So when I was in Kyoto last year, we spent a decent amount of time in the Daimaru department store. In the basement, there were tons of dessert stands, and a bakery, Maleblanche, which had a long line. Upon looking at the signage further, everyone was waiting for these adorable chiffon cake cream sandwiches, literally just two layers of soft cake surrounding a thick, luscious block of fresh cream. Apparently these were so popular that you could only order 5 at a time. We waited about 20 minutes in line for them, but they were worth the wait – the cake and cream just melted in your mouth. By the time you finish one, you want another, because you were in the middle of processing how great the cake and cream together were while you just inhale the whole sando. Fast forward several months, and I decided to recreate them. These sandwiches are deceptively simple. Component-wise, we have a chiffon cake and cream. However, there are a lot of pressure points in each step that if mis-executed, you could end up with butter and a brick. So being delicate and taking your time is key here(if you are not comfortable with making chiffon cake and/or whipped cream), to ensure that the end product is good.

With a chiffon cake, it is leavened with whipped egg whites that are gently folded through a batter made with flour, egg yolks, and in the case of my recipe, oil and milk. With the egg whites, whipping them to stiff peaks by hand can be a major pain in the butt. Using a stand mixer will make that process easier at least. The key with mixing the batter is to stop folding the egg whites in when you stop seeing streaks of pale white in the batter. If you keep going, you are removing too much air from the batter, and the cake will not be light and fluffy, but rather be rubbery, like a refrigerated pancake. With the cream, it is a fortified whipped cream, meaning I melted gelatin powder into a small portion of it, cooled that down, and whipped it with more heavy cream with sugar to create a sturdy, stabilized filling. You can try to omit the gelatin in this recipe, but cream made without it can weep(which will make the cake go soggy) or even slide. Fortifying it guarantees that the cream will not just squish out the slides of the cake when you try slicing it. With whipping cream, you can start whisking more aggressively in the beginning, but as it thickens and soft peaks form, you need to slow it down to prevent the cream from overwhipping into butter. You can tell soft peaks form because the cream will start to cling to your whisk as you move it through. For me personally, the hardest part of this recipe was the assembly. Stacking the cakes with a giant layer of cream was not the problem – it was slicing the cake into even sando’s. I was trying to just the cakes right after layering it, since that’s what they did at the bakery in Kyoto, but it was nerve wracking and I had to be super delicate and gentle – a lot of it was leaning my knife cuts with the tip of the knife going down first to avoid a sawing motion. If you ever sliced sashimi, which is done in intentional, firm cuts, that was what it felt like. If you want to cheat, freeze the whole thing solid and use a warmed knife to cut through it cleanly. These cakes are delicious on their own, but you can totally layer them up with fruit or other fillings and/or use a different flavor in your chiffon cake, just to make them unique to whatever you are craving in your own chiffon cream sandos!

Makes 8 chiffon sandos:
For the chiffon cake batter:
6 egg whites
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
a pinch of salt
4 egg yolks
2oz whole milk
1oz vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, whip the egg whites with sugar to stiff peaks. In a bowl, sift in the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a third bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients until combined. Fold everything together to form your batter. Spread the batter on a lined half sheet tray in an even layer. Bake at 350 F for 22 minutes,. Then turn off the oven and let the cake sit in there with the door open for another 2 minutes before allowing the cake to cool. Cut the cake into two equally sized rectangles.

For the fortified whipped cream:
16oz heavy cream
1 tsp gelatin
2oz confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
a pinch of salt

In a pot, melt down 2oz of the heavy cream with the gelatin. Keep the rest of the cream in the refrigerator until time to use. Allow the cream with gelatin to cool to room temperature in a bowl before adding in the other ingredients and whipping the cream until stiff peaks form. Spread the cream in a thick, even layer on one of the cakes, and then place the other cake on top. Using a sharp knife, gently cut the cake into squares.