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Pandan is a type of plant known as a screwpine, whose leaves are a staple ingredient in Southeast Asian cooking. The leaves have a sweet, slightly grassy vanilla flavour, and are occasionally referred to as ‘vanilla grass’. The pandan plant is sterile, and can only be propagated using cuttings, but its popularity as a sweet flavouring and green food colouring means that it is widely cultivated throughout Southeast Asia.
There are several ways to use pandan. The leaves can be used whole, either fresh or dried, or they can be ground down to make a bright green paste or powder. It is a popular ingredient in sweet and savoury dishes alike, and is commonly used to flavour rice dishes, sweet drinks, desserts and cakes.
Pandan cake - also known as pandan chiffon cake - is a much-loved delicacy throughout Southeast Asia, and is particularly popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. A light, delicate sponge with a vivid green colouring and sweet pandan flavour, this soft, fragrant cake is an instantly-recognisable icon of Asian cuisine.
Pandan and palm sugar chiffon cake
Ingredients
Coconut oil,
40g
Cake flour,
50g
Eggs,
3
Fresh pandan leaves,
20g
Water,
50g
Coconut milk,
15g
Granulated palm sugar,
30g
Salt,
pinch
Confectioner’s sugar,
40g
PreparationÂ
Step 01
Place one of your oven racks at the bottom of the oven, and preheat to 325°F.
Step 02
Mix the palm sugar and coconut milk together in a medium-sized bowl until the sugar has fully dissolved.
Step 03
Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the mixture. Set the whites aside for later.
Step 04
Mix the pandan leaves and water together in a blender, then strain out any excess liquid using a fine mesh sieve. Measure out 12g of the resulting paste and add to the egg yolk mixture. Put the rest of the paste in the fridge to use in future recipes.
Step 05
Whisk the sweetened milk, egg yolks and pandan paste together until fully combined, and set aside.
Step 06
Add the coconut oil to a small pan and heat on medium until it begins to shimmer.
Step 07
Add the flour and mix into a smooth paste using a flexible spatula.
Step 08
Add the coconut oil paste to the pandan mixture. Mix together until fully combined, and set aside.
Step 09
Add the salt and confectioner’s sugar to the egg whites and beat using either a whisk or a stand mixer with whisk attachments, until they form stiff peaks.
Step 10
Fold ¼ of the meringue into the pandan mixture, then pour the resulting mixture back into the bowl with the rest of the meringue and mix it all together to make a smooth batter.
Step 11
Place a wire rack inside a large baking dish and add a shallow layer of warm water, to make a water bath.
Step 12
Take a small cake tin that will fit inside your makeshift water bath and line the bottom with parchment paper.
Step 13
Pour the batter into the cake tin and bang it on the counter a few times to get rid of air bubbles.
Step 14
Place the cake tin on the wire rack inside the water bath and transfer the whole thing to the lowest rack in your oven.Â
Step 15
Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, then remove from the oven and stand it on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes.
Step 16
Remove the cake from the tin and place it back inside the oven for 15 minutes, with the heat turned off, to dry out.
Step 17
Remove the cake from the oven again and leave it to cool completely before serving.
