Chiffon Cake 2 Workshop

This is such an outdated post coz I was lazy busy :p Attended Chef Christopher Tan's Chiffon Cake 2 demo workshop at Shermay's Cooking School two Saturdays ago. Checking back on my past entries, I realised it's been almost 3 years since I last attended his Chiffon Cake 1 workshop! The Zingy Orange Chiffon Cake is still a hot favourite among friends who have tried it. Personally I also prefer cakes that are light and moist like sponge and chiffon (except for financiers).

This Chiffon Cake 2 was in fact a repeat class; had missed it previously and glad that there is a repeat. 3 recipes were demo-ed with 3 bonus recipes included in the recipe pack.

1) Tahitian Vanilla Chiffon Butter Cake - marriage of chiffon cake and butter cake, rich yet not too heavy with floral aroma of Tahitian Vanilla.

2) Black Forest Chiffon Cake Roll with Kirsch-Soaked Cherries - Featherlight chocolate chiffon with whipped cream, black cherries and tangy cherry-kirsch syrup.

3) Earl Grey Tea Chiffon Cupcakes with White Grapefruit Ganache - Chiffon infused with Earl Grey tea leaves, baked into individual tall mini cupcakes. Topped with a white chocolate ganache flavoured with fresh grapefruit zest.

The first recipe demo-ed was the Black Forest Chiffon Cake Roll with Kirsch-Soaked Cherries. I always have this phobia of baking swiss rolls as the rolling part is quite tough to me and it's not easy to get the fluffy texture desired. Chef Chris also taught us how to make our own Kirsch-Soaked Cherries which was surprisingly easy. We got to taste the cake roll which was yummy! The cake was light and slightly moist and paired really well with the whipped cream and cherries. Some gelatine was added to the whipped cream giving it an almost ice cream-like texture.

This is a hybrid of butter pound cake and chiffon cake, giving it a rich, buttery flavour with slightly lighter texture. I don't really like butter pound cake as pound cakes tend to be drier and heavier; so this is Chef Chris's solution to a pound cake that is lighter by combining techiques of chiffon.

I love how this Earl Grey Chiffon was presented, in a mini cupcake case which was so easy to eat. Texture was really cottony light and I could polish a few of these at one go. The White Grapefruit Ganache was a nice touch to complement the chiffon. Yums!

Besides tasting the Black Forest Chiffon Cake Roll in class, as usual we brought home a special takeaway box of the items demo-ed prepared by Chef Chris.

I can't wait to try some of the recipes (if I have the time!).