Cottony soft and spongy chiffon cake with the wonderful aroma of rose and served with lychee cream. A cake that tastes so good yet so light at the same time.
I have been wanting to make lychee rose chiffon cake for the longest time and finally I did it 🙂 This lychee rose chiffon cake is sooo soft and fluffy with a nice aroma of rose and lychee
What to expect from this recipe
1. Soft and fluffy chiffon cake
2. Lychee cream is highly recommended
I tried to infuse as much lychee and rose into the cake itself but there is only so much you can put into the cake without messing up the whole formula. I don’t think the lychee taste is enough from the cake itself and which is why the lychee cream is recommended to emphasize that lychee flavor
Fresh lychee vs canned lychee
I use canned lychee packed in syrup. You can also use fresh lychee. It’s hard to find fresh lychee where I am.
How to make soft and fluffy lychee rose chiffon cake
1. Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C). Place the oven rack 3rd from the top. My oven is a conventional oven with bottom heat only, no fan. If you use a convection oven, please adjust accordingly, you may need to lower the temperature by about 20 degrees
2. Finely chop the dried rose petals and set them aside
3. I used a canned lychee that comes pack in a syrup
4. Squeeze out the juice from the lychee to measure 50 grams of lychee. Puree this 50 grams of lychee
5. Separate the egg yolks from the white. The meringue whips better at room temperature. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cooking oil, lychee juice
6. Sift in the cake flour, salt, red yeast rice powder or red food coloring(optional) into the batter, Whisk to mix into a smooth batter. Set aside
7. Add lychee puree, rose petals and gently whisk to combine and set aside
8. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, add lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish and air bubbles are fine. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, in 3 batches. I beat them at medium speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid). This will take a bit longer compared to beating at high speed. I used to do higher speed (speed 8), but the meringue is smoother and nicer when I maintain the speed on 6. It makes finer cake crumbs. I highly recommend stopping several times to check on the consistency and scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure no sugar left on the side of the bowl. Whip until you reach a stiff peak but still have a slight bent on the tip. Then lower the speed to 4 and whip for 1 minute to even out large bubbles and stop beating
9. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter. Using a whisk, using a cutting motion and fold over to mix. Repeat this motion several rounds. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix
10. For the last 1/3 of the meringue, use a rubber spatula instead to ensure you get all the batter at the bottom of the bowl mixed in as well. Use a cut down in the middle and fold over motion to fold gently but quickly. Make sure you don’t see any more white meringue. The mixture should be fluffy and voluminous
11. Pour the batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan.
12. Use a skewer to draw a zig zag to pop bubbles inside the cake batter.
13. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the surface. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times.
14. Pop into the oven and let it bake at 330 F for 60 minutes. Check on the cake and the top should be dry to touch and spring back when you gently press on it. If it’s still jiggly and seemed undone, lower the heat to 300 F (150 C) and bake for another 10 minutes and check again. You can also insert a cake tester and it should come out clean
15. Don’t be alarm if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake. I know many people mind it a lot and make a big fuss when the top of the chiffon cake cracks, but actually it’s not a flaw.
16. Once out of the oven, drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter several times to prevent shrinkage. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Your chiffon pan may have the little stands for you to invert, but I find it not high enough. I use a glass jar and set the inverted pan on top of the jar and let it cool down completely. Please don’t be tempted to remove from the pan if it’s still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
17. Once it’s cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge and the outer center of the tube to help release the cake. Gently push the base to lift the cake out. Use the knife again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake
18. Slice the chiffon cake into serving size. Take one piece and lay it on its side, kinda look like a wedge. Use a spoon to scoop some of the lychee cream and drizzle on top and the cream will drizzle halfway creating that drip effect.
19. Sprinkle with some rose petals and a piece of lychee on top and serve immediately. If you don’t want to serve with lychee cream, you can just decorate the cake with pieces of lychee on top and a light dust of icing sugar if you like and some sprinkle of rose petals
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Recipe is adapted from here with some modifications
Lychee Rose Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
- 5 large egg yolks room temperature
- 55 gr lychee juice from canned lychee, see notes
- 45 gr oil
- 20 dry rose petals plus more for decoration
- 50 gr lychee puree weight is after squeezing out the excess juice
- 1 tsp rose extract
- 85 gr cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
For pink color (use either one or both):
Meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- 50 gr sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
Lychee cream (optional):
- 100 ml heavy cream
- 10 gr icing sugar
- 50 gr lychee puree you don't need to squeeze out the juice to weigh
- ¼ tsp rose extract
For decoration:
- 8 pieces lychees for decoration
- Dried rose petals
- icing sugar
Instructions
- Make sure your chiffon cake pan does not have a non-stick coating or your cake will not rise. The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to rise tall
- Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C). Place the oven rack 3rd from the top. My oven is a conventional oven with bottom heat only, no fan. If you use a convection oven, please adjust accordingly, you may need to lower temperature by about 20 degrees
- Place the oven rack 3rd from the top. Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. I use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there's a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls
Prepare the cake batter:
- Finely chop the dried rose petals and set aside. I used a canned lychee that comes pack in a syrup. Squeeze out the juice from the lychee to measure 50 grams of lychee. Puree this 50 grams of lychee.
- Separate the egg yolks from the white. The meringue whips better at room temperature. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and cooking oil, lychee juice. Sift in the cake flour, salt, red yeast rice powder or red food coloring(optional) into the batter, Whisk to mix into a smooth batter. Set aside
Whip the meringue:
- Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, add lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish and air bubbles are fine. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, in 3 batches. I beat them at medium speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid). This will take a bit longer compared to beating at high speed. I used to do higher speed (speed 8), but the meringue is smoother and nicer when I maintain the speed on 6. It makes finer cake crumbs
- I highly recommend stopping several times to check on the consistency and scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure no sugar left on the side of the bowl. Whip until you reach a stiff peak but still have a slight bent on the tip. Then lower the speed to 4 and whip for 1 minute to even out large bubbles and stop beating
Fold meringue into a cake batter:
- Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter. Using a whisk, using a cutting motion and fold over to mix. Repeat this motion several rounds. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix. For the last 1/3 of the meringue, use a rubber spatula instead to ensure you get all the batter at the bottom of the bowl mixed in as well. Use a cut down in the middle and fold over motion to fold gently but quickly. Make sure you don't see any more white meringue. The mixture should be fluffy and voluminous.
- Pour the batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Use a skewer to draw a zig zag to pop bubbles inside the cake batter. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the surface. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times
Bake the cake:
- Pop into the oven and let it bake at 330 F for 60 minutes. Check on the cake and the top should be dry to touch and spring back when you gently press on it. If it's still jiggly and seemed undone, lower the heat to 300 F (150 C) and bake for another 10 minutes and check again. You can also insert a cake tester and it should come out clean
- Don't be alarm if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake. I know many people mind it a lot and make a big fuss when the top of the chiffon cake cracks, but actually it's not a flaw.
Invert to cool down:
- Once out of the oven, drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter several times to prevent shrinkage. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Your chiffon pan may have the little stands for you to invert, but I find it not high enough. I use a glass jar and set the inverted pan on top of the jar and let it cool down completely. Please don't be tempted to remove from the pan if it's still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
- Once it's cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge and the outer center of the tube to help release the cake. Gently push the base to lift the cake out. Use the knife again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake
- The chiffon cake can be kept at room temperature for 2-3 days. Keep it in an air-tight container until ready to be served with the cream
Prepare the lychee cream:
- Please make sure the heavy cream is chilled. Puree the lychee and set aside. Put the heavy cream and icing sugar and whip until the cream has just thickened slightly and doesn't hold any shape. Add the lychee puree and rose extract and whip until it has a soft peak so we can create that "drip" effect on the cake later. Do not whip until it is stiff. keep the cream covered and chilled in the fridge until ready to use
When ready to serve:
- Slice the chiffon cake into serving size. Take one piece and lay it on its side, kinda look like a wedge. Use a spoon to scoop some of the lychee cream and drizzle on top and the cream will drizzle halfway creating that drip effect. Sprinkle with some rose petal and a piece of lychee on top and serve immediately
- If you don't want to serve with lychee cream, you can just decorate the cake with pieces of lychee on top and a light dust of icing sugar if you like and some sprinkle of rose petals
4 comments
You say whip the sugar with the eggs but there is no sugar quantity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The yolk batter doesn’t have any sugar. It’s typo error, I have edited that. All the sugar I used to whip it with the egg whites. I hope that helps to clarify!
soft fluffy and nice. Lychee cream is a must to go with this lychee rose chiffon!!
I’m glad you enjoyed Yati 🙂 I love the lychee cream too 🙂