Pandan Gula Melaka Roll

Gula Melaka and pandan leaves are one of my favourite ingredients when comes to baking.

 

Since I was a child, my grandpa always buy a pandan chiffon cake for me and sister to have for snack. It is no doubt my all time favourite flavour. Pandan as known as screwpine has a unique smell and flavour that often used in Asian cuisines. From sweet to savoury, desserts to rice dishes. It usually featured in recipes that included coconut milk, Nasi Lemak (coconut rice), curries, kaya (coconut jam), kuih talam, you named it!

 

 

Gula Melaka a.k.a coconut palm sugar is made by extracting sap from budding flower of coconut. It has a very dark brown hue and fragrant, rich and slightly smoky taste. A good Gula Melaka does not taste sweet at all like processed sugar, it brings a very caramel-y coconut fragrance to your food.

This recipe is a truly Malaysian’s favourite, the unique pale green and fragrance from pandan extract, caramel-y coconut punch from gula melaka, soft and fluffy texture of the sponge, sweet and rich taste from the kaya.

 

This cake does not need any raising agent, you just need to whip the egg white until stiff peaks and glossy, all the tiny air bubbles in the whites will help to make this cake super soft and light.

 

 

I didn’t make the kaya jam myself as my fridge had some leftover that need to be used up asap, but I will definitely encourage you to make it, it will be much more yummier if using homemade kaya. I have not make them once so far, but you can try Sonia’s Pandan Kaya Jam recipe if you feel like making it yourselves, she is a amazing homebaker! 🙂

 

RECIPE :

A:

• 4 egg yolks
• 50g gula melaka
• 20g oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 1/2 tbs pandan extract *
• 90g coconut milk *
• 100g cake flour
• 1/4 tsp fine salt

B:

• 4 egg whites
• 30g granulated sugar

C:

• 1/2 cup kaya jam *

 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C or 400F. Line the bottom and sides of a 9×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Beat egg yolk and gula melaka until light and foamy.
3. Add oil, vanilla, pandan extract and coconut milk, mix until well combined.
4. Sift and fold in cake flour and salt into the egg yolk batter until smooth, set it aside.
5. In a clean bowl, whisk egg white until foamy, add sugar slowly and continue beating until stiff peaks formed and look shiny.
6. Fold the meringue gently  into the egg yolks in 3 batches until the batter looks light and fluffy.
7. Pour the batter into your prepared pan, bake for 14-17 minutes or until the cake puffed up and toothpick insert comes out clean.
8. Immediately unmould the cake once you take it out from the oven, pull off the paper from 4 sides to prevent cake from shrinking.
9. Leave it cool completely on the wire rack, tear off the parchment paper and spread a good amount of kaya jam on your cake, roll it up carefully.
10. Use a piece of cling wrap to wrap the cake roll tightly but don’t squish the cake, keep it in the fridge for about 1 hour to set. Cut into slices and serve. Store the leftover in the fridge for not more than 3 days.

 

NOTES :

1. I made my own pandan extract since I have a pandan plant at my front yard, simply blend 5 large / 8 small pandan leaves with some water in a blender, squeeze out all the pandan juice and store it in the fridge overnight, you will see it separated into 2 layers of liquid, the bottom part which is dark green in colour is the pandan extract you need to use. If you can’t find fresh pandan leaves, store bought is fine but it won’t be fragrant as fresh.
2. I used soy milk because I don’t have coconut milk on hand, but I will recommend you to use coconut milk because it will be much more delicious and aromatic compared to soy milk.
3. The amount of kaya jam is depends on your own preferences, if the kaya jam is on the sweeter side I will recommend you to use lesser. Mine was super sweet so I only spread a thin layer on it.
4. For easier rolling, use a knife and slice a few horizontal lines on the side that you want to spread your jam on, do not slice all the way to the bottom until it divided into 2 pieces, just about 1/3 of the height will do.