TherMe: Black Sesame 'Chiffon' Cake

Credits to Isabel for teaching this yummy cake during one of the meetings & my cooking kaki for her notes <3

Ingredients:

List A

100g black sesame

100g unbleached plain flour

100g yogurt

60g organic raw sugar

40g cooking oil

7 egg yolks

5g sesame oil

1 tsp baking powder

List B

70g organic raw sugar

7 egg whites

1/2 tsp cream of tartar (will personally prefer to replace with 1 tsp of lemon juice)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160°C. Pour sesame into mixing bowl & grind 1min / Speed 10 (accidentally poured in the sesame oil too so blended both together..luckily it turned out alright..hee).

2. Add in remaining ingredients in List A then blend at 30s / Speed 6. Transfer to big bowl (skip this step if u've an extra mixing bowl).

3. Wash mixing bowl & dry thoroughly or use another mixing bowl if u've. Insert 'butterfly' whisk b4 putting List B's ingredients in to whip for 4mins / 37°C / Speed 4. Transfer to another big bowl.

(Note: added another 1min / Speed 4 to get a better whipped texture. Can try increasing 1/2 - 1min each time till u achieve stiff peaks if u prefer a fluffier chiffon)

4. Fold A's batter into B's egg white mixture in 3 batches & transfer to a chiffon tin.

5. Bake for 45mins or until a cake tester skewer or toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the centre of the cake. 

6. Invert the tin immediately on a cooling rack then let it cool completely. Remove tin, cut & serve.

For non-Thermomix readers, you can still follow the steps & pictures to grind the sesame using your normal blender & beat ur batter in a normal mixer but u may need to allow for additional preparation time accordingly.

(Note: Do check if ur blender is able to grind dry ingredients. If it can't, you may blend it together with the sesame oil but the sesame may not be ground as finely, depending on the power of ur blender.) 

Simply love the fragrant of this cake <3 Even though the texture differs slightly from normal chiffon cakes, the moistness of it more than compensates for that! 

The Good, The Bad & The Evil

I remember I used to marvel at the soup bases that mummies shared on the 'Healthy Food for My Baby' Facebook group when I was prepping myself for BB's weaning. So many ingredients were used in preparing the soup base & they would add in even more ingredients when they use it to cook porridge for their lil' ones. 'The porridges will definitely taste delicious!' was the thought that went through my head.

As I was following the 3/4 days rule for BB, it seemed to take forever to introduce new foods to him. Gradually, I was able to add in more ingredients to his porridge after he passed the respective allergy tests. Unfortunately, my parents weren't too supportive of it eventhough I was only using no more than 3 to 4 vegetables then. They were concerned that some of the combinations may bring more harm than good. Despite me explaining to them that a lot of mummies are doing the same or even more than me, they still weren't convinced. To put their mind at ease, I told them that I'd do more research on it. I then decided to look for a book shared by one of the mummies which shows foods with a list of other foods which when consume together, will either bring about some health benefits or harmfulness. To my dismay, it wasn't carried by Popular. While continuing my search for it, I chanced upon a similar book at a small book sale in Bedok Mall's FairPrice Finest so I bought it. 

After reading through the book, I realised that my parents were indeed right. For example, ABC soup, a very common soup cooked by mummies, usually contains carrots, corns, yellow onions & potatoes. However, carrots should not be eaten together with onions / corn & corn should not go with potatoes as illustrated in the following 2 pictures. I've since formed a habit of referring to this book before cooking any meals for BB. 

For mild cases, nutritional values are reduced or indigestion may develop. For examples,

Tomato + Zucchini = Reduce nutritional values

Beef + Rice = Indigestion

For more serious cases, diarrhoea or vomitting or even adverse health effects in the long run may be experienced or in worst cases, even poisoning! 

Prawn + Pumpkin / Kiwi + Milk (especially for mummies who eat overnight oats) = Diarrhoea

Chicken + Sesame = Possibility of poisoning if consume frequently

Without a doubt, the soup or soup bases will be very sweet & flavourful by adding more ingredients. However, in this context, more doesn't always necessarily mean better. On the contrary, some foods actually complement each other so do try to pair them up. For examples,

Chicken + Mango = Increase nutritional values

Apple + Corn / Cabbage + Carrot = Boost immune system

Cod + Pumpkin = Prevent flu

Lettuce + Pork = Energise 

Moving forward, I'll indicate at the bottom of each post the nutritional benefits, if any, for the dishes I've whipped up. I'll also add them on for those recipes that I've already posted previously. Cheers to healthy eating!