I have always wanted to bake with coriander but it took me a while to find the right balance between cake and my fave vegetable. This Coriander Chiffon Cake is made with fresh aromatic coriander. It is a light, airy chiffon with gentle hints of fragrant coriander.

What is Coriander?

My fave coriander!

Coriander is also known as cilantro or Chinese parsley. It is a pungent, aromatic herb with a robust floral scent and just a hint of citrus. It’s one of those vegetables that you either really hate or really love, and I happen to fall in with the latter.

As a coriander buff, I love this coriander chiffon cake. It is very similar in texture to pandan chiffon and made with coconut cream with those soft coco-nutty undertones. However, unlike pandan chiffon where you just use the pandan juice and discard the rest of the vegetable, here you add in the entire lot! 

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here 😊

And if you like this Coriander Chiffon Cake, you might also like my other Asian bakes/desserts.

• How to make Kee Chang (碱水粽）
• Putu Piring Cake
• Pulut Hitam Creme Brulee
• Durian Creme Brulee
• Easy Bika Ambon
• Mie Goreng Cake
• Pistachio Matcha Pineapple Tart

One cannot miss the subtle zing of fresh fragrant coriander which gently whiffs and tantalizes the taste buds as you bite into this soft fluffy cake. This Coriander Chiffon cake is definitely a shoutout to coriander lovers. And for those of you who do not like coriander, watch my recipe vid and if you dare to try, you might just be pleasantly surprised and completely converted 😊

What to watch out for …

• Amount of coriander

Because I love coriander, I have tried and tested this recipe with varying amounts of coriander. For me, I found the sweet spot at 15g which gave a gentle yet sufficiently robust coriander fragrance without compromising the fluffiness of the chiffon.

15g coriander goodness in this cake …

I have used as little as 5g of coriander and the chiffon still turned out soft and velvety albeit with a very much milder herb taste, which didn’t quite make it for a coriander fan like me.

Fluffy soft crumb …

However, it was perfect for the kids as they do not like coriander and the lighter tang was more suited to their palate. They ate it! So perhaps for the little ones, 5g might be ideal to get them started on trying this vegetable.

• Coconut milk or water?

The purist in me wanted to omit using coconut milk entirely. I tried substituting with water in the hope of baking a quintessential coriander chiffon with its aromatic herb flavor. The result? You might as well just have a salad 🙄 … the coriander taste was too raw and too strong.

Coriander Chiffon, with soft coco-nutty undertones

Hence the coconut cream remains but just enough to tone down the pungency of the coriander and to provide a soft coco-nutty fragrance.

• Use the right chiffon cake pan

Chiffon cakes are best baked in a tube pan as the batter needs to cling to the sides of the pan to rise, giving that nice height and airy crumb. The tube pan’s tall sides provide exactly the needed surface which helps the chiffon to rise tall and straight.

Nice & tall chiffon with a tube pan

For this same reason, make sure the pan you are using is NOT non stick. And whatever you do, DO NOT GREASE the pan. And don’t worry about the slight cracks on top; that would actually be the bottom of the cake once it is removed from the pan.

Beautiful Coriander Chiffon – top view

The best tube pans are made of aluminum with a removable base. For something similar, check here.

• How to get the perfect meringue

The key to baking a great chiffon cake is to have the right meringue.

Ideal peak… somewhere between medium & stiff

#1 Use egg whites @room temperature. Whilst eggs are best separated when cold, let your whites sit out and come to room temperature. Whites @room temperature create greater volume and give a good meringue when whipped.

#2 Fat-free please. Make sure your whisking gear and bowl are clean and free of grease. Any hint of grease can cause the meringue to fail to whip up properly. I find using a metal or glass bowl works best. Plastic bowls do not work so well as they tend to absorb grease. Another handy tip is to wipe down your whisk and bowl with a bit of vinegar to remove any grease. 

Rising steadily with the right meringue!

#3 Slow and steady does it. This is the key rule for whisking a stable meringue. Start slow whipping the whites until foamy. Up the speed slowly so that you do not over-beat and gradually add the sugar. Once the sugar is added, switch to high speed and whip until the meringue is thick and glossy.

#4 Be careful not to under or over whisk the meringue. The ideal stiff peak stage for making chiffon cake is somewhere between medium and firm stiffness. How do you recognize that? As you lift the whisk with the meringue, it should hold a firm shape and droop just a bit. Basically, it looks a bit like a hook at the tip, a small but firm half curl.

Check for this ideal little half curl

I know… the meringue sounds like such a diva but when you have whipped it up a couple of times, you should get the hang of knowing when it’s just right, so persevere! Once mastered, you may also enjoy the following easy recipes made with meringue!

Eton Mess

Forgotten Cookies

Easy Genoise Strawberry Shortcake

• Cool upside down

Why? Because the lofty structure of a chiffon is not sturdy until it cools—which is why the cake must be cooled upside down in its pan so that it stretches downward, or otherwise it will collapse.

TubeP8, a new Star Wars droid? 😊

Once removed from the oven, immediately invert the pan over a bowl. Or if you are using a tube pan with ‘feet’, invert the pan over a cooling rack. Keep the chiffon in this position until it is completely cooled.

• Gently does it …

A chiffon cake attains its airy crumb very much from the air in the whipped egg whites. Always whisk and mix gently so as not to deflate the air in the meringue. I find it useful to fold in with a whisk as the meringue incorporates well and with minimal loss of volume.

Whisking gently …

To reduce air pockets in the batter, so that there are no big gaping holes in the chiffon, after filling the pan with the cake batter, I also like to tap the pan gently on the work station and run through the batter gently with a skewer. You can check this out @3:25 to 3:33 min. of the recipe vid.

• Storage

This Coriander Chiffon Cake is best kept in an air-tight container and chilled for freshness. It remains soft and fluffy, chilled, and tastes delicious straight out of the refrigerator. This can keep for 4-5 days, stored airtight and chilled.

Perfect with a cuppa …

Did you make this? I’d love to know how it turned out! Please let me know by leaving a review. Or take a photo and share it on Instagram or FB; be sure to tag me please @thesugarcrumble.

Print Recipe

Coriander Chiffon Cake

Calling all coriander lovers,  try this healthy Coriander Chiffon Cake made with fresh fragrant coriander. Soft, fluffy and gently aromatic with hints of sweet coriander.

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time45 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 6 inch tube pan

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Coriander puree

• 15 g chopped coriander
• 60 ml coconut milk
• 50 ml water

Dry ingredients

• 50 g cake flour (sifted)
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Wet ingredients

• 3 egg yolks ~ 50g
• Coriander puree
• 1 tbsp oil

Meringue

• 3 egg whites ~ 95g
• 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 50 g sugar

Instructions

Coriander puree

• Roughly chop up the coriander. Blend the coriander with 50ml water and 60ml coconut milk for 30 seconds and blitz it to a pulp.

Cake Batter

• Separate the yolks from the whites and let sit for 30 minutes @ room temperature.
• In a separate bowl, lightly hand whisk the egg yolks. Mix in 1 tbsp oil and the coriander purée .
• Sift in the dry ingredients to the egg batter. Gently incorporate with the whisk until smooth with no lumps. Set aside and whip the meringue.
• Place the egg whites in a clean bowl. (Note: it will be difficult to whip up the meringue if there's any trace of grease on the utensils) Add in 1/4 tsp cream of tartar and beat the egg whites on LOW until foamy. Gradually add the 50g sugar as you whisk. Once the sugar is added, switch to HIGH and whisk until stiff peaks. You get stiff peaks when the meringue firmly holds its shape on the whisk.
• Gently whisk in 1/3 of the meringue into the coriander batter. Once it’s well mixed, switching to a spatula - gently incorporate this into the remaining meringue until it’s well combined.
• Pour the batter into a 6 inch tube pan. Note: DO NOT grease the tube pan. The cake needs to cling to the pan to rise.
• Once the batter is poured in, tap the pan firmly on the work table a couple of times to even out the batter and to release any large air bubbles. Just in case, I also like to use a wooden skewer to run through the batter a few times to get rid of bubbles.
• Pop the pan into the oven and bake at the lowest rack @165C for 30 minutes. Then switch down the heat to 150C and bake for another 15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Once the cake is removed from the oven, carefully invert the pan and cool upside down. The tube pan has little feet for invertion. If it’s not high enough, use a bowl and set the inverted pan on top to let it cool completely. Do not remove the cake from the pan until it is completely cool. (note: It’s fine if the cake has some cracks on top as this becomes the bottom of the cake when it is removed from the pan.)
• Once completely cooled, gently run a knife around the edge of the pan to release the cake. Do the same around the edge of the tube. Then invert the pan, gently coax the cake off the base of the pan and down the tube to completely remove. (Watch the recipe vid @ 3:55min. to see how it’s done)
• Enjoy!

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! Thank you 😊

 

Amount of coriander

Because I love coriander, I have tried and tested this recipe with varying amounts of coriander. For me, I found the sweet spot at 15g which gave a gentle yet sufficiently robust coriander fragrance without compromising the fluffiness of the chiffon.

I have used as little as 5g of coriander and the chiffon still turned out soft and velvety albeit with a very much milder herb taste, which didn’t quite make it for a coriander fan like me.

However, it was perfect for my kids as they do not like coriander and the lighter tang was more suited to their palate. They ate it! So perhaps for the little ones, 5g might be ideal to get them started on trying this vegetable.

Coconut milk or water?

The purist in me wanted to omit using coconut milk entirely. I tried substituting with water in the hope of baking a quintessential coriander chiffon with its aromatic herb flavor. The result? You might as well just have a salad 🙄 ... the coriander taste was too raw and too strong.

Hence the coconut milk remains but just enough to tone down the pungency of the coriander and to provide a soft coco-nutty fragrance.

Use the right chiffon cake pan

Chiffon cakes are best baked in a tube pan as the batter needs to cling to the sides of the pan to rise, giving that nice height and airy crumb.

The tube pan’s tall sides provide exactly the needed surface which helps the chiffon to rise tall and straight.

For this same reason, make sure the pan you are using is NOT non stick. And whatever you do, DO NOT GREASE the pan. And don't worry about the slight cracks on top; that would actually be the bottom of the cake once it is removed from the pan.

The best tube pans are made of aluminum with a removable base. For something similar, check out here.

How to get the perfect meringue

The key to baking a great chiffon cake is to have the right meringue.

#1 Use egg whites @room temperature. Whilst eggs are best separated when cold, let your whites sit out and come to room temperature. Whites @room temperature create greater volume and give a good meringue when whipped.

#2 Fat-free please. Make sure your whisking gear and bowl are clean and free of grease. Any hint of grease can cause the meringue to fail to whip up properly. I find using a metal or glass bowl works best. Plastic bowls do not work so well as they tend to absorb grease. Another handy tip is to wipe down your whisk and bowl with a bit of vinegar to remove any grease. 

#3 Slow and steady does it. This is the key rule for whisking a stable meringue. Start slow whipping the whites until foamy. Up the speed slowly so that you do not over-beat and gradually add the sugar. Once the sugar is added, switch to high speed and whip until the meringue is thick and glossy.

#4 Be careful not to under or over whip the meringue. The ideal stiff peak stage for making chiffon cake is somewhere between medium and firm stiffness. How do you recognize that? As you lift the whisk with the meringue, it should hold a firm shape and droop just a bit. Basically, it looks a bit like a hook at the tip, a small but firm half curl.

I know... the meringue sounds like such a diva but once you have whipped it up a couple of times, you should get the hang of knowing when it’s just right, so persevere!

Cool upside down

Why? Because the lofty structure of a chiffon is not sturdy until it cools—which is why the cake must be cooled upside down in its pan so that it stretches downward, or otherwise it will collapse.

Once removed from the oven, immediately invert the pan over a bowl. Or if you are using a tube pan with ‘feet’, invert the pan over a cooling rack. Keep the chiffon in this position until it is completely cooled.

Gently does it ...

A chiffon cake attains its airy crumb very much from the air in the whipped egg whites. Always whisk and mix gently so as not to deflate the air in the meringue. I find it useful folding with a whisk as the meringue incorporates well and with minimal loss of volume.

To reduce air pockets in the batter, so that there are no big gaping holes in the chiffon, after filling the pan with the cake batter, I also like to tap the pan gently on the work station and run through the batter gently with a skewer. You can check this out @3:25 to 3:33 min. of the recipe vid.

Storage

This coriander chiffon cake is best kept in an air-tight container and chilled for freshness. It remains soft and fluffy, chilled, and tastes delicious straight out of the refrigerator. This can keep for 4-5 days, stored airtight and chilled.