Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) Chiffon Cake

I love cakes but if I have to choose one, I would say chiffon cake is my favourite.  I love the soft, light and fluffy texture of a chiffon.  The most common chiffon cakes would be the pandan flavour but once in a while I'd like to venture into other flavours as well.  Diana, the Domestic Goddess Wannabe is mad about chiffon cakes and when I saw her Gula Melaka Chiffon I told myself that I must bake this because of the way Diana described it. When I was mixing the batter, I could already smelled the beautiful aroma of  palm sugar, coconut milk and pandan leaves. Well, like Diana said ... you really have to make this cake and its die, die no regrets :P  

Ingredients:
(A)
140g gula melaka (palm sugar), grated or chopped into small pieces
1/4 tsp salt
90g coconut milk
30g pandan leaves, cut into small pieces

(B)
5 egg yolks (72g)
40g coconut oil, melted
115g self-raising flour

(C)
5 egg whites (180g)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
35g caster sugar

• Put in all the ingredients (A) into a small saucepan and bring to the boil under low fire.  
• Then strain the mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks until it turns pale.  Gradually whisk in coconut oil. Then add in gula melaka mixture and whisk until combined.
• Fold in flour and mix until just combined.
• In a clean mixing bowl, beat egg whites until frothy.  Add in cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks formed.  Gradually add in sugar and beat until stiff peaks formed.
• Transfer one-third of the meringue into the egg yolk mixture and beat until well combined.  Then fold in the rest of the meringue in two batches until no white streaks remain.
• Pour the batter into an ungreased 20cm tube pan.  Lift the pan and drop it onto the benchtop three times to remove large air bubbles or you can use a chopstick to gently swirl around the batter to remove air bubbles.
• Bake in a preheated oven of 155°C for 1 hour 20 mins. (Note:  every oven is different so adjust your oven temperature and baking time accordingly)
• Once the cake comes out from the oven, invert it to cool completely before unmoulding (by hand),