cloud cake – Bakerholics Anonymous

It’s probably no secret by now that I absolutely love passionfruit and this cake is like eating a passionfruit cloud.

Making this cake requires you to do a few things that may raise some eyebrows, but it results in a cake so impossibly light and airy, it’s worth it.

You’ll need a 23cm two-piece angel food cake tin for this recipe and a bottle that is the right size for the hole in the tin (see pic below).

Ingredients (serves 12-14)
8-10 passionfruit
300g caster sugar
240g plain flour
15g baking powder
2g fine salt
300g eggwhites (approx 10 eggs) and 140g egg yolk (approx 7 eggs)
4g cream of tartar
110ml canola oil

Passionfruit sour cream glaze
200g icing sugar
65g sour cream (full fat)
1 passionfruit

Method

Preheat oven to 150°C fan-forced. Do NOT grease or line the tin (unlike most other bakes, we want the cake to stick to the sides of the tin).

Scrape out passionfruit pulp into a jug and whisk vigorously. If under 180ml, add some orange juice or water to make up the shortfall.

Weigh the sugar in a medium bowl. Take out 2 tablespoons’ worth to add to the egg whites later. Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the bowl and set aside.

Place the egg whites and cream of tartar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, whip on medium-high speed until the egg whites are stiff and white. Start adding the reserved sugar to the egg whites gradually (about a teaspoon every 30 seconds) and beat until you have a white, smooth, glossy mixture.

Put the oil, egg yolks and passionfruit in a wide bowl and whisk to combine. Sift the dry ingredients over the yolk mix and combine with a silicone spatula to form a loose batter. Gently fold in one-third of the egg white mixture. Then add in the remaining egg white mixture and gently combine until no white streaks remain.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, wiping away any batter smears around the sides or centre of the tin. Bake for 55-60 minutes or until golden and the cake around the centre tube looks dry. Wearing oven mitts, remove from the oven and immediately invert the centre tube onto a bottle. Let it hang for 2-3 hours or until the tin is completely cool.

To release the cooled cake, run a thin knife around the edge of the tin, ensuring you get right to the bottom. Turn the chiffon cake out onto a serving plate.

To make the passionfruit sour cream glaze, sift the icing sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the sour cream and passionfruit. Using the paddle attachment, beat on a low speed at first, then increase to medium until combined. Add a little extra icing sugar if too wet, or a small amount of sour cream if too thick.

Spoon the glaze around the outer edge of the cake first, then over the top. Leave to set for 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from ‘Passionfruit cloud chiffon cake’ in Natalie Paull’s Beatrix Bakes

There’s something very freeing about a cake that’s supposed to crack, and that’s exactly what this one does – right before your eyes. But it’s the incredibly light, cloud-like texture of this cake that makes it so special (and gives it its name) due to its airy, flourless batter and whipped cream topping.

Ingredients (serves 8-10)
250g good quality dark chocolate, chopped
125g butter
6 eggs
175g caster sugar
300ml thickened cream
2 teaspoons icing sugar
Fresh berries
Edible rose petals (optional)

Method
Preheat oven to 180°C (160 fan-forced). Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform tin.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Once melted, remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until smooth and glossy.

Separate 4 of the eggs and set the whites aside. Using electric beaters or a stand-mixer, beat the yolks and remaining 2 whole eggs with 75g of the caster sugar on high speed for 3-4 minutes or until really creamy. Gently fold in the melted chocolate mixture.

In another bowl, whisk the eggwhites until they’re just frothy, then slowly add the remaining caster sugar while whisking until the mixture holds soft peaks.

Add a table spoon of the whisked eggwhites to the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest, maintaining as much of the air in the mixture as you can.

Pour into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 35 minutes or until it is no longer wobbly around the edges (but still soft in the centre).

Leave the cake in the tin to cool.

Once cooled, whip the cream and icing sugar until very thick and velvety.

Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the tin and carefully transfer to a serving plate.

Top with the whipped cream, berries and rose petals. Enjoy!