Black Sesame Chiffon Cake

I had previously baked a Black Sesame Chiffon Cake in year 2011, and I loved it very much... These Black Sesame Chiffon Cakes are one of my favourite too.. I love Black Sesames in any form of food...

Today I am trying a new recipe from OKASHI.

She had used black sesame paste which I was once told that by using black sesame paste will give the cake a better fragrant than using the powder. It is true indeed. However, this time round, I still did not managed to find any black sesame paste... Perhaps next time, if I ever get a chance...

This recipe turns out very well indeed. Getting a very soft, sponge-y & moist texture from the chiffon cake. You can even hear the "hissing" sound of the chiffon as you take a bite... Am I for real...??? kekekeke...

Try them and I'm sure you will like them as well..:-D

Recipe as adapted from OKASHI by Keiko Ishida

Ingredients:

(yeilds a 20-cm cake)

70g pastry flour/top flour

5 egg yolks

20g brown sugar (I used castor sugar)

20g black sesame paste (I used about 50g black sesame powder)

60g water

40g canola oil

20g black sesame seeds (optional)

90g sugar

10g rice flour/corn flour

5 egg whites

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 160C. Sift flour once.

2. Combine all egg yolks, brown sugar & black sesame paste in a bowl and mix well. Add water and canola oil and blend together. Add flour & mix well until batter becomes sticky, the fold in the black sesame seeds.

3. Make meringue. Combine sugar & rice/corn flour. Beat egg whites until foamy. Add half the sugar and the flour mixture and continue beating for a few minutes, then add the remaining sugar & flour mixture and beat until egg whites are glossy, with stiff peaks.

4. Add 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk mixture and fold in lightly, then add remaining meringue and fold to incorporate completely. Do not over mix as the sesame paste in the mixtur will cause the volume of the chiffon cake to decrease, thus making it heavy.

5. Pour the batter into an ungreased 20-cm chiffon cake tube pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. When the cake is done, remove from oven and turn the pan over. Leave cake to cool in the pan.

6. Once the cake has cooled completely, carefully run a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen it before inverting onto a wire rack.

Almond Financiers-Would you like them as well?

A financier is a small French cake, often mistaken for a pastry. 

The financier is light and moist, similar to sponge cake, and usually contains almond flour, crushed or ground almonds, or almond flavoring. 

The distinctive feature of the recipe is beurre noisette (brown butter).Other ingredients include egg whites, flour, and powdered sugar. 

Financiers are baked in shaped molds, usually small rectangular loaves similar in size to petits fours.

The name financier is said to derive from the traditional rectangular mold, which resembles a bar of gold. Another theory says that the cake became popular in the financial district of Paris surrounding the Paris stock exchange.

Financier pans are traditionally rectangular, but other shapes are not uncommon.
As adapted from Wikipedia

Recipe as adapted from OKASHI by Keiko Ishida

Ingredients:

(yields about 16 cakes, or depending on the cake moulds used)

 50g Pastry flour/Top flour

5g corn flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

130g egg whites

(about 2~3 eggs depending on egg sizes)

130g sugar (i use 100g)

50g ground almonds

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

130g unsalted butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 220C. Lightly grease 16 small cake moulds, each about 5.5 x 7.5 cm, with a little softened butter and place them on a baking tray. Sift flour, corn flour and baking powder together twice.

2. Place egg whites into a clean bowl and beat lightly. Add sugar and mix well, followed by ground almonds, vanilla extract, flour mixture and salt, mixing well after each addition. Be careful not to overmix. Set aside.

3. Brown butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, whisking frequently until fragrant and golden brown in color. Pour into a mixing bowl and place into a larger bowl half-filled with iced water to stop the butter from cooking further and burning.

4. Add the browned butter to the egg mixture and mix well. Transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with 1-cm palin piping tip. Pipe batter into the prepared cake moulds.

5. Bake financiers for 10-15 mins until they are light golden in color. Remove the cakes from the moulds and cool on a wire rack before serving.

Financiers will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or for up to 1 month in the freezer.