Banana Chiffon Cake 香蕉戚風蛋糕

A friend of mine told me that her banana chiffon cake didn’t rise much and asked if I knew the reason why. I’ve written a recipe on Chocolate Banana Chiffon Cake quite some time ago and I didn’t take many pictures that time. I couldn’t remember how much my cake rose. As I happened to have some ripen bananas that nobody would like to eat, I immediately began making one to see how mine performed. So my guess was that too much banana would weigh down the cake, causing a burden to the meringue. To tackle this issue, first of all we need to refrain from adding too much banana. Other than that, for cake batter containing heavy ingredients such as mashed banana and purple sweet potato, consider whipping the meringue a bit firmer than usual. Sturdier meringue has stronger structure which is more capable of withstanding heavier batter. Such strategy also works well on Chocolate Chiffon Cake in which the fats from the cocoa powder would cause the meringue to deflate.
之前朋友告知她焗的香蕉戚風蛋糕只長高了少許，問EC知不知道箇中原因。其實EC過去曾做過朱古力香蕉戚風蛋糕，但過程中沒有拍下照片，因此也不記得蛋糕長高了多少。家中碰巧有已佈滿黑點沒人想吃的熟香蕉，於是立刻動手做一遍，結果推算蛋糕不甚長高的原因是由於香蕉泥太多的緣故，加重了蛋白霜的負擔，而首要的解決方案就是不要加太多香蕉泥。此外，面對份量十足的材料–如香蕉泥和紫薯泥等–打蛋白霜的時候不妨比平常打得硬身一點點，這樣做蛋白霜才夠力量撐起沉重的蛋黃糊。這個策略對朱古力戚風蛋糕也很湊效，蛋糕不容易被可可粉中的油脂影響，以致蛋白霜消泡。

Banana Chiffon Cake
香蕉戚風蛋糕

For 6” extra tall tube pan
6″加高戚風模份量

Ingredients

80 g cake and pastry flour
A pinch of salt
1 medium ripe banana (80 – 100 g without peel)
30 g milk
4 large egg yolks
35 g grapeseed oil or vegetable oil
4 large egg whites
1/2 tsp white vinegar or lemon juice (I use Korean apple vinegar)
50 g granulated sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
Notes: the eggs I use each has a net weight of 50 – 55 g.

材料

低筋麵粉 80克
鹽少許
中型熟香蕉 1隻(不連皮約80至100克)
牛奶 30克
蛋黃(大號) 4個
葡萄籽油或菜油 35克
蛋白(大號) 4個
白醋或檸檬汁(EC用韓國蘋果醋) 1/2茶匙
細砂糖(EC用有機蔗糖) 50克
註：EC使用的大號雞蛋每隻淨重50-55克

Directions 做法

Mash banana with a fork. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
香蕉用叉壓成泥備用，分開蛋白和蛋黃，焗爐預熱至350ºF/180ºC。

Sift together the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center then pour in the egg yolks, milk, mashed banana and oil. Whisk gently until incorporated. Set aside.
低筋麵粉和鹽混合過篩放入鋼盆中，中開一穴後倒入蛋黃、牛奶、香蕉泥和油，輕手用蛋拂攪拌均勻成蛋黃糊備用。

Place egg whites and vinegar in another impeccably clean mixing bowl (I usually wipe the bowl and the wire beater with a paper towel dampened with vinegar or lemon juice to remove traces of grease). With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip egg whites 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 with a small, pointy tip with minimal flopping. Beat with low speed towards the end and pay attention to the shape of the peak.
把蛋白和醋放入另一清潔的鋼盆中(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)，用電動打蛋器或座枱式攪拌器(使用打蛋器配件)將蛋白打至蛋白組織變細密，分次加糖打至有光澤及企身，蛋白霜拉起時呈小尖角而末端僅輕微下垂的狀態，末段時間要改用低速並不時察看蛋白霜尾巴的情況。

Scoop about one third of the meringue into the yolk batter 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)，將模往枱上輕敲幾下敲出較大的氣泡後抹平表面。

Bake at 325ºF/160ºC for approximately 35 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, and that the cake has risen to its maximum height and reduced a bit in height. 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 or a wine bottle to cool completely before unmolding.
***use a knife to cut a few lines on the cake surface after 10 minutes of baking for an even rising appearance
入爐325ºF/160ºC焗約35分鐘或至竹籤插入蛋糕中心取出後不沾麵糊，蛋糕巳升至最高點並回落，不同焗爐可能要不同時間，請自行調節，取出後將蛋糕連模從半空往枱上摔一下將困於蛋糕內的空氣震破避免蛋糕回縮，在鋼架或酒瓶上倒扣，完全放涼後可脫模。
***喜歡的話可在入爐十分鐘之後用小刀在蛋糕表面劃幾條線使蛋糕的破口更平均

Banana Chiffon Cake 香蕉戚風蛋糕