Coffee Chiffon Cake

I baked a cake for the first time! Each Christmas, my family invites my sister's in-laws over for a family dinner and I take care of the dessert.  This year, I wanted to bake a Chinese style coffee cake. I'm a coffee lover and I love the whipped cream and fluffiness of Chinese style cakes.    

For the cake, I used the recipe on Foodelicacy.com. For the whipped cream, I used the recipe on My Edible Memories.  They also have a Chinese style cake recipe similar to Foodelicacy. 

Making the cake 

Some of the ingredients to make the cake

I made a few changes to the recipe.  Instead of 3.5 eggs, I used 4 eggs to keep things simple.  I also didn't have any cream of tartar, so I substituted it with white vinegar.

Sugar and eggs

Egg yolk mixture with coffee

Whipped egg whites

Batter is ready for the oven!

Cakes are out of the oven

Decorating the Cake

I wanted to add a bit of coffee flavor and colouring to the whipped cream, so I added a tablespoon of instant coffee to the mixture.  I'm not sure if it made that much of a difference.

Whipped!

Covering the first layer of sponge cake with whipped cream

Covering the whole cake with whipped cream

Part of my research and preparation in making this cake, I came across the most amazing cake YouTube channel called Cakes StepbyStep.  I learned how to make a chocolate cage by watching this tutorial video.  All you need is parchment paper and melted chocolate.

Chocolate cage

I wanted to add some chocolate decorations to the top of my cake, so I prepared these the night before.

Chocolate shapes for decorations

I also sprinkled some almonds which I roasted and crushed with a mortar and pestle.  

Finished product!

Insides of the cake

Overall, the cake tasted pretty good.  The only problem I had was that the sponge cake ended up being a little more dense than expected.  It could have been due to a number of factors, such as replacing the cream of tartar with white vinegar, cooking in the oven a few minutes too long, and technique.