Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes

Via not-thekitchensink.blogspot.com{  Chiffon Cake History:  A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings. It is a combination of both batter and foam type cakes. In contrast to butter, the traditional fat used in cake making, it is difficult to beat air into oil, so chiffon cakes, like angel cakes and other foam cakes, achieve a fluffy texture by beating egg whites until stiff, and folding them into the cake batter before baking. Its aeration properties rely on both the quality of the meringue and the chemical leaveners. Its oil-based batter is initially blended before folding into the meringue. The chiffon cake was invented in 1927 by Harry Baker, a California insurance salesman turned caterer. Mr. Baker kept the recipe secret for 20 years until he sold it to General Mills. At this point the name was changed to “chiffon cake” and a set of 14 recipes and variations was released to the public in a Betty Crocker pamphlet published in 1948.  }

I know quite a few people have raved about it, and I don’t want to be a wet blanket, but this recipe really is in fact a chiffon cake recipe, albeit made into cupcakes. I actually don’t get the Hokkaido in the title, but like SD – I reckon that it’s probably because of the Hokkaido cream or milk used in the filling of the cupcake (which I’ve omitted here). And to be a bigger wet blanket, this recipe actually resembles most of the chiffon cake recipes I’ve seen and yes, I’ve also used this recipe in a chiffon cake tin and the cake turns out fine – without the falling and wrinkly top. In fact, I’ve actually tweaked this recipe to make it pandan flavored as well as reduced the amount of egg whites used (which is my mom’s chiffon cake recipe) and it works fine. So erm, sorry but there’s nothing much to rave about BUT I caveat this to say that it is still quite a good recipe, albeit a little on the not-so-sweet side (which is suitable for me but not people with sweeter preferences). It also kinda cheats on the usual chiffon recipe because baking powder is used (the real authentic/old school chiffon cake recipes (or at least my mom’s) don’t use baking powder), which explains the extra lift.
Hokkaido Chiffon Cupcakes (北海道戚風蛋糕)
Adapted from Jessie who got it from the book 不用模型做点心
Makes 12-14 tall cupcakes

Ingredients:

4 egg yolks (about 80g)
70g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
80ml fresh milk

60ml odorless oil

135g all-purpose flour (or cake flour if you prefer)
4g (1 tsp) baking powder
6 egg whites (about 180g)
50g castor sugar

Method:

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
  2. Place the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk them together with the 70g of sugar until yolks turn a pale yellow. Add the vanilla extract, followed by the milk and oil. Whisk well to combine.
  3. Next, sieve in the flour and baking powder, making sure to incorporate all the flour into the mixture.
  4. In another bowl, beat the egg whites on high for about 30 seconds until foamy, before adding the remaining 50g of castor sugar. Beat the egg whites until firm peaks are achieved (but not overly stiff).
  5. Take a third of the egg whites and fold it into the egg yolk mixture to lighten it. You don’t need to be overly gently with this one-third portion of egg whites. Continue folding in the remaining egg whites, making sure to fold all the whites gently until you get a very pale yellow batter. Fill the cupcake liners until about 70%, making sure not to over-fill the liners as the batter will rise quite a bit before falling when cooling.
  6. Bake the cupcakes for about 20 minutes, or until the tops turn a golden brown and a cake skewer comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the tin before removing it onto a cooling rack to cool. The cupcakes will fall and wrinkle, but that’s normal – you can top it with a dollop of cream or sieve icing sugar on it to cover the ‘wrinkles’ up.

Janine’s jots:
  • Taste: As mentioned by Rima in her post, this cupcake is a little on the not-so-sweet side (perfect for me) but not so for someone look for that sugar hit. I’d definitely advise increasing the sugar amounts by at least 10% if you want something sweeter, or just top the cupcake off with a dollop of whipped cream or fill it with curd for that little something extra.
  • Texture: It’s almost as if you are ‘eating clouds’ actually – it is very light, (even though I used all-purpose flour and not cake flour), and each cupcake is easily consumed in three bites or less, without that ‘heavy’ gelat filling you get after eating a slice of pound cake. You can probably finish two or three of these at a go! Also, I prefer to bake these a little browner so that I get the ‘crust’ but if you want an overall soft chiffon, do bake it for a shorter time (start checking at 15 minutes), and once you get a golden color, you can remove the cupcakes!
  • Serving size: I made about 14 cupcakes with the full recipe and 8 cupcakes with the halved recipe – probably because I filled the cups slightly less the second time around.
  • Modifications: I have also made a halved portion of this recipe and it works fine. You can also bake this recipe in a normal 23-cm chiffon cake tin.
  • Storage: The cupcakes stored well for a day or two (beyond that I’ve no idea because they were gone) but I’d presume that they should keep well in the fridge for at least a week.
  • Would I make this again?: Definitely – it is a rather standard chiffon cake recipe which I turn to once in a while anyway :]
  • Note: I would advise using slightly higher cupcake liners to enable the cake to rise (it looks visually more appealing too). However, normal liners are fine too!