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Pumpkin Chiffon Cake (Light and healthy)

by · 37 comments
Pumpkin Chiffon Cake01

Beautiful pumpkins are available throughout the year here. They are so versatile and incredible for making any dishes. I used a small amount of pumpkin puree to make a chiffon cake, that produced a very attractive, natural orange-red colour. The cake's texture is very light and fluffy. Yes, I'm a big fan of light and fluffy cakes. The recipe is adapted from a Taiwaness cookbook writer 薛妃娟. She really knows how to make good use of natural and healthy ingredients and bakes delicious chiffon cakes. The nutrients of pumpkin and pepitas are well known. Guess that I don’t need to explain.

Pumpkin Chiffon Cake (Printable recipe) Adapted from:"美味糕點新主張" by 薛妃娟
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 40 mins
Cook time: 30 mins
Yield: two 17cm round (I used one 20cm) ungreased tube pan

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Ingredients:
  • 100 gm pumpkin, peeled, steamed and mashed
  • 35 gm milk
  • 35 gm vegetable oil
  • 8 gm Cointreau
  • 100 gm cake flour
  • 100 gm egg yolks(I used 6 egg yolks.)
  • 200 gm egg whites(I used 6 egg whites.)
  • 100 gm caster sugar
  • 70 gm pepitas
Preparation:
  1. Diced pumpkin. Steam over high heat until cooked through. Press with a spoon or process in a small food processor into paste when it's still hot.
  2. Sift the cake flour.
  3. Mix milk, oil and Cointreau in a bowl.
  4. Bake the pepitas in an oven preheated at 150C/300F for 4 to 5 minutes, until expand.
Pumpkin Chiffon Cake Procedures

Method:
  • Combine pumpkin puree into milk, oil and Cointreau mixture. Mix in cake flour.
  • Add egg yolks in pumpkin mixture. Combine well.
  • Beat egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Mix in 1/3 of sugar at a time, and beat well between additions. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. (Note: please refer to this video “How To Beat Egg Whites”.)
  • Spoon out 1/3 of the beaten egg whites and mix into the pumpkin batter.
  • Lightly fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites with a spatula, until just combined. (Note: please refer to this video "How To Fold-in Egg Whites.)
  • Add the pepitas into the batter. Mix well.
  • Pour batter into the cake pan. Level the surface with a spatula.
  • Use hands lift up the pan with thumbs pressing the tube in the middle. Lightly tap the pan on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles inside the batter.
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/356F for 10 minutes, or until lightly brown. Decrease the oven temperature, 150C/300F upper, 170C/335F lower, continue to bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.
  • Remove cake from the oven. invert the pan immediately. Allow it to cool completely.
  • Use a long and fine knife to loosen the sides of the cake. Remove from the pan.

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The Author’s cooking notes:
  • When the pumpkin is cooked, discard excess water. Otherwise, it affects the texture of your cake.
  • If your oven don't have separate heaters, use 170C/335F to 180C/356F to bake the cake for about 30 to 35 minutes. In the process of baking, if the surface gets brown too quickly, loosely cover with foil.
My cooking notes:
  • My oven doesn't have separate heaters. I baked my cake at 180C/356F for about 10 minutes. Then reduced heat to 150C/300F-160C/320F, continued to bake for another 20 minutes. I didn't cover my cake with foil. It worked well.
  • Mind you: the design and power of every oven is very different. Know your own oven.

37 comments :

  1. Looks so light and fluffy! Chiffon cake is on my to-bake list still =)

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  2. The pumpkin sure gives a lovely orange shade to your cake and it looks so soft and fluffy!

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  3. Love the bright yellow cake colour! yum

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  4. You know I am a fan of chiffon cake. But I never tried a pumpkin chiffon cake before.

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  5. Very attractive colour of chiffon, some more your chiffon looks yummy as it soft & fluffy :)

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  6. Thanks for your reminder, mine has no separate heater too!(will take notes )

    Your cake looks great and definitely nutritious! Have a pleasant weekend!

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  7. A wonderfully light and delicious looking cake! I love the pepitas in the cake, great texture addition!

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  8. the chiffon cake look like light fluffy golden pillows! yummy!

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  9. THat is a very beautiful and bright chiffon cake! I have been baking with pumpkin lately and am loving the colour very much:)

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  10. This cake is wonderful to look at original with the pepitas and light and delicious to eat: a success all the way~

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  11. YUMMY! I've been seeing alot of pumpkins in the market lately and also quite a number of recipe sprouting pumpkins too! Looks like I must try out soon :)

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  12. what a lovely color and such a light cake.

    btw there is a typo in the ingredients

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  13. I love light and fluffy cakes too, but have never seen a recipe quite like this. It looks amazing! And such color!

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  14. I love how velvety your chiffon cake looks. I don't think I can stop at only one slice. ;)

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  15. Can you use the pumpkin seed for the substitution of pepitas? Thanks

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  16. Have bookmarked this recipe. I like the colour of the cake and pumpkin is very nutritious too. Thanks for sharing and also your cooking tips!

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  17. your chiffon looks amazing and i love the bright yellow colour of the pumpkin..i spotted some cointreau too! wow, must be really good!

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  18. I have a pumpkin chiffon cake recipe to test out as well :) Yours look lovely!

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  19. love the vibrant and cheery orange hue ... natural food colouring is the best. Your cake looks so fluffy.

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  20. love love love chiffon and you just made it even better :)

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  21. I love the colour of the chiffon! My family members only ever want to eat chiffon cake...I bet they'd love this one! thanks for the inspiration!

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  22. Lovely cake !! Can I omit or replace Cointreau with something else ? I am not sire I want to buy a bottle of Cointreau just for baking....

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  23. @Anonymous
    No problem. You can omit the Cointreau or replace it with vanilla extract.

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  24. Will canned pumpkin work?

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  25. Thank You very much for the great recipe! I baked it and it was really yummy! I love the chiffon texture :) Greeting from Poland! :)

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  26. @Komarka:
    Thanks for trying my recipe. Browsed your blog. Very beautiful with gorgeous pictures. :)

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  27. Hi~ Your pumpkin chiffon cake looks wonderful! Do you know if I can omit the Cointreau because I don't have any!

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  28. @Anonymous
    Yes, you can skip the Cointreau, or substitute with vanilla extract.

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  29. That cake looks lovely, I'll be sure to try this over the weekend.

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  30. Hi Christine,

    I noticed that most Chiffon cake uses tube pan. Can I just use a normal round pan instead because I do not have any tube pan?

    Regards,

    Wendy

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  31. Hi Christine,

    I noticed that all Chiffon cake uses tube pan. Can i Just use a normal round baking pan?

    Regards,
    Wendy

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  32. @Wendy:
    The cake baked with a regular pan tends to shrink back, especially the middle part. That's why many people use tube pan to make chiffon cakes.

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  33. I love chiffon cake and that is a perfect looking one!

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