This is my favourite childhood cake! Today, I’ll be sharing a lovely pandan layered cake recipe. The cake consists of a soft and light cake, layered with pandan jelly. The Pandan agar-agar jelly adds a rich, fragrant flavor to this cake. It’s so delicious; you have to try it!
EXPLANATION OF KEY INGREDIENTS
Agar-agar
Agar-agar is extracted from seaweed and is plant-based. It works like gelatin and is often used to make jelly, especially in Asia. Being plant based, it has become very popular amongst vegetarians or vegans as a substitute for gelatin. It is odorless and does not contribute much taste to the jelly, perhaps just a slight hint of fragrance.
Agar-agar comes in powder form or strips. You can substitute agar-agar powder with agar-agar strips if preferred.
FLOUR
I used superfine flour in my video for this recipe. You can use plain flour, cake flour or self-raising flour. If you use self-raising flour, don’t need to add baking powder. Superfine flour is basically fine plain flour. The texture of the cake is more fine with this flour. The superfine flour I used is Prima Top Flour.
IMPORTANT COOKING TIPS FOR THE PANDAN JELLY
- Agar-agar needs to be added to cold/room temperature liquid so that it does not clump up when cooking.
- Mix the agar-agar powder, caster sugar and liquid well so that the jelly powder don’t clump up.
- Cook the jelly mixture on low heat and mix often especially at the beginning while cooking so that the jelly powder does not clump up when cooking
- Remove air bubbles from the liquid to get a smooth jelly texture
IMPORTANT COOKING TIPS FOR THE CAKE
- The bowl you use for the egg whites should be clean. No oil or water. Also no traces of egg yolks in the egg white. If not, the egg whites won’t fluff up well.
- When mixing the batter, do not move in a continuous circular motion. We don’t want to create too much gluten.
- Use a whisk to mix the batter. It will mix in faster and the batter won’t deflate due to too much mixing.
- Don’t over mix the batter, the air bubbles will deflate.
- When beating the egg whites, you can reduce to low speed towards the end of the mixing process so that the cake is more fine and have less air bubbles.
- For the egg whites, beat until you get medium firm peaks.
- The jelly tends to release moisture overtime. So it can make the cake base slightly wet if kept longer than 1-2 days. A slightly less moist cake will balance well with the moist jelly layer. So it’s ok to bake the cake until it’s more dry than usual. The instructions in my recipe for the cake will make a moist cake. But if you are going to keep the cake more than a day or two, you can make a less moist cake. To do that, bake until the top of the cake turns golden brown instead of just brown in colour.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is Agar-agar?
Agar-agar is extracted from seaweed and is plant-based. It works like gelatin and is often used to make jelly, especially in Asia. Being plant based, it has become very popular amongst vegetarians or vegans as a substitute for gelatin. It is odorless and does not contribute much taste to the jelly, perhaps just a slight hint of fragrance.
Agar-agar comes in powder form or strips. You can substitute agar-agar powder with agar-agar strips if preferred.
My jelly texture is too soft/firm, can I change the texture?
Yes, you can. The texture of the jelly is based on the ratio of water/liquid to agar-agar powder. So if you prefer softer texture, reduce the jelly powder or vice versa.
Why does my jelly not set?
Not enough agar-agar powder used. Different brand of jelly powder have different liquid to agar-agar powder ratio. Generally the ratio is 1g powder = 100ml liquid but may differ from brand to brand.
Agar-agar starts to activate its gelling properties when the liquid is heated above 80-90°C. So it is necessary to make sure the liquid is cooked until it is boiling. Then leave to cool to room temperature. It will start to solidify below 40°C.
What is the texture of agar-agar?
Agar-agar texture is more stiff compared to gelatin. Hence it is not so jiggly and springy.
HOW TO STORE ?
Unmould just before serving as they tend to release water after unmoulding. They can be stored in the fridge for 2-5 days. Best consumed within 2-3 days. They are enjoyed cold or at room temperature.
Watch Video Tutorial:
Pandan Layered Cake
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients 蛋糕材料:
- 4 egg yolks (4粒蛋黄)
- 50g sunflower oil or neutral tasting oil (50克葵花籽油或中性口味的油)
- 80 grams water (80克 水）
- 107 grams plain/AP flour, superfine or self raising flour（107克中筋面粉面粉、细腻中筋面, 自发面粉）
- 13g corn starch （13克玉米淀粉）
- 1/2 tsp baking powder (don’t add if use self raising flour) 1/2茶匙泡打粉（如果用自发粉就不用加）
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence (1/2 茶匙 香草精)
- 4 egg whites (4粒蛋白)
- 90g caster sugar (90克细砂糖)
- 1 tsp lemon juice (1茶匙柠檬汁）
Pandan Jelly Layer Ingredients 香兰叶果冻材料:
- Pandan juice (40 grams pandan leaves + 100 ml water) 香兰叶汁 （40克香兰叶 + 100毫升水）
- 1 egg (room temperature)1个鸡蛋，室温度
- 400 ml coconut milk 400毫升 椰奶
- 20 grams cornstarch 20克玉米淀粉
- 20 grams custard powder 20克吉士粉
- 450 ml water, room temperature 450毫升水，室温度
- 130 grams sugar 130克 糖
- 9 grams agar-agar powder 9克 燕菜粉
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites. For the egg whites, make sure the bowl has no water or oil. There should also be no traces of egg yolks in the egg whites; if not, the egg whites won’t fluff up well. Set them aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add 50 grams of sunflower oil and 80 grams of water. Give it a good mix. Then sift in flour, cornstarch, and baking powder. (In this video, I used superfine flour. The texture of the cake will be more fine. You can also use all-purpose flour or self-raising flour. If you use self-raising flour, you don’t have to add baking powder.) Gently mix it in. (Don’t move in a continuous circular motion as we don’t want to create too much gluten). Add in the egg yolks and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence. Mix until you get a smooth batter and no dry clumps of flour. Set it aside.
- Now, let’s beat the egg whites on medium speed. When it starts to foam up, add sugar and lemon juice. Add the sugar in 3 batches. Beat until you get to medium-firm peaks. You will start to see ribbons forming. The egg whites will look shiny and glossy. When you lift the beater, tip of the egg whites curl slightly. Don’t overbeat the egg whites.
- Add 1/3 of the beaten egg whites into the egg yolk batter. Use a whisk to mix it in. Again don’t move in a continuous circular motion. Then add the batter into the remaining egg whites. Use a spatula to fold it gently just to make sure the base is well mixed in. Same here, do not overmix the batter.
- Place baking sheet onto the base of the mould (7-inch mould). Transfer the batter into the mould. Pour from a high height. Tap the mould on the table to release air bubbles. Then with a chopstick or fork, move in a criss cross motion to release any remaining air bubbles.
- Then bake in a preheated oven at 140°C for 40 minutes. Then increase to 160°C. Bake another 5-10 minutes until the surface turns brown.
- Let it cool down before slicing. Trim off the top of the cake. Slice the cake in half. Place it in cling wrap to prevent it from drying out.
- Now that the cake is done, let’s prepare the pandan jelly.
- First, we are going to make the pandan juice.Blend 40 grams of pandan leaves with 100 ml water until you get a fine paste.Sieve again using a fine sieve. You should get 100 ml of pandan juice.
- Use a large mixing bowl. Add 1 egg and beat well. Add pandan juice, 400 ml coconut milk, 20 grams cornstarch. The cornstarch helps to thicken the jelly liquid. For more flavour, add 20 grams of custard powder. Mix well. Sieve and set aside.
- Place water, sugar, and agar-agar powder in a pot. Mix well so that the powder does not clump up when cooking.Cook on low heat. Mix often, especially at the beginning so that there are no clumps formed.
- Cook until it boils. Then pour the hot liquid into the pandan mixture. Pour slowly while mixing the mixture so that we don’t scramble the eggs. Pour the mixture back into the pot. Use the lowest heat here to cook. Season with some salt.
- Stir frequently so that the base does not burn and also to get a smooth jelly texture. When it starts to thicken, stir constantly. Cook for about 10 minutes.
- To test whether its ready, move the spatula in a circular motion; you will see clear ribbons forming.
- Pour into a jug. You need to be quite quick when assembling the cake later. So, it’s better to pour into a jug. Place the jug into a pot of hot water and place on the stove to keep it in a liquid form.
- Before assembling the cake, let’s prepare the mould. Use the same 7-inch mould. Oil the base and the sides of the mould. Then place a sheet of baking paper at the base.
- Place the base layer of the cake into the mould.
- Now, this part is quite crucial; bring the water in the pot to a boil. You need to make sure the pandan jelly is in liquid form. If not, it will be difficult to pour later, and the jelly will be lumpy. Mix well with a whisk.
- Measure 400 ml pandan jelly liquid. Immediately pour into the mould before it solidifies. Gently shake the mould sideways to even out the pandan jelly. Remove air bubbles if any.
- Then let the jelly layer cool down until it thickens. It will form a very thin film at the top. When you touch it gently, the jelly may stick slightly to your fingers but not runny. This part is quite tricky; if you let it solidify longer, the cake layer won’t stick well to the jelly layer, but if the jelly is too runny, then the cake on top will sink.
- Add the next cake layer. Again before pouring the jelly liquid, heat up the water in the pot, mix well with a whisk and make sure it is in a liquid form. Then pour the remaining jelly liquid into the mould. Leave to set completely. Then place it in the fridge to chill, about 2-3 hours.
- To unmould, loosen the sides gently. Tilt it to one side. Turnover onto a plate. Cut into desired size and serve. Enjoy!