Mini Lemon Cranberry Chiffon Cakes

The combined fragrance of lemon + cranberry still lingers after I baked those Lemon Cranberry Scones last month. And when I was thinking of making chiffon cake with cranberries, I was reminded immediately of the white and fluffy cranberry chiffon that I would often buy from the bakery at Bugis Junction for tea-time or breakfast (the next day) during lunch time when I was still working. Anyway, those were the days~~

Most recipes on cranberry (yogurt) chiffon cake I've found require plain yogurt which I don't normally stock in my fridge. So I've decided to transform those lingering fragrance and twist them into these Mini Lemon Cranberry Chiffon Cakes!

Mini Lemon Cranberry Chiffon Cakes

Results from a successful experiment using the recipe of a lemon chiffon cake and the technique of incorporating cranberries from recipe of a cranberry yogurt chiffon cake. Ta-da! Although these don't look white like the ones store-bought (which I'm suspecting they might be using a steam-bake method), they are still soft and fluffy!


Mini Lemon Cranberry Chiffon Cake 

The Dream Baker's Creation
Recipe referenced and modified from: Happy Home Baking Lemon Chiffon Cake
Yields 4 

Ingredients Required
Group A
100 grams cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
40 grams castor sugar
50 ml vegetable oil
50 ml water
25 ml lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

Group B
3 egg whites
40 grams castor sugar

Group C

1/2 dried cranberries, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon flour

Bakeware Used

One mini angel food cake pan (or 18-cm chiffon tube pan)

Preparation Steps

1. In a small bowl, toss dried cranberries with one tablespoon of flour until well coated. This helps to prevent the cranberries from sinking to the bottom when baking. Shake off the excess flour using a sieve and set the cranberries aside.
2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar from Group A using a balloon whisk until mixture becomes thick and pale in colour.
4. Drizzle in the oil, whisking at the same time till the mixture is well combined. Repeat with the water, followed by the lemon juice. 
5. Add flour mixture to the yolk batter in three batches and whisk until evenly combined with no lumps of flour. Add in the lemon zest and mix well.
6. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy and foamy. 
7. Add in sugar gradually and continue beating on high speed until meringue reaches firm peak.
8. Add one-third of the meringue to the yolk batter. Fold to combine. This helps to lighten the yolk batter so that it will be of a similar consistency as the meringue which will help to fold through the meringue more easily and evenly. Repeat two more times until all meringue and yolk batter are well combined.
9. Fold the dried cranberries into the batter until evenly combined. Do not over mixed.
10. Distribute batter evenly into each cavity (do not grease). Use a butter knife to run through the batter to release any large air bubbles and smooth out the top. 
11. Bake by placing pan on the lower rack of the preheated oven for 17 to 20 minutes (baking time varies across different ovens), or until toothpick inserted comes out almost clean with very slight crumbs. Do not over-bake.
12. Once baked, remove the pan from the oven and cool with the pan upside down at an elevated level for better air circulation. This allows the cake to cool more evenly and efficiently. Only attempt to un-mould the cake when it has been cooled completely.
13. To un-mould, run a sharp knife around the sides and bottom of the pan. Press the knife against the pan in a swift motion and allow the cake to gently slide out to avoid tearing the cake.

The Dream Baker's Experiment

1. I used large eggs weighing approximately 59 grams each (with shell on).
2. I substituted castor sugar with granulated sugar and water with 2% reduced fat milk in my baking experiment. I understand that milk helps to add the natural sweetness and soften the eggy-ness which makes the cake more delicious. But fat in the milk tends to toughen the crumbs so more milk (about 5 to 10 grams) is used than if using water. However I am using a 2% reduced fat milk so I did not increase the amount of milk used in substitution of water.
3. I added approximately 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest grated from one lemon.
4. I tossed the dried cranberries in cake flour for consistency purpose. All-purpose flour is fine too.
5. The original source recipe yields an 18-cm cake which takes approximately 45 to 50 minutes to bake. The same amount of batter is just right for my 4-cavity mini cake pan. Each cavity is filled with approximately 1 cup of batter.
6. I baked these mini cakes for 17 minutes (baking time varies across different ovens). As a general rule of thumb, I opened the oven door to check the cake by inserting a toothpick only after 15 minutes into the baking time.

I am sharing this post with Bake-Along #64: Theme - Chiffon Cake jointly organised by Zoe of Bake for Happy Kids, Joyce of Kitchen Flavours and Lena of Frozen Wings.

Happy baking!
Dare to dream. The Dream Baker