Cream Corn Chiffon Cake

After baking numerous number of chiffon cakes, I still don't understand why (or simply what I should do to overcome the problems):

1. I can't get the cake surface and sides to brown beautifully.
2. The bottom of the cake (the part that is facing the top element of the oven) is always slightly more dense than the top. I don't know if it's because the egg yolk batter is still not completely well mixed with the egg white batter or the oven temperature is too high that caused more shrinkage on the top of the cake when cooling down. 

Despite all these imperfections, the cake itself is still tasty, spongy, cottony and soft. It's probably due to the extra egg white. This is adapted from Carol's Corn Chiffon Cake.

Ingredients:

Egg yolk batter:

• 5 egg yolks
• 30g fine granulated sugar
• 60g corn oil
• 120g corn (those canned cream style corn)
• 100g cake flour

  

  Just reached stiff peak

  
• 20g corn flour

Egg white batter:

• 6 egg whites
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 50g fine granulated sugar (maybe I should increase to 80g next time, the cake is not sweet enough)

Method:

1. Separate the egg yolks and egg whites while they are still cold. Measure all the ingredients and preheat oven to 160 degree C.
2. Sift cake flour and corn flour together and set aside.
3. Handwhisk egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until sugar dissolves.
4. Whisk in corn oil.

   

   I think my eggs are not big enough, can't fill up the whole
   pan as seen in Carol's website.
5. Add in the creamed corn and mix till well combined.
6. Sift the combined flour into the egg yolk mixture and mix till well combined. Set aside.
7. In a clean and grease free bowl, beat egg whites until foamy (where bubbles have formed).
8. Add lemon juice and continue to beat until almost soft peak. Add 1/3 of the sugar. Continue beating the egg whites. Gradually add in the remaining sugar and beat the egg whites until it just reached stiff peak.
9. Take 1/3 of the meringue and whisk into the egg yolk batter. Then fold the remaining meringue into the egg yolk batter until well mixed where the batter colour will be consistent.
10. Pour the batter into a 8-in tube pan and bake for 40 minutes or till cooked.

The top is cracking up too much, and I didn't slice up the top
as the original method, maybe it will look better if I do that..

It shrinks more than those recipes which use whole eggs.



 

Still don't know the reason why the bottom half is slightly
more dense than the top half...


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See you next year!

On a different note, the Nine Emperor Gods festival had ended for the year. And these will be my last pair of tortoise buns supply. :(

Till I see you again next year!