Taiwanese style Pandan Castella

Recipe from Emojoie (watch the video). Comes with a very good video! (See my Taiwanese and Japanese comparison list of recipes)

Ingredients (for 20cm or 8 inch square pan)

115g cake flour

115g butter or oil

115g milk

7 eggs, separated

1 tsp vanilla extract

115g sugar

½ tsp pandan essence

Whipping cream (optional)

Method

1. Separate the eggs. Bring everything to room temperature. Prepare the tin by lining the outside with foil (as it will go into a water bath) and inside with parchment. Ensure that the height of the inside parchment is 9cm tall.

2. In a saucepan, gently melt the butter and milk. Bring up to 50 deg C.

3. Pour the mixture into the sifted cake flour. Beat with whisk while still warm.

4. Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat. 

5. Add the vanilla and mix in.

6. Beat the meringue with all the sugar. Towards the end, turn the speed down low so that the bubbles are smaller. Beat until soft peak.

7. Pour the yolk mixture into the meringue. Use a whisk to gently fold in as you rotate the bowl. Finish off using a spatula to fold in to ensure no more white streaks remain. This also bursts the big bubbles.

8. Pour the batter in from a height. Use a spatula to push the batter into the corners and flatten the top. Shake the batter so that the big bubbles burst.

9. Put the cake tin in a bigger baking tin and pour 80 deg C water until about ⅓ up the side of the cake tin.

10. Place in the oven and bake at 150 deg C for 65 to 70 minutes.

11. Remove from the oven and the bath. Remove the paper while it is still hot. The cake will begin to deflate slightly.

12. Can be cut and served while still warm. Serve with whipping cream in between if desired.

Try 1:

Top was perfect! Spongy and light. Smooth surface with no cracks. But inside was uncooked. I did 65 minutes and used the Breville oven. I may need the full 70 minutes.

- Sugar level was ok. However, really very eggy tasting despite the ½ tsp pandan essence.

- Only difference from Breville Japanese souffle cheesecake is that I had to wrap the bottom of this pan with foil because it had a removable base. However, with both, I used cold water which I pre-heated with the oven. I put a grill on the outer pan and kept the water level below the grill. Maybe if I wrap the pan, I do have to use 80 deg C water as the recipe suggested.

- Perhaps too my method was off. 1) I didn't heat oil and milk until 50 deg C, only 40 deg C. 2) I beat the yolks then added the melted butter and milk (instead of other way round), and (3) beat the flour in (instead of pouring the yolk mixture into the flour and folding). 

- I followed the recipe of pouring the yolk mixture into the meringue and folded in, although I used (4) a spatula rather than whisk initially. Maybe all together I was too heavy handed. Next time I should follow the regular method I use for cheesecake where meringue is mixed in 3 batches.

- According to Y, temp of milk and oil are not high enough, causing the oil to separate from the mixture. Makes sense!

Japanese cotton souffle recipe (improved)

I have tried making the Japanese cotton cheesecake so many times but it never succeeded. I realised it has less to do with the recipe than the oven! I decided to use my new-ish Breville air fryer oven because I have never used the bake function, and the blogger's oven looks like the older version of my oven.

Karen Ling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl4gg-0b7Zo

It is a 100% success! A lot has to be said about using digital ovens. I am never going back to my conventional analog oven for this cake.

Ingredients (fits 8 inch cake springform tin)I

250g cream cheese, softened

80 unsalted butter, softened

50g whipping cream

150g fresh milk

5 eggs, separated

35g corn starch

100g sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

¼ acid eg lemon juice or white vinegar

Method

1. In a bain marie, melt the cream cheese and butter. Add the whipping cream and fresh milk and mix until smooth and no lumps remain. Turn off the heat and take the pot off the heat. 

2. Add the egg yolks and mix with a whisk until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and combine.

3. Sift in the corn starch and fold in. Set aside.

4. In a really clean bowl, add the egg whites and acid. Whip up the meringue until soft peaks (approx 5 minutes on KA speed 6) by separating and adding the sugar in three batches. 

5. Dollop ⅓ of the meringue into the cheese mixture and mix well, no need to be too careful with bursting the air bubbles. 

6. Add the next ⅓ of the meringue but this time, fold in gently with a whisk. 

7. Pour the entire cheese mixture into the remaining ⅓ meringue. Fold gently with a whisk, then change to the spatula and fold, enduring no more white streaks.

8. Pour into a 8 inch springform with the bottom lined with parchment. Line the outside of the pan with foil to prevent water seepage. I didn't because I clipped the parchment into the tin, and also put a rack in tray of water so the water level was below the parchment. Use the spatula to flatten the surface and draw strokes in the batter to dispel air bubbles. Lightly tap the tin on the counter top to burst big bubbles.

9. Preheat to 175 deg C. Fill the bottom tray with about ¼ inch water. Put in the tin.

10. Turn down and bake at 150 deg C for 30 minutes. Turn down to 130 deg C and bake for another 30 minutes. Then turn off the heat and let the pan sit inside the oven with the door closed for a further 30 minutes.

11. Unmold the cake and let it cool, then store in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Serve up.

The blogger also used a mirror pectin glaze, which I didn't bother with.

Recipe feedback

Recipe is perfection! Top was smooth (other than my failure to properly flatten the top of the batter). I might have been able to use the mirror pectin to hide the craters. No cracks on the top and nice golden top. No unexplained 'waist' on the sides. Inside was cooked through. The use of corn starch instead of cake flour meant very smooth mouth feel. It wasn't too sweet.

- Update: Kathrine Kwa suggests using room temp water about ¼ up side of round tin that has the cake in it. Bake 150deg C for 90 mins, then turn off oven. Crack open door and leave inside to rest for 30 mins before removing from oven and then tin. Nothing mentioned about dropping tin on counter.