Dragon Fruit Chiffon Cupcakes
By: Anncoo
Published: Monday, December 19, 2011 - 6:02am

Ingredients




Ingredients:
3 Egg yolks (use large egg 70g each)
25g Caster sugar
70g Dragon fruit puree
40g Corn oil
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
55g Self raising flour
2 tbsp Corn flour
3 Egg whites
1/8 tsp Cream of tartar
60g Caster sugar

Preparation

1 Method: 2 Whisk egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in dragon fruit puree, corn oil and vanilla extract. Light mix in self-raising flour and cornflour. 3 In a separate clean bowl, whisk egg whites, cream of tartar and caster sugar until fluffy and stiff. Carefully fold the egg yolk mixture into the beaten egg white until well combined. 4 Spoon batter into muffin liners. 5 Bake in preheated oven at 170C for 10 minutes then reduce temperature to 160C and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. 6 Remove from the oven and invert cake immediately. Leave undisturbed until completely cooled.

About

This is the 3rd time I baked this Dragon Fruit Chiffon Cupcakes. Firstly because I love the super cottony soft texture and the mild taste of dragon fruit in the cake and secondly I don't understand why I can't get the pretty red colour after they have been baked even though I've increased the dragon fruit puree. As I was eager to get an answer, I left a message on facebook asking anyone who knows the reason. I'm so glad to receive a feedback from Criz Lai of CRIZ BON APPETITE that I'm sure many of you are also curious to know the answer. Thank you very much Criz for the answer, really appreciate it.
Criz wrote: "Actually the answer to your question is quite simple. It's the use of baking soda. The addition of this ingredient in baking would discolor any naturally colored juices through heat. That's the reason why some would add in some food coloring to have a better color presentation. Baking soda has been widely used as a whitening agent such as in toothpaste and more. :)"
By the way... nice creation you have there. Alternatively, you could add in some slightly sweetened fresh cream with some freshly cubed pitaya in between the cake~ :)"