Black Sesame Chiffon Cake 黑芝麻戚風蛋糕

Here comes my first cake of the year 2018! I have upgraded to an induction stove recently so I got a bigger and fancier 164L (5.8 cu. ft.) convection oven to play with (yay!!!). The top oven element from my older stove broke down long time ago and it was too expensive to get it fixed. Hence, I’ve been baking with a small countertop oven. It is compact yet with great performance and I love how energy-efficient it is. After transitioning to my new oven, I noticed a huge difference whenever I make chiffon cake though. My cakes all rise steadily and evenly in my spacious oven and are golden brown all around. Even if I pop in two chiffon cake pans in the oven the result always comes out perfect. The only downside is that I need to readjust the baking times. I hope I will quickly adapt to it.
這是EC2018年的首個蛋糕。最近更換了電磁爐，焗爐容量足足有164公升(5.8立方公尺)，比舊的更大！其實舊焗爐的上發熱線早已壞掉，維修費用也頗貴，因此EC一直只使用小型焗爐。小型焗爐容量雖小，性能卻極佳並且省電，是EC的好戰友。當重投座地焗爐的懷抱之後，焗戚風蛋糕時小型焗爐便給比下去了！蛋糕於座地式焗爐中上升十分平穩，整體上色均勻，即使同時焗兩個戚風蛋糕效果亦十分理想。可是轉了焗爐後所有入爐時間均要重新調整，希望EC能快點適應新爐運作吧！

Now back to this cake… This cake is simply a variation of my basic chiffon cake (read about my blog post, Vanilla Chiffon Cake). I’ve replaced 1/4 of the flour with black sesame powder. I’ve also slightly reduced the amount of oil. For extra crunch, roasted black sesame seeds can be added to the batter. Note that I was making two cakes so the photos shown below was a double batch. I have another similar black sesame chiffon cake recipe with coconut flavor added. Feel free to read about my blog post, Black Sesame Coconut Chiffon Cake.
還是說回蛋糕吧！黑芝麻戚風蛋糕變化自原味戚風(詳細食譜請到這裏)，EC只是將四分一麵粉量換成黑芝麻粉而已，油量也減掉了少許。若想增加口感可把少許炒香黑芝麻拌入麵糊中。請注意EC這次做兩個蛋糕，所以相片顯示的是雙倍份量。此外，EC另有椰子口味的椰香黑芝麻戚風蛋糕，詳細食譜可參考這裏。

Black Sesame Chiffon Cake
黑芝麻戚風蛋糕

For 7” tube pan
7”中空模份量

Ingredients

60 g cake and pastry flour
20 g black sesame powder, unsweetened
1 Tbsp black sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
4 eggs, large
40 g grapeseed oil
65 g milk
60 g granulated sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar

Notes: The eggs I use are about 50 g each without shells.

材料

低筋麵粉 60克
純黑芝麻粉 20克
炒香黑芝麻 1湯匙(可不加)
大蛋 4個
葡萄籽油 40克
牛奶 65克
細砂糖 60克
他他粉 1/2茶匙

註：EC用的大蛋每隻淨重約50克

Directions 做法

Separate the eggs and place the egg whites In a clean mixing bowl (I usually wipe the bowl and the wire beater with paper towel dampened with vinegar or lemon juice to remove traces of grease). Toast black sesame seeds in an ungreased frying pan over the lowest heat until fragrant. Set aside to cool. Preheat oven to 325ºF/160ºC.
分開蛋白和蛋黃，放蛋白的鋼盆必需是清潔的(EC習慣把鋼盆及打蛋器配件預先用廚房紙沾檸檬汁或白醋抹一次去除殘餘油份)，黑芝麻白鑊小火炒香後放涼備用，焗爐預熱325ºF/160ºC。

Place sifted flour into another mixing bowl then stir in black sesame powder and toasted black sesame seeds. Make a well in the center then pour in the oil, milk and egg yolks. Whisk gently until smooth and incorporated. Set aside.
低筋麵粉過篩放入另一鋼盆中後加入黑芝麻粉和炒香黑芝麻拌勻，中開一穴倒入油、牛奶和蛋黃，輕手用蛋拂攪拌均勻成順滑蛋黃糊備用。

With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar (to stabilize the meringue) and continue beating until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar in batches and continue beating until glossy and firm peaks form. When you lift up the whisk, the peak will hold its shape but the tip will fall back slightly.
用電動打蛋器或座枱式攪拌器(使用打蛋器配件)將蛋白打至起粗泡，加入他他粉(可令蛋白霜更穩定)繼續打至蛋白組織變細密，分次加糖打至有光澤及企身，拉起打蛋器配件時蛋白霜呈尖長而末端輕微下垂狀。

Scoop about one third of the meringue into the yolk mixture and fold with a whisk to lighten. Then scrape this back into the bowl of meringue. Fold gently and thoroughly (so you don’t deflate the meringue) with a spatula until homogeneous.
將三分一蛋白霜混入蛋黃糊中用蛋拂以切拌方法充份拌勻，再倒回蛋白霜鋼盆中輕手用膠刮以切拌方法混合至麵糊成均一顔色，盡量輕手並快手完成混合以免蛋白霜消泡。

Pour batter into an unprepared tube pan. Tap pan against the kitchen countertop several times to get rid of any large air bubbles. Smooth top with an offset spatula.
將麵糊倒入戚風模中(模內不用抹油掃粉)，將烤模往枱上輕敲幾下敲出較大的氣泡後抹平表面。

Bake for 10 minutes until a skin forms on the cake surface. Take the cake out and make three to four slits with a greased knife with thin blade. Continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes more or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Every oven is different so adjust baking time accordingly. Drop cake pan on the kitchen countertop at a distance upon removal from the oven. This will release any gas trapped in the cake cells and minimize shrinkage. Invert pan on a wire rack to cool completely before unmolding.
入爐10分鐘焗至蛋糕表面結皮，取出蛋糕後用抹了油的薄刀在表面畫三至四條線，放回爐中繼續焗20至25分鐘或至竹籤插入蛋糕中心取出後不沾麵糊，不同焗爐可能要不同時間，請自行調節，取出後將蛋糕連烤模從半空往枱上捽一下將困於蛋糕內的空氣震破避免蛋糕回縮，在鋼架上倒扣放涼後可脫模。