Easily purchased from Asian groceries in Parramatta and Western Sydney, I was bummed to discover that pandan cake (or anything pandan) was difficult to find in New York City, even in Chinatown! Trying the Pandan flavored ice cream from Chinatown Ice Cream Factory re-ignited my love for this pandan (and I was not amused by Danny’s likening it to ‘Jelly Belly’s buttered popcorn flavor) and I obsessively started looking for it in Chinatown.
There is a small Southeast Asian grocery store, walking distance to my work called Asia Market (located at 71 Mulberry Street), where you can get goods like fresh kaffir lime leaves, kaya spread, rendang flavoring, sambal and other regional delicious goods. Behind the counter, I spotted pandan extract for $1.75 so I bought it and found this recipe
What a difference an electric mixer makes! First attempt with man-powered mixing (i.e Aaron with a whisk) made a dense but still tasty pandan cake. Second attempt, was at Federico’s house and I experimented with ‘aquafaba’, substituting the unused liquid from chickpea cans for egg whites and egg yolks, because Federico is vegan. This time I had Federico’s amazing KitchenAid mixer, but with other variables in the mix such as unfamiliarity with aquafaba, an unfamiliar oven, and letting it sit for over 30 mins waiting for his chocolate cake to finish in the oven, the pandan cake that came out resembled more like the glutinous, extremely dense Malaysian-style dessert. I served it to my friends in our vacation home in Vermont and they called it Play-Doh. Tasty, tasty Play-Doh.
$19.99 handmixer from Amazon, and attempt number three makes for a perfect fluffy pandan cake, just what I’ve been craving for months!
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites (or 12Tbs aquafaba for vegan)
- 125g caster sugar (you can use coffee grinder to grind regular sugar) (125g + 80g = ~ 1 cup)
- 6 egg yolks (or 6Tbs aquafaba for vegan)
- 80g caster sugar, extra
- ½ tsp vanilla essence
- 165ml coconut milk
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 ½ tsp pandan essence
- 120g plain flour (or 120g self raising flour and leave out the baking powder) (1 cup)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/8 tsp salt
If substituting the eggs with aquafaba:
- 1 egg = 3 tbsp aquafaba
- 1 egg white = 2 tbsp aquafaba
- 1 egg yolk = 1 tbsp aquafaba
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160C (320F)
- Using an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites for about 1 minute until foamy, then gradually add the caster sugar while whisking. Whisk until stiff peaks form (can take 5 minutes or more). If you turn the bowl over, the whites should not drop out. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl and using an electric mixer, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy, and tripled in size. This should take more than 5 minutes too.
- While the eggs are whisking, in a separate small bowl, mix together the coconut milk, oil and pandan essence. Add it to the egg yolk mixture slowly while whisking at a low speed.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt to the now green egg yolk mixture and fold gently to combine.
- Add one third of the egg whites to the green mixture and fold to loosen up the batter. You do not need to be too gentle at this stage.
- Add the remaining egg whites and fold extra gently as not to deflate the batter.
- Pour the batter into an un-greased ring tin. Give the batter a few sharp blows by banging it on the table, which will help the air bubbles get to the top. Using a spoon, gently smooth the top of the batter.
- Bake for 50 minutes or until set. If the top browns too quickly, put some aluminum foil over the top.
- Let it cool before using serrated knife to set it free!
Credit: My Food Trail