Life Is An Illusion: Dual Layer Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Still soft and fluffy though the cocoa portion looks dense as that area is near the top of the oven,

I adapted this recipe from The Domestic Goddess Wannabe - Duo Layer Chocolate Oreo Chiffon Cake. She called it Duo Layer Chocolate Oreo Chiffon Cake. I guess I'll have to call mine as Duo Layer Chocolate Munchy Chiffon Cake as I replaced the Oreo cookies and Munchy Cookies. ^_^

It required a bit more work compared to a normal chiffon cake as there are 2 layers of batter to prepare but I think the effort is all worth it. As the chocolate is main actor in the cake, so use the best cocoa powder that you can afford. It makes a whole lot of difference.

As with most of the chiffon cake that I have baked over the years, the top half shrinks and looks denser than the bottom half even though the cake is still soft.

Beaten egg yolks in lighter yellow

The cocoa powder and chocolate chips portion

The cookies portion

The meringue stiff peak

Just got into the oven

Almost done!

Pheww...lucky no major shrinkage...

The sides of the cake, after being unmoulded

Ingredients

6 egg yolks (separated from whole eggs weighed 65g, left at room temperature for half an hour to 1 hour, note to self: do not leave it out for too log)
50g caster sugar

Standing tall...
70g corn oil
100g cake flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt (I actually have forgotten to add this...haizz...)
110ml chocolate milk (I made the chocolate milk from fresh milk and Hersheys' cocoa powder and a bit of sugar as I find commercial chocolate milk will have some kind of thickener in it or some kind of preservative or flavoring)
5 Oreo cookies, discard filling and crushed (I used Munchy in this bake, maybe I'll try Oreo next...)
2 tablespoons Hersheys' cocoa powder
20g semi-sweet Hersheys' chocolate chips
6 egg whites (separated from whole eggs weighed 65g, left at room temperature for half an hour to 1 hour)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
70g caster sugar

Methods:

Sift the cake flour and baking powder (and also salt).
Whisk egg yolks and 50g sugar until the sugar is melted and the batter turns to a lighter shade of yellow.
Add in the oil and whisk till well combined.

Aiks...top half still looks denser compared to the
bottom half
Add in the chocolate milk and whisk till well combined.
Once combined, add the sifted cake flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
Measure the batter and divide this batter into 2 equal portions.
Fold in the cocoa powder and chocolate chips in 1 portion. (Need to distribute the chocolate chips evenly so they don't all gather at the same spot.)
Fold in the crushed cookies in the other portion.
In a clean separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add in cream of tartar.
Whisk until soft peaks form.
Slowly, add 70g sugar while whisking and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
Divide the meringue into 2 portions. Take 1/3 of the meringue from the first portion and fold it into the cocoa powder and chocolate chips portion. Once the batter is lighten slightly, fold the remaining 2/3 of the meringue gently into the batter until no white streaks remain.
Transfer 1/3 of the remaining meringue and fold into the cookies batter to lighten it. Fold the remaining 2/3 of the meringue gently into the batter until no white streaks remain.
Pour the Oreo batter into a 23cm ungreased tube pan.
Gently pour the cocoa powder and chocolate chip batter on top.
Tap the pan for about 3 times on the kitchen counter to remove trapped air bubbles. Jingle the pan the flatten the batter more.
Bake at 170°C for 60 minutes. (note to self: When preheating the oven, turn the fan on so the temperature is slightly higher and turn the fan off when it's preheated, so when the oven door is opened to let the cake in, the temperature drop will be close to the baking temperature.)
Once the cake is done, invert it immediately to cool.