chiffon salé

No, I am not selling chiffon cakes, nor is there any chiffon cake on sale. The word salé is a French word, which means salted.

My cyberfriend VB sent me this book "戚风咸蛋糕and戚风甜蛋糕" earlier this year, and it was only last week that I managed to find time to try baking my first savoury chiffon cake...a Bacon and Onion Chiffon Cake!

Except for the reduced amount of sugar, addition of salt, the ingredients and method is similar to any other chiffon cake. Instead of using the combination of mustard and bacon, I replaced it with chopped onions, bacon and freshly ground black pepper. Not knowing that the timing to add the ingredients is quite crucial, I made the mistake of adding the onions and bacons last, that is, after I have folded the whites and yolks batter together. This caused the batter to deflate and as a result, my chiffon cake didn't rise as high :_( Next time I were to make this, I will remember to add the onions and bacons mixture into the yolk batter instead.

This chiffon salé gives a whole new dimension to chiffon cake. If you like savoury pastries, I am sure you will love it..imagine the taste of a slice of this savoury cake, with bits of bacon and onion studded in not too sweet, not salty but pillowy soft cake crumbs. On the other hand, if you have got sweet tooth, you may find the taste weird...just like my better half, to him, all cakes have to be sweet not savoury ;)

If you are game enough, why not give this a try? Who knows, it may lead you to discovering a whole new world of baking...





Bacon and Onion Chiffon Cake

Ingredients:
(for 17cm tube pan)

3 egg yolks (use large eggs*)
10g caster sugar
3g salt
50ml vegetable oil
50ml water
80g cake flour

4 egg whites (use large eggs*)
20g caster sugar

2 slices streaky bacon
70g onion (about half a yellow onion), finely chopped
freshly ground black pepper

(*I used eggs with a nett weight of 55g, about 20g yolk, 35g white)

Method:

1. Cut bacon into 3~5mm stripes. Pan fry the chopped bacon in a non stick pan till golden. Remove and drain on paper towel. Pan fry chopped onions in the same pan with the oil from the bacon till soft. Mix in the bacon and some freshly ground black pepper. Leave to cool. 
2. Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl. With a manual hand whisk, whisk the yolks a little. Add in sugar and salt, whisk till the batter turns pale and thick (about 5 mins).
3. Add in vegetable oil gradually, whisk to combine.
4. Add in water gradually, whisk to combine.
5. Sieve over the flour and whisk till the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix.
6. Add in bacon and onion mixture, stir with a spatula to just combine. Set aside.
7. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Add half of the sugar amount and turn to high speed and beat the mixture. Continue to add in the remaining sugar and beat until the egg whites reaches the soft peak stage.The soft peak stage is reached when the peaks of the whites curl over and droop slightly. The egg whites should appear smooth and glossy. (Do not over beat the whites still stiff, it is better to beat the whites still soft peaks for easy folding with the yolk batter.)
8. Add the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended.
9. Pour batter into pan (do not grease the pan). Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter.
10. Bake in pre-heated oven at 170 degC for 30 mins, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean, when lightly pressed the cake will spring back. Invert the pan immediately and let cool completely before unmould. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife or a off-set spatula around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife/off-set spatula along the base of the pan to remove the cake.

Recipe source: adapted from 戚风咸蛋糕and戚风甜蛋糕, 小岛喜和

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