend.
Let's start with the ingredients for the chiffon cake.
These are for a 7 inch chiffon cake.
We also need vegetable oil that is flavorless.
For coffee, I am using regular coffee with only milk but no sugar in it.
First, separate egg whites from egg yolks.
Put all the yolks together in a bowl, and egg whites in another mixing bowl for whipping later.
Add in approximately 2 tbsp. caster sugar in the yolks.
Beat them up. The remaining sugar will be added into the egg whites.
Then slowly stir in vegetable oil.
Stir in coffee as well.
Sift cake flour and cocoa powder.
Add the mixture in the yolk batter and beat them until incorporated.
Make sure you mix well without flour lumps.
The yolk batter will be ready for use when it reaches to a little runny and thick dropping consistency.
Combine 1/3 of the remaining caster sugar with corn starch.
Corn starch can stabilize the meringue.
Now whip the egg whites.
Roughly beat it on low until it is bubbly, then add in few drops of white vinegar.
The white vinegar will adjust the acidity and alkalinity environment in the egg whites, thus increase stability.
Add the sugar and cornstarch mixture into the meringue little by little.
Add them little by little while whipping until the meringue becomes foamy.
Some people say the meringue will be ready when it reaches stiff peak stage. As for me, I think slightly short of stiff peaks and more towards firm peaks will be better.
That is when you lift the whisk, the tip will fall back a little but still hold up.
It droops without collapsing into the batter even if you slightly shake the whisk.
So does the remaining meringue in your bowl. It should not be runny. Pay attention not to over whip.
If over whipped, the meringue won't be able to incorporate fully into your batter.
The whipped meringue need to be mixed in the batter as soon as possible, otherwise it won't combine as well.
Mix 1/3 of the meringue into the batter first.
Just use your whisk to cut them through evenly.
Then transfer the remaining meringue to another large bowl.
Pour your batter over in the bowl.
Use your spatula to fold until fully combined.
If your meringue reaches the right consistency, it should be easy to combine.
If you find egg white curdling and hard to be folded in the meringue, then the meringue might have been over whipped.
Cocoa powder may knock out some air bubbles in the batter, so once it's well mixed, chop chop!
Make sure you don't mix them vigorously, just be gentle and quick.
Mix evenly until there are no visible egg whites remaining.
You'd better use a cake mold/tin with a removable base and without non-stick coating. It won't hurt to have non-stick ones, but your cake will shrink a little.
The batter we prepared will almost fill the tin.
Level and smooth out the top of the cake batter.
Tap against counter twice to remove any large air bubbles.
Place it into the lower level in a 160 C/320F preheated oven.
Bake for about 40 mins.
[Place it in the lower level. preheat your oven to 160C/320F. Bake for 40 mins.] When it's done, your cake surface will be dry and it will spring back to touch.
Once you take it out of your oven, drop the mold to the courter twice to get rid of the steam inside your cake. Then invert.
I am using a vegetable strainer that is just about the size of my mold to cool the cake. If you don't have this, you can use two cups of the same height, and then leave your cake on top to cool.
[Only attempt to unmold the chiffon cake from its tin when it is cooled fully.]
When it's cooled completely, use your hands to gently separate your cake from the edge of the tin. Then scrape around the cake using a palette knife.
It's normal for chiffon cake to crack a bit. If you don't want any cracks, reduce the amount of your batter, and don't fill up you tin. Also reduce the baking temperature, and bake for a longer time.
I am going to decorate the cake with icing butter cream on top, so it doesn't matter to crack a little.
Use your hand to separate bottom part from the tin as well, and unmold using the palette knife.
Divide the cake into three pieces. Use a bread knife to cut around the cake first.
This helps to cut smoothly and evenly.
Then slowly turn the cake while cutting through.
Trim the bottom piece and level up the surface.
Then let's start off to prepare the butter cream.
Stir instant espresso powder and cocoa powder into the double cream to add mocha flavor.
Here I have a bar of dark chocolate for decoration.
I like to whip butter cream by hands, because it's very easy to over whip with stand mixer.
Add in cocoa powder, instant espresso coffee powder, caster sugar and vanilla extract to the cold double cream.
Then whip manually.
I am not using butter cream to pipe and decorate the cake, so just beat it until velvety and creamy.
Don't over whip, or it won't be able to level out on the surface.
Rub some of the whipped butter cream and spread on the first layer evenly.
Place the second layer on top, then spread whipped butter cream on it.
The buttercream will get dry during this process. You can see it's getting harder to spread the cream on the second layer already.
So it's almost impossible to do the last layer. You will need to add in some unwhipped double cream to adjust the thickness.
Now place the last layer, and cover it with whipped butter cream.
You don't need to make it too neat, just spread evenly.
Now let's decorate the cake. Use your imagination :)
I am a little lazy for this, and I like simplicity.
I would like to use a bar of dark chocolate, and put it in front of me on a cutting board, then shave towards me with a sharp blade.There comes off some thin shavings of chocolate.
Put them into a bowl, and avoid touching with your hands.
These shavings are very thin and fragile, and they will melt if you touch them.
Now sprinkle them on the top of the cake, and it will be ready to serve.
The chiffon cake itself is flavored more like cocoa, but the butter cream tastes more bitter as coffee.
So the combination makes a perfect mocha chiffon cake.
It's fluffy, light, buttery, but not too sweet.
Its cocoa flavor balances well with the bitterness and sweetness of coffee.
If you like mocha, you must try it out.
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