Thankful Banana Chiffon Cake

Lots of mishaps today. First, I realized after a new office re-configuration, I am way way way off from the madding crowd. Me alone, far off in a corner. Then I had a not working keyboard tray. Thankfully this was fixed later.

Second, while trying to take a shortcut to a lot by reversing in a multi-storey car park, I scratched the front of a car. As my boy was really hungry, I rushed home first to feed him and decided to leave a note later on the car's windshield. I assumed that to have the car there at that hour meant most probably that it should be there after an hour. Thankfully before I took off with my car after lunch, I left a note for the owner. When I got into my car and was about to drive off, a traffic policewoman came by as a passerby thought I did a hit-and-run and reported me. Since the note was there as a proof that I did not plan for a hit-and-run, she took my particulars. Then the owner somehow turned up with his wife. The wife seemed pretty cool about this incident and requested the husband not to pursue the matter. So sweet! Maybe it helped that my hubby was there as well with me, carrying the baby. Nevertheless, I gave my particulars and hopefully he doesn't call. ;)

The day just drifted after that and I remembered that there were one or two small stuff that upset me but I couldn't recall them now. Reminding myself to be thankful in all circumstances.

So, I reasoned that I had to bake something to de-stress slightly and hopefully the success will end the day nicer for me. I had some overriped bananas which I decided that they were not good for my baby even if I puree them, so I chose to bake a Banana Chiffon Cake (another recipe that requires egg white beating).

Small Small Baker have just the right recipe size that I like. Or rather, recipe size that fits the only cake tin I have i.e. 6 inch round tin. I used it and adapted it slightly.

Have I mentioned before the importance of pre-heating your oven? Yeah, I used to think that this step can be removed as I have tried many times with muffins or simple cakes and they turned out beautiful. However, I've read that this is a no-no for sensitive cakes like chiffon. Please please pre-heat the oven.

The batter this time round came up to 2/3 of the tin. This is worrying as when it rise during the baking process, it went slightly over the brim of my tin. I suspect it's due to the bicarbonate of soda / baking soda. Next time round I might use self-raising flour instead.

From my previous post, I mentioned that I read from a book which states that after the cake has been baked, dropping the cake tin from a height of about 30cm will help the cake hold its structure better as the air bubbles will now change their forms. This time round, I did likewise and dropped it at a height of around 30cm. I think I dropped it too hard as the cake looked kind of squashed in the center.

I only baked it for 25 mins but should have kept it there longer as the base was still slightly dense. 

In the end, the cake did not turned out as ideal as I would like it to be with the slightly dense base and squashed look. Thankfully it tasted nice and not too sweet. Hubby actually preferred it to the coffee chiffon cake and promised to finish it tomorrow.

Yeah, must be thankful.... be thankful.

Banana Chiffon Cake

Ingredients (6-inch round tin with removable base)
2 egg yolks
1/8 tsp salt
15g caster sugar (I used only 10g)
20ml cooking oil
60g banana mash (1 medium banana)
35g plain flour (On hindsight, I should have used self-raising flour and omitted the bicarbonate of soda)
1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
30g caster sugar 

3g corn flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
2. Whisk egg yolks, salt and sugar till pale and runny.
3. Add the banana mash and oil into the egg yolk batter. Whisk to combine.
4. Sift flour into batter and whisk.
5. Beat egg whites till bubbly. Add cream of tartar and beat till foamy reaching soft peak stage. Gradually add in sugar in 3-4 batches and beat until stiff peaks form. Add cornflour and beat slightly. (Egg whites should not move when bowl is tilted or inverted)
6. Fold 1/3 beaten egg whites into egg yolk batter until blended i.e. no white streaks. Add the rest of egg whites into batter until blended.
7. Pour batter into ungreased 6-inch round tin. Have a few quick knocks with the tin against a table to level the batter and break surface bubbles.
8. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg C for 30 mins.
9. Remove from oven and invert cake immediately until it is completely cool.