Cheddar Chiffon Cake [Don't You Like Light and Fluffy Cake?]

 

Saw many chiffon cakes baked by friends lately could not resist but to bake one myself. Thanks Sherlyn for reminding me of this cake, it was on my baking list for long but never remember it whenever I wanted to bake a chiffon. The cake was so light, fluffy, and moist. I just loved the cheesy taste but T asked for creamy type of cheesecake.

The recipe is adapted from Alex Goh's "Fantastic Cheesecakes", original recipe used cream cheese and cake flour. I used a 9-inch chiffon pan so the cake was a bit short. If you wish, you can bake with 6 eggs using 9-inch pan to get a tall cake.

Ingredients (makes 8-inch tube pan):
A:
60g milk
40g cheddar cheese (2 slices)
25g butter

B:
4 egg yolks

C:
60g all-purpose flour, sift together with corn flour
10g corn flour

D:
4 egg whites
90g sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Methods:

1. Preheat oven 170˚C.
2. Cook (A) over double-boiler until well blended and thickens. Remove from double-boiler and let it cool down. I boiled milk on stove, heat off then add in cheese and butter whisk till melted - pic 1.
3. Add (B) into cooled down cheese mixture and mix until well combined - pic 2.
4. Fold in (C) and mix until smooth - pic 3.
5. Beat egg whites until frothy, add cream of tartar - pic 4, and beat till soft peaks - pic 5. Add sugar in batches and beat till stiff peaks - pic 6.
6. Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into cheese mixture, gently mix with a whisk or rubber spatula until just blended - pic 7.
7. Pour cheese mixture (step 6) into the rest of egg whites, fold it gently with rubber spatula until blended - pic 8.
8. Transfer batter into a 8-inch chiffon cake pan, bang the pan on a hard surface to release air bubbles and bake for 35 - 40 minutes.
9. Invert cake immediately after bake, cool completely on rack. Remove cake from the cake pan using press method (clip appended below).