Today is a special day that I haven’t had the chance of celebrating in many years now. At this time of the year I’m usually enjoying the lovely summer in Vancouver. Fresh berries, perfect beach weather, extended daylight hours, the opportunity to shy away from bulky winter coats and boots… No wonder you get the happiest Vancouverites during the summertime. It is these 4 months out of the entire year that we get to escape the constant rain. (To those complaining that it’s “too hot”, just stop okay? :D)
As lovely as the summer can be, there’s something deep down that I know I’m missing. That, my friends, is home. Today is Singapore’s National Day. It’s the day that I’ve celebrated annually as a kid singing patriotic songs and watching beautiful fireworks by the National stadium. It’s the day we wear red shirts and white bottoms; the same patriotic colours on our flag.
My little red dot turns 47 this year! We are a young but wonderful nation with an endless list of success that is boast-worthy. So, to commemorate this day from far far away, I decided to dedicate this traditional cake well-loved and known by the locals. In Singapore, you can easily find it in many bakeries. Amongst them, Bengawan Solo is probably one of the more famous ones.
Have you ever had Pandan flavoured cakes before? Pandan is a fragrant leaf mostly grown in tropical areas of Southeast Asia. This is a Pandan Chiffon Cake. However, to add a little fusion, I incorporated the zebra technique which I have been dying to experiment with ever since I saw it on The Diary of a Mad Hausfrau. She definitely has the most creative ideas!
I adapted this Pandan Chiffon recipe from Angel’s lovely blog with some adjustments and changes. Please refer to her blog for the original recipe, also you get to listen to my favourite Bossa Nova artist!!
Ingredients:
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/4 cup castor sugar
- 1/4 cup coconut milk
- 1/4 cup pandan juice (blend 12 pandan leaves and soak it in about 6 tablespoons of water for 2 hours or longer, preferably a whole day. refer to Angel’s for specific instructions)
- 2 tsp pandan paste
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 5 egg whites
- 1/2 cup castor sugar
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
Method:
- Beat egg yolks and sugar in until pale in colour and sugar has been completely dissolved.
- Mix in pandan juice, paste, vegetable oil, and salt.
- Sift in cake flour and baking powder, fold until combined.
- Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites till frothy, adding a third of the sugar and all of the cream of tartar in.
- Continue to beat and gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.
- Fold in 1/3 of the meringue to egg yolk mixture, fold till just incorporated. Repeat the same for the remaining meringue.
- Divide the batter into half and mix in cocoa powder with one half.
- Add 1 tablespoon of each batter on the same spot, piling them up on top of one another, until they are both used up. Using 20cm angel cake pan, bang it on tabletop twice to release air bubbles. (I only had a 26cm one which resulted in a shorter and wider chiffon)
- Bake in preheated oven at 175C for about 40 mins.
- Invert the cake immediately once taken out from the oven. Cool completely before removing from mould.
Hope you guys enjoyed! Also, speaking of fireworks in August, Vancouver just hosted yet another fireworks competition by the beach. This year I only got to watch the ones by the Italians! I had the perfect view from my friend’s apartment downtown overlooking the city. Ahhh, yes. Another reason why I love Vancouver…
Can you not love Vancouver? These annual Fireworks competition by English Bay is one of the things Vancouverites look forward to in the summer! Of course, beating the crowd and feeling claustrophobic during the transit home isn’t. Honestly, I wouldn’t have gone to watch the fireworks had my friend not invited us to his place!
Alright, just wanna end by also saying “Happy 47th Birthday Singapore!”
Sweet Samsations 
You make the best cakes, and this one is no exception!!
I LOVE the colouring that pandan gives food – a very beautiful cake 🙂
Such a beautiful cake! It looks delicious!
I love this cake and I have Avery special place in my heart for Pandan leaves. I was giving a few of these gorgeous leaves in Malaysia once, to scent my handbag and luggage and that sweet smell stayed with us for days. I love the colour of your chiffon cake with the marbling and especially love that firework piccy with the Pandan green light too. Happy bday to Singapore indeed, the world would not be the same without Nonya style chilli crab!
What am exceptionally beautiful way to celebrate 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Happy birthday to your beautiful Singapore, Sam! What a lovely cake.
I love Vancouver too, it’s proximity to the mountains and Ocean. We are indeed lucky to have such a place (however wet and chilly) as part of Canada! I won’t complain about out hot summer any more. Sorry.
I love this! Another beautiful Cake!!!
What a pretty and tasty looking cake!
After reading this, I feel like I need to order a large chilli crab. 😀
Happy national day, Sam! Hope you managed to catch the parade via webcast.. It was perfect weather for the celebration.
Oh, and your pandan cake looks yummy!
What a stunning cake! Well done, it looks amazing 🙂
This is absolutely gorgeous Sammie! I love the pandan cake color – always fascinated by it but never tried pandan leaves in my life. I love chiffon cake and your chocolate swirl looks beautifully done!
What a great way to celebrate Singapore. This is a stunning cake and I’m so glad you were able to share it with us (along with all the celebratory pictures)
Wow that cake is perfectly made, Love it
Happy 47th birthday Singapore. Not familiar with pandan so must Google to learn more. Beautiful cake.
I had no idea that Singapore was so young! You’ve made a gorgeous cake to celebrate.
Mmmmm.. I love choc pandan cake! We grow up eating a boat load of it. This is beautiful, Sam 🙂
Beautiful cake Sammie, love the “zebra”, and the cake looks so light ans soft.
Hope you are having a great week 🙂
What a delicious way to celebrate! A delicious and very pretty cake. The fireworks are fantastic, amazing shots!
It looks wonderful!
This is a keeper. My whole family will love this recipe.
What a gorgeous cake for a wonderful celebration. the stripes are perfect and I love the green color. I have a bottle of pandan essence back in Germany I need to use at some point. Thanks for the shout out and the link love!
oh my goodness, this looks absolutely gorgeous Sam – so lovely! and a happy belated birthday to Singapore! =)
This is gorgeous! I love the colors!
I sad;y did not go see the fireworks..I was working too much 😦 I did last time though. I can’t believe I missed them 😦
What a perfect way to celebrate Singapore’s birthday! Love the zebra detail 🙂
Gorgeous looking with those swirls of color. I love the sweet-earthy taste of pandan. Truly unique.
Pandan is totally new to and I love the color it adds to the cake
Your cake looks amazingly moist and I love the firework pictures
Thank you!!! 🙂
Yeah, pandan is a flavour I grew up with! Looove the smell of it!
Thanks Sarah!!
haha! Pandan does give a very nice aroma! I haven’t heard of putting it in bags and luggages but that definitely sounds like a great idea! Thank you Alice!
omigosh!! I miss chilli crab soo bad!! Wish I could have some!
Thank you Uru!! 🙂
hahaha.. Yeah! It’s starting to get really really REALLY hot these days in Vancouver!! Seems like a late start to this year’s summer! Hopefully we won’t have to pay for it by getting a freezing cold winter later! lol
Awww thank you!!
Thanks Jo!! Noo.. Didn’t manage to catch the parade. I’m sure it must have been wonderful though!!
Why, thank you!!!
Thanks Tandy!!
Thanks Nami!!! I hope you get to try pandan some day! They make my absolute favourite desserts!! yumm!
Thanks Monet!!
Thank you Raymund!! 🙂
haha.. thanks Norma!! Yeah, it’s not very well-known here in North America. Widely used in Southeast Asia instead! 🙂
Thanks Joanne!!
haha.. Thank you Kiran!! I was kinda going against tradition by including the chocolate but I really wanted to try a zebra patterned cake! Glad it turned out well!
Thanks Juliana! You too!! 🙂
oh thanks Carol!!!
Thank you Pam!
That’s awesome!! I hope you try it!!
Thank you dear!! And thanks for your lovely inspiration! 🙂
Thanks Amy!! I’m glad you like it!
awww!!! It wasn’t too bad. Though I would have to say it also wasn’t particularly extra-spectacular! So don’t worry my dear! You aren’t missing out on too much!
Thanks Lorraine!! 🙂
Thank you Carolyn!!! Yeah! I can’t get enough of pandan and am experiencing a serious withdrawal from not having sufficient pandan flavoured goodies! lol
Thank you!! I hope you get to try Pandan some time!! 🙂
I’ve been dying to make a zebra cake…yours is just beautiful!!!! I’m not sure I’ll ever find pandan, but I’ll keep a look out~
Sammie..I have been dying to make some kind of cake or dessert using pandan leaves! Now I found ‘THE ONE’. What a gorgeous zebra with the green and brown and the chiffon is so perfectly fluffy! This needs to be pinned, pronto! 🙂
Thanks Liz!! You should be able to find them in Asian grocery stores. Especially the Southeast Asian ones like Vietnamese ones! haha..
Thanks Lisa!! Awww!! That’s such an honour especially with the comment coming from you!! 🙂
I’ve tried the recipe. Nice cake ands thanks for the recipe…due to my coconut milk was stale, I forgot to put in the fridge. So I replace with fresh milk…:) the taste not as good without using coconut milk but still very nice. I like it. Thanks again Sammie.
Oh!! Glad you enjoyed it June!! Yeah!! Coconut milk is a big part of what defines it! haha.. That as well as the Pandan
the cake looks so beautiful! Xx
That is gorgeous! And I’ve never even heard of pandan before…sounds interesting!
Thanks Pati!! 🙂
haha.. It also goes by another name called “screwpine leaf”! 🙂