Fluffy Mamon

I don't exactly recall when was the last time I've actually eaten mamon.  I'm guessing 20 or so years ago. Even while still living in Manila, it was so rare for me to buy anything from the bakeshops, not even cakes.  Funny but I somehow associate mamon with visiting someone in the hospital or going to a funeral wake.  I know it sounds odd but in the Philippines, this is the common type of food that gets brought and offered in these places!

Mamon is just a sponge or chiffon cake so while I've not eaten it in this form, I've eaten the actual cake many, many times in the recent past.  There is really nothing extra special about it except that it is super light and soft, it's buttery and it gives you a nice, quick fix when you are in need of a snack.

As you most likely know by now, when baking a chiffon cake, there are some important rules to follow for success, two of which are: 1) Never grease the pan; and 2) Invert the cake immediately after baking and let it cool completely before unmoulding from the pan.

I didn't follow these two rules when making my mamon.  Why?  First of all, because mamon tins are fluted, I didn't want the cake to stick then get wrecked when I try to remove them.  For this reason, I greased the tins with butter.  Wasn't sure how it would affect the outcome but I was willing to risk it. Secondly, I released the cakes immediately after baking.  I did this because I noticed that when I baked chiffon in smaller portions, like in a cupcake tray or in a small loaf tin, the cake almost always shrunk considerably and even caved in from the bottom.  By releasing the cakes before it actually started to pull away from the sides of the tins, I was hoping that I could minimize the shrinkage. 

I know that mamon has to be buttery so I contemplated on using melted butter in place of oil in the recipe.  After doing some research, I decided against it because I read that using butter will alter the texture of the cake and I didn't want that.  Then I remembered that I had this - 

Haven't tried this butter extract before but now is a good time for a first try, isn't it?

HOW TO MAKE FLUFFY MAMON:

1. Prepare 10 mamon tins by greasing them with softened butter. (Note: My mamon tins are quite small.  The bottom is only 3" in diameter and the top, about 3 3/4".  The height is just a little over an inch.  As I had bought these in the Philippines, I am assuming this is a standard size.  Don't know if it is available in larger sizes though.) **IMPORTANT UPDATE re GREASING TINS (6/9/14): Please scroll to the bottom of this post.

2.  Make your chiffon cake batter.  This recipe is enough for 10 pieces of mamon.

Ingredients:

{A}
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons white sugar

{B}
¼ cup corn/canola oil
4 egg yolks, from large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup water
½ teaspoon butter, vanilla, lemon, or orange extract (whichever you prefer)

{C}
4 eggwhites
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

{D}
6 tablespoons white sugar

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
2. In a large bowl, combine {A} well. Add in {B}. Beat with electric mixer or by hand until smooth and well blended.
3. In a separate bowl, beat {C} on high speed until frothy. Gradually add in the sugar {D} and beat until stiff peaks are formed. Gradually and gently fold in egg whites into egg yolk mixture.

3.  Distribute the cake batter evenly into the 10 tins.  Give the tins a gentle shake and a tap to remove air bubbles and to level off the batter.  Arrange them in a large baking tray.

4.  Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean.

As you can see from the photo above, the cakes had risen well inspite of the fact that the tins were greased.

5.  Immediately invert the tins into a baking paper-lined wire rack.  Tap the tins to release the cakes.  Be careful not to burn your fingers!

6.  Turn the cakes over.

Although the cakes somewhat lost their puffy tops, they didn't cave in.  The tops just levelled off.  The bottoms were okey as well.  

7.  While still warm, brush the tops with softened (or melted) butter.  This will allow the cakes to absorb some of the butter thus giving it more flavour.  Finish off  by sprinkling some granulated sugar on the tops.

 8.  Now bite into one and see how soft and fluffy it is!

If not eating them right away, once they are completely cool, wrap the mamon in wax paper or cellophane to keep them fresh.  Enjoy!

UPDATE (6/9/14):  I had some extra chiffon cake batter today which I baked in two completely ungreased mamon tins.  I am happy to report that the cakes did not stick at all and they came right out when I inverted them!

I did the same thing and removed them from the tin as soon as they came out of the oven.  There was very minimal loss (if any) in height, even less than the batch baked in greased tins.

Same fluffiness too.

So yeah, if you'd like to try, I would recommend not greasing the tins.