[Thermomix] Dairy-free Pandan Chiffon Cake with Gula Melaka Swiss Meringue Buttercream

The littlest, Ms. L turned 1 few days ago! 🎉 so we baked her a cake. (Actually more for her siblings and us, the adults as this is not the healthiest cake for 1 year old)

Of course we have to make a dairy-free cake so that everyone can enjoy it ☺️ it’s our first time making buttercream and frosting a cake with buttercream too! Hence the presentation is still very amateur 😅 but we had so much fun decorating it.

Pandan chiffon cake only uses coconut milk so it’s perfect for us. Adapted recipe from @baking_taitai healthy Pandan chiffon cake.

After searching for frosting ideas.. I settled down to use Swiss meringue buttercream. I’ve adapted some recipes I found online and decided to use thermomix to execute this mission! 🤪 to save me the hassle of standing and stirring near the stove. Ingredients for buttercream is adapted from Bake with Paws and the steps for making it on thermomix is adapted from Super Kitchen Machine.

We love the moist chiffon cake and the silky buttercream a lot. Demolished the whole cake in 1.5 days! (not so good for our waistline definitely, LOL)

Before I lost this recipe (I am not the most organized person for keeping a recipe book), so let’s type it down here.

Pandan Chiffon Cake
<for 20cm tube pan>

Ingredients :

A)
6 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
57g Extra virgin coconut oil
108g Coconut milk
1/4tsp pandan paste
60g cake flour
60g bread flour
pinch of salt

B)
6 egg whites
50g caster sugar

Method:

1. Add salt into flour and sift twice, set aside.
2. Mix pandan paste into coconut milk, set aside.
3. Whisk egg yolks and gradually add in sugar, mix till well combined
4. Add in oil into egg yolk mixture, mix well.
5. Add in coconut milk mixture, mix well.
6. Add in flour mixture and whisk till no flour is seen.
7. Beat egg whites till firm peak, adding the sugar in 1/3 at a time. (same like @bakingtaitai, I used thermomix, settings, 3mins/speed3.5 – I actually find the egg white abit overbeat, will try to reduce the time next time or reduce to speed 3?
8. Add meringue into egg yolk mixture 1/3 at a time, gently mixing to avoid deflating the batter.
9. Slowly pour batter into 20cm ungreased tube pan at 30cm height to get rid of big bubbles, press down the center tube while gently drop the baking mould on the table also helps to get rid of big bubbles. Lastly, use a skewer to swirl around the batter.
10. Bake in preheated oven at 160deg celcius for 10 mins, lower down to 150deg celcius for another 10 mins and lastly bake at 140deg celcius for 40 mins or until cook.
11. Remove cake from oven and invert the pan to cool. Unmould the cake when it is completely cool.

Dairy-free Gula Melaka Buttercream (Swiss Meringue)

Ingredients :

(A) Gula Melaka Syrup
100g gula melaka (finely chopped)
4 pandan leaves (cut into small pieces about 5cm each)
50g water

(B) Swiss Meringue Buttercream
195g egg whites (from about 6 eggs)
160g caster sugar
375g vegan butter (I used Nuttelex Buttery Spread with Coconut oil)
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp sea salt

Method:

1. Combine chopped gula melaka, pandan leave and water in a saucepan
2. Boil over low medium heat until all sugar has melted and reduce slightly
3. Remove from heat, discard pandan leave and strain the syrup. Set aside to cool completely.
4. Ensure that thermomix mixing bowl and butterfly attachment are perfectly clean and dry. Put the butterfly into place.
5. Add in egg whites, sugar and salt to thermomix bowl. Whip 5mins/60deg cel/Speed 3
6. Once done, whip again for 6mins/speed3.5 (no temperature- I also use ice pack to cool down the side of the mixing bowl). Check if meringue is smooth. Otherwise whip another minute.
7. Keep machine running at 4min/Speed 3.5 while gradually add in vegan butter. If mixture appear watery after mixing in all butter, you may remove the bowl and place it in fridge for 15-20 minutes. Continue whipping the mixture at Speed 3.5 while adding in 4 to 5 tbsp of cooled gula melaka syrup and 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract.
8. Keep the buttercream in fridge to firm up if it’s too watery. You may want to whip it again before use.

Assembling the cake
<disclaimer: this is our first time assembling a cake with buttercream>

Method:

1. Place the chiffon cake on the cake board and turntable. Trim the top of chiffon cake if there is dome or uneven surface. Slice the cake horizontally into half.
2. Set aside the top layer of the cake.
3. Spread some buttercream on the first layer of the cake, then stake the second layer and spread some cream to even out the surfaces
4. Pipe a layer of cream around the sides and top of the cake
5. Even out the surfaces with icing spatulas/dough scrapper/icing smoother.
6. Pipe design as desired (I used Wilton 2C nozzle for the swirls on top).
7. We also drizzled some gula melaka syrup on top of the cake after decorating the cake with toppers.