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It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to experiment with a new cake recipe (Sweet Corn Chiffon Cake) since I have been busy baking pandan cake orders.

It is fun to to make something different for a change. However, this Sweet Corn Chiffon Cake is not a completely new recipe but one that can be found in my Low-Sugar Bakes and Cakes Book. The only thing I did differently was to use fresh sweet corn rather than canned corn. I wanted to see if fresh corn could be any better as I do prefer to avoid canned or preserved items.

If you like this Sweet Corn Chiffon Cake, you may also like Sweet Corn Butter Cake.

I would suggest you read the following notes especially if you are a beginner.

MERINGUE

Meringue plays a very important role in Chiffon Cake. Over beating meringue may cause the cake to crack, while under beating will cause the cake to collapse or it may not rise much.

Use room temperature egg whites, this will yield more volume. Cold egg whites will not whip well. It is easier to separate your eggs when they are still cold, then leave the egg whites aside to come to room temperature.

Make sure your bowl is clean and there is no any trace of egg yolk or fat. Fat will interfere with the formation of meringue.

Use cream of tartar to stabilise the whipped meringue. Cream of tartar is acidic and can be replaced with lemon juice or white vinegar. The replacement ratio is 1:2. If your recipe asks for 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, then replace with 1/2 tsp lemon juice.

Sources from here, here and here

Stages of Meringue:

Soft Peak – The meringue is soft and unable to hold its form, it will drip after you turn your whisk upside down. You will see the ribbon lines, but it disappears the moment you stop whisking.

Firm Peak – The peak will hold and fold back slightly when you turn your whisk upside down. The meringue is glossy and the ribbon lines stay. This is the stage we look for if you do not want your cake to crack.

Stiff Peak – The peak will hold straight and doesn’t fold back when you turn the whisk upside down. The meringue is very glossy and thick too. Most chiffon cake recipes will prescribe this stage but the cake will easily crack when baking. However, if you don’t mind the cake cracking then it is fine. It doesn’t affect how the cake tastes.

Over-beating – The meringue looks grainy, broken and dull. We do not want this stage in baking as you will not be able to fold it into the flour batter nicely.

OVEN TEMPERATURE AND BAKING TIME

Do note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven.

It would be good to use an oven thermometer when baking. This will help you understand and know the actual temperature you are baking at. The actual temperature in the oven may not be the same as the oven’s setting. Leave the thermometer on the same rack where you place your baking.

I usually bake cakes with top and bottom heats setting. I don’t encourage baking cakes with fan-forced mode as this setting uses a fan to circulate the hot air for quick baking or cooking at high temperature and may result in cracks on the cake. However, if fan mode is used, it is recommended to reduce the temperature setting by about 20C if using a fan-forced mode.

WATER BATH vs DRY BAKE

For a water bath, the cake pan sits within another pan filled with a little water. Place the cake pan within a larger pan and pour hot water into the outer pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5cm – 2 cm. Place the whole thing in oven and bake.

The benefit of water bath is that it will moderate the baking temperature and prevent the cakes from cracking. The cake texture will be very moist too.

Chiffon cake baked without a water bath is more brown and crumbly. Some may prefer this texture. Please make your own choice between water bath or dry bake. This is a very individual personal preference.

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible. Do tag me on Instagram @Bakewithpaws if you attempt on this recipe.

How To Make Sweet Corn Chiffon Cake

Yields: 20 cm or 8 inch Chiffon Cake

INGREDIENTS:

105g cake flour or plain flour

½ tsp baking powder or double acting baking powder

1/4 tsp Salt

5 egg yolks

55g butter, melted in microwave

180g corn kernels from 1 fresh sweet corn (Should reduce to 120g)

1 1/2 tbsp fresh milk

5 gg whites

70g caster sugar

¼ tsp cream of tartar or ½ tsp lemon juice

Utensil : 20 cm or 8 inch chiffon tube pan

METHOD:

Steam the whole sweet corn for 25 minutes. Remove the corn kernels and slightly chop. Keep aside.
Preheat oven to 160C.
Using hand, whisk egg yolks, melted butter, fresh milk and sweet corn together until well combined. Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, mix again until well incorporated. Set aside while you prepare the meringue.
Using an electric mixer, whisk egg white and cream of tartar or lemon juice until foamy, then add caster sugar and beat until firm peaks formed on high speed. Firm peaks are between soft peaks and stiff peaks, the meringue is glossy and curl slightly at the tips when the whisk is lifted.
Fold 1/3 of meringue into yolk batter with a hand whisk or spatula until combined. Add another 1/3 portion and fold gently. Then pour in balance of meringue and fold until just combined. Tap the mixing bowl lightly to remove air bubbles.
Pour batter into the tube pan.
Water bath - Place the cake tube pan into a pan slightly bigger before placing into another bigger pan filled with hot water until ¼ full.
Bake in water bath for 1 ½ hours or 90 minutes at 160°C. If you see the cake start to crack, reduce the temperature to 140 - 150C. Remove water bath at the last 10 minutes so that the sides of the cake will not be too wet. If the sides of cake still wet, leave the cake inside with oven off and door closed for 10 minutes.
Immediately invert the cake to cool after removing from oven. Unmold the cake after 30 minutes or when is cool enough to handle.

Notes:

The temperature and time durations are just as a guide. Please adjust according to your oven.
I found that I added too much sweet corn and it made the cake slightly dense. However, it tasted very nice. I believe the cake will be lighter and rise slightly better with less sweet corn.

Comments

GraceMarch 2, 2019 at 5:36 AM
Hi Yeanley

I am a big fan of sweet corn cake but has yet to find the right recipe for me.

Tried 1 with corn kernel from can but taste too light. Tried another 1 with cream style sweet corn n feedback was Cake was too bland.

I am happy to have found this recipe and will be trying it out soon. Do u think I should add more butter since amount of corn will be reduced by 1/3?

Hope tohear from you soon! 😃

Thanks,
Grace
AnonymousJuly 21, 2023 at 7:08 PM
hi there! would the cake be suitable for a layer cake? is the texture and structure any different from your other chiffon cakes? i plan to bake for someone's birthday. thank you!