I have been making chiffon cakes for months. This time is my “own” recipe, not an original one but I change the original recipe many times that it has became my own recipe.
One of the chiffon cake is Chocolate chiffon cake. The chiffon recipe is quite unusual because I use melted chocolate ‘bar’, which is a couverture chocolate for exactly.
====== I’m not sharing my recipe because it’s for my own selling. I’m sharing the findings and trials I have done so far. I hope, even if there’s no recipe, you can find it useful, too. I’m sorry there’s no photos because I usually don’t take failed cakes. Next time, I will take the pics and update my writing here (or just create part 2 of this article) ======
I had been thinking but not really taking it seriously until lately. It’s about the PERCENTAGE of the couverture chocolate.
It started with the baking problem that the cake, using type of about 56%-couverture-chocolate, resulted in very unstable result, yet, if it was succeeded, it was really really moist dan very-very moist. It was very unlikely chiffon. The surface of the cake is always MOIST and sometimes WET even though it was well-baked. Most of times, the cake with this % value in my recipe is failed.
The failure I’m talking about are:
- The bottom (actually the top of the chiffon) is very very curvy. Seems like temperature too high but actually it’s not that kind of high. I baked with other recipe, it was ok.
- The side shape is ugly.
- The cake sometimes not falling before cooled down but the no.1 and no.2 happen.
- When the cake is “succeeded”, the surface is always moist.
One day, I decided to use a different couverture chocolate which had higher % value. I still use the lower % in the mixture but only very low weight. The result is BETTER. The cake is more stable even though the surface is difficult to dry. When I took the cake out from the oven, the surface is dry but after few minutes, the cake is moist and ‘wet’. It’s well-baked but not dry.
Then one day, I tried even higher % value. It was even better. The surface was dry even after the cake was cool. Yet, there was one thing that consistently happened: The cake fell from the chiffon pan, even before the cake was cool. Was the cake failed? The texture, etc? NO. It was ok. The cake shrunk but was not failed. I let the cake upside down until it was totally cool. The surface was not wet nor stick to the baking mat I used to cover the the cake when it was turning upside down.
I have a special treatment for that trial. Before the cake was cool down, I checked the cake and if the side is starting to not sticking to the pan, I will make sure that it’s not the top only but the whole side. If I don’t do that, the cake shape will be ugly even if the cake is actually succeeded. Then, after I checking and make sure the side is ‘safe’, I turned upside down again and let it cool, still in the pan even I have release the side of the cake. I usually don’t release the bottom of the cake. I let the cake cooling process continues and then release it later. There are other treatments that I don’t write because it can be confusing. So, one at a time, watch and learn your recipe and result.
Today, I used MOCCA couverture. Of course, variant like this, the % value is even under 50% usually. I used the same succeeded chocolate chiffon recipe but replace the chocolate couverture with mocca couverture. I baked with the same temperature and technique. The result? of course DOOMED! Totally failed!
THEN I really thinking about my first thought about percentage. Is it the main problem?
I then tried remaking the Mocca chiffon by lowering the milk and vegetable oil. I have 1-2 reasons but I’m not sure to write it here as I’m not a chef at all. I feel it would just be correct-knowledge-baseless if I write here. I also decreased the mocca couverture weight and then I baked it with pretty low temperature (unusual for chiffon cake actually) for 1/2 part of time, and lowering it again for another almost 1/2 the rest of time. I checked out the cake and it was well-baked. I also had feeling that I could not bake longer.
The result is interesting:
- the cake was ALMOST failed. Another 2 minutes would create a failed cake.
- The cake fall before it cool.
- The cake was very-very moist.
I concluded it for myself: Ok, so the lower % of the couverture might risk the chiffon cake I make. I have to change this and that if I still want to use the couverture.
So, it’s just my theory but may be can give an insight because I have not read a writing or experience sharing like mine before.
The tips if we want to use “fruit” variant couverture or any other non-chocolate variant couverture (like mocca or may be caramel, etc):
- Try with your recipe without any changing first. If it is failed, you might want to try the tips below.
- lower the baking temperature. My suggestion is to start at 150C. If we put the pan into the oven, the portable temperature might show at around 120C. It would be better if you have double heater knobs. You can set different temperature on top and low heater.
- decrease the vegetable oil and milk. I really can’t say how much, depends on the couverture itself and the whole recipe itself. I decrease by 2,5-5ml.
- You can also decrease the couverture weight itself but the taste that is created by the couverture may not be bold. In this case, you might have to add flavoring. One thing I know: if i don’t decrease it, the taste and after taste is really really heaven. The texture is unusual. Not kind of soft or moist I usually taste.
The last but not the least. So far, up to 60% couverture, I find that still…it’s difficult “couverture” chiffon to make. There are really some treatments and I find that even if we just modify the source recipe in most simple way, the main point are baking temperature and humidity. Yes, humidity comes again. Haha. If the weather is very humid, it can add risk of failure. If everything is normal, like baking before afternoon/ high humidity, the baking temperature is the only thing we have to watch.
That’s all for now. My chiffon is a journey for me. I learned many things from this as I’m not a chef so I don’t have much knowledge to make a recipe in very original and quick way. Btw, because my chiffon is weird and unusual, I’m too embarrassed to call it chiffon. I call it CIPON.