Soy Milk Chiffon

                                              Soy milk chiffon

I made soy milk chiffon like the one I ate in Shanghai last month. I took the recipe from the Internet but didn't quite like the result because it was more sponge cake than chiffon. The recipe below is adapted from my favorite pandan chiffon cake.

The cake gave off really awesome wafts of eggs and soy milk while in was baking but when eaten with the soft cream and fruits, it was hard to tell that the chiffon was made with soy milk. Well, I thought I did detect soy milk but the rest of the family did not. Anyway, for those who are avoiding cakes made with dairy products, this is a good option. I don't know what you can substitute the dairy cream that should be served with this cake though. This is a very Japanese/Asian cake and should your guests be Caucasians or westerners, I suggest you bake a denser, more substantial tea cake for them. I once served my light lemon fresh cream cake to an Aussie friend and you could tell he wasn't impresssed while the rest of the table, Asians, loved it. He licked my plate clean when I baked a dense chocolate cake so I am convinced that western/Caucasians guys don't like light airy cakes. Girls seem to like their cakes soft and airy, Asians or otherwise.


1. Whisk all the wet ingredients and sugar in a bowl.


2. Sift in the dry ingredients.


3. Mix until uniform.


4. Egg white is to a cake as light is to photography. If the egg whites are beaten to the right stage, the cake will be perfect. The best stiff peak stage is when the egg whites are stiff but not overwhipped or they will not be able to hold the batter and the cake will fall and be flat and heavy. I can tell when the whites are ready: when they form a ball around the whisk.


5. Lighten the batter by adding some beaten whites to it, then add the batter to the whites (heavy mixture into light is easier to mix).


6. If the batter is still stiff after all that mixing, you know the cake will be soft and fluffy. Level by shaking, then tap or drop the cake tin on the counter to knock big air bubbles out.

Soy Milk Chiffon

A Ingredients:
3 oz/90g fine sugar
6 large egg whites
1/2 t cream of tartar
B Ingredients:
2 oz/60g fine sugar (reduced from 3 oz/90g)
6 oz/180g self-raising flour, sifted
6 large egg yolks
4 oz unsweetened soy milk (preferably fresh)
4 oz/120ml veg (corn or canola) oil

Serve with:
softly beaten n sweetened dairy whipping cream
fresh fruits--berries and bananas

1. Switch oven to 160 C. Get ready a bundt pan (9"/19cm diameter at top), no need to grease.

2. Mix all the B ingredients in a bowl.

3. Beat A ingredients in your machine until stiff and fold 1/3 of A into B and then all the AB mixture into the remaining whites. Mix well (you can use the machine) until uniform. Pour into the pan, level and drop pan on the counter from a height of about 6"/15 cm to knock out large air bubbles.

4. Bake 1 hour and invert the bundt pan when you take it out of the oven so that it will hang and not sit on its own weight. When cooled, ease the cake out by running a blade around the tin.

5. Serve slices of the chiffon with soft whipped cream and fresh fruits such as strawberries. blueberries, kiwis and bananas.