Grapefruit Chiffon Cake

The school holiday is coming to an end, I took Friday off and send the duo to Funtopia for some fun time (you may read more about the visit here - fun time @ funtopia), they totally zonked off after the session and sprung back alive after a long nap. Since we were at home and I was reluctant to go out again to face the congested KL traffic, I invited them to do simple baking with me and they joyfully agreed. 

  

Searched through my kitchen and managed to find just enough ingredients to make a chiffon cake. No pandan leaves, no oranges; well, grapefruit chiffon cake it is then!

The cake's smell was really inviting, a strong scent of grapefruit and tasted great too. If you are a fan of soft fluffy chiffon cake, I would invite you to give this recipe a try. ;-)

Original recipe adopted it from Christine's Recipes and i made some modifications to it.

E was happily helping and he was really amazed to see how the egg whites turned into the fluffy meringue. Time for science lesson (what caused the egg whites to triple in volume?) ;-)

Preparation time: 30 min

Baking time: 35-40 min

Serving size: 12 slices

Ingredients

Ingredients A - Cake Batter

• 100gm self-rising flour 

• 1 table spoon baking powder 

• a pinch of salt 

• 5 egg yolks (I used medium size eggs)

• 30 gm caster / brown sugar 

• 100 ml fresh grapefruit juice (from 1 large grapefruit as shown in pic)

• 80 ml cooking oil 

• 1 teaspoon grapefruit zest (about 1/4 of a grapefruit, make sure you wash the skin thoroughly before grating)

Ingredient B- for the Egg Whites  

• 5 egg whites 

• ⅓ table spoon cream of tartar 

• 60 gm caster / brown sugar

The Making:

1. Preheat oven to 180°c. Prepare a 9" baking tray by coating it with a layer of oil or butter and brush evenly. E didn't brushed the oil evenly so part of the top were sticking to the tray >.<
2. Sift the self-rising flour, baking powder and salt together into a clean mixing bowl, mix well using a spatula and set aside.
3. In a separate mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, sugar, cooking oil, grapefruit juice and the zest. Mix well using the spatula, then gradually add the flour in step 1 and stir to mix well. You shall get a creamy batter now, just set it aside first.
4. Now, change to a large clean mixing bowl (make sure it is clean from oil or water), beat the egg whites with an electric mixer for about 2 min until bubbles form. Add the cream of tartar and sugar gradually (about 1/3 at a time), and continue beating on high speed for another 2 minutes until stiff peaks form. (To know your egg white is ready, just turn the mixing bowl upside down and it shall holds the shape without even sliding. It's the best trick to wow the kiddos :)
5. With a spatula, slowly fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. Do it really slowly as you don't want to introduce bubbles into the batter.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tray  and bake in the preheated oven at 180°c for 15 mins. 
7. Reduce heat to 160°c, continue to bake for 20-25 mins, or until cooked through (to test, just insert a cake tester into the middle of the cake and the needle shall come out clean. If it's sticky, just bake for another 3-5 min)
8. Once the cake is removed from the oven, turn the baking tray upside down on a wire rack and let the it cool completely. This is important to help the cake rise to its full form.

You can enjoy the cake once it's cool. My kiddos finished half the cake in one afternoon tea session and they said it's better than any other chiffon cakes we've ever bought. :D 

Cheers,

PH