Pandan Paper Wrapped Cakes

These paper wrapped cakes are made with exotic, freshly grated pandan juice, so soft and fluffy.

Pandan is a kind of plant that grows in tropical areas of Asia and has a big name for years. Be it used in making desserts or savory dishes, it’ll bring your dish up a notch.

I particularly love the sweet aroma of the pandan leaves. The pandan juice squeezed from the leaves is an excellent natural fragrance.

The other day, I made these pandan cup cakes for tea. They were so soft and fluffy as the classic Hong Kong paper wrapped cakes (original flavour), yet with a unique pandan aroma, best of all, with lower calories.

To make these soft pandan cakes, you need to make the pandan juice first. Then beat the egg whites to stiff peaks form.

Mix the egg yolks with oil, pandan juice well. Mix in the cake flour, milk powder and salt. Lightly fold in the egg whites. Spoon the batter in the lined cake moulds. Off they go in the oven.

Pandan Paper Wrapped Cakes (Printable recipe)
By Christine's Recipes
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Yield: 8 serves

Ingredients of batter:

• 5 egg yolks
• 50 ml (2½ Tbsp) oil
• 80 ml (4 Tbsp) pandan juice (ingredients and method see below)
• 100 gm cake flour
• 15 gm (2 Tbsp) milk powder
• 1/8 tsp salt

Ingredients of egg whites:

• 5 egg whites
• 70 gm caster sugar
• ½ tsp cream of tartar

Ingredients of pandan juice:

• 10 pandan leaves, fresh or frozen
• 120 ml (6 Tbsp) water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C / 356F.
2. In a clean bowl, no trace of water or oil, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until bubbles form. Mix in the cream of tartar. Add the sugar in three batches, about one-third 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”.)
3. Combine cake flour, milk powder and salt well. Place the egg yolks in another large mixing bowl. Add the oil in a steady stream and whisk thoroughly. Add the pandan juice. Sift in the cake flour mixture in three batches. Combine well into a smooth batter.
4. Spoon out one-third of the beaten egg whites and fold into the batter. Lightly fold in the rest of the beaten egg whites, until just combined. (Note: please see this video “How To Fold-in Egg Whites”.) Transfer into the lined cup moulds (Notes: See the video “How To Line a Cup Cake Mould”.) Baked in the preheated oven for about 25 to 30 minutes. A needle comes out clean when inseted in the middle. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely. Enjoy !

To make pandan juice:

• Cut pandan leaves into chunks. Place in a food processor and add water to process into small pieces.
• Place pandan leaves in muslin cloth/cheesecloth or use your clean hands to squeeze out the juice. Measure out the quantity yielded by this recipe.
• If your food process is too big or the pandan leaves can’t be processed properly, you can add more water then. Let it set aside for about 30 minutes. You’ll see the liquid separated into two layers. Discard the water at the top. Measure out the concentrated pandan juice at the bottom.

Notes：

• Pandan leaves are available at Asian grocers that might come in fresh or frozen.
• The leftover cakes can be stored in an air-tight container and chill in fridge up to 3 or more days. Simply reheat it in a low-temperature oven for about 10 minutes. It’ll taste like fresh from oven.
• You can use any cooking oil that comes in handy. Yet don’t choose any oil with a strong or overpowering smell.
• The special cup cake moulds I used were bought from a bakery shop in Hong Kong. You can use a muffin tray or ramekins instead.