There are some recipes I make because I have an ingredient to use up, and then there are recipes inspired by whatever season of life I happen to be in.

Whenever reservist comes around, I somehow find myself returning to camouflage-themed bakes. I have previously made a camouflage butter cake and camouflage cookies inspired by the colours of the SAF uniform. This year, I wanted to see if I could recreate the same idea in a chiffon cake!

The Camouflage Chiffon Cake combines a light pandan green, a deeper army green and a naturally dark black sesame-cocoa shade. When spooned irregularly into the pan, the three batters form camouflage-like patterns through every slice.

Admittedly, this is more involved than a regular chiffon cake. The yolk batter is prepared in three separate bowls, while one batch of meringue is divided and folded into all three. However, preparing each yolk batter separately with two eggs is much easier and more accurate than making one large batter and trying to divide it evenly afterwards.

The final cake may also look slightly shorter than a standard chiffon as it uses less sugar and because of the additional folding and handling. Nonetheless, it should still be soft, springy, and beautifully patterned when sliced!

Why You’ll Love this Camouflage Chiffon Cake

  • A meaningful reservist-inspired bake. The green and earthy shades are a playful reference to camouflage and have become part of my own reservist baking tradition
  • A different design in every slice. The irregularly placed batters create a unique camouflage pattern throughout the cake
  • Three complementary flavours: fragrant pandan, nutty black sesame and a subtle amount of cocoa work surprisingly well together
  • Light and fluffy, retaining the familiar soft and springy texture of chiffon cake despite having three different batters
  • No complicated decorating required

Creating the Camouflage Colours

  • Light pandan green: Pandan extract, with a small amount of green food colouring (some commercial pandan extracts already come mixed with green food colouring)
  • Dark army green: Pandan extract with more dark green food colouring
  • Charcoal black: Black food colouring, with a small amount of cocoa powder and grounded black sesame

If you’re familiar with creating the classic chiffons such as Pandan Chiffon Cake, this should be of the same difficulty level, just slightly more hassle from having three batters!

Without further ado, the recipe!

Camouflage Chiffon Cake Recipe
by Javier Tan September-12-2026

Make a soft camouflage chiffon cake with pandan, sesame & cocoa. This reservist army inspired recipe reveals unique patterns in every slice!

Ingredients (Light-Green + Dark-Green Pandan Batter + Charcoal Black Batter) x3, total 6 Egg Yolks

  • 2 Egg Yolks, from eggs weighing approx 60g each inclusive of shell
  • 1 Tbsp or 13g of White Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp or 13g of Vegetable Oil
  • 1/2 Tsp or 2.5ml of Pandan Extract (x2 – 3 for Dark Green version, and replace with Black Food Folouring for Charcoal Black Batter)
  • 2 Tbsp + 2 Tsp or 40ml of Milk
  • 1/3 Cup or 40g of Plain flour (For Charcoal Black Batter 27g Flour + 6g Cocoa Powder + 8g Black Sesame powder)
  • 1/2 Tsp of 2g of Baking Powder

Ingredients (Shared Meringue)

  • 6 Egg Whites
  • 1/4 Cup or 50g of White sugar
  • Cream of Tartar, Optional

Instructions

  1. Prepare 3 bowls, 1 for each of the batter.
  2. Whisk 2 egg yolks with sugar for a couple of minutes. Then, add in the milk, vegetable oil and the optional pandan extract (For charcoal black batter, black food colouring).
  3. Once done, whip the egg whites till stiff peaks, adding in 25g sugar at two stages, foamy and soft peaks (total 50g). Divide the meringue into three.
  4. Next, whisk in the plain flour and baking powder for each batter (For charcoal black batter, flour, cocoa powder and black sesame powder)
  5. Then, for each of the divided meringue portion, whisk in 1/3 of the egg whites to the cake batter and fold in the remaining 2/3 in two halves.
  6. Spoon in each of the colours irregularly. Once done, tap a few times and use a small knife to make a 3 – 4 small swirls. Do not line or grease your chiffon tube pan (I am using 9 inch).
  7. Bake 170C for 52 – 55 until nicely golden brown, do adjust accordingly to the size of the pan! Do not open the oven door before it’s done.
  8. Leave upside down immediately to cool, approx an hour before unmoulding gently.
  9. Serve and enjoy!

Details

  • Prep time: 30 mins
  • Cook time: 1 hour
  • Total time: 1 hour 30 mins
  • Yield: 1 x Camouflage Chiffon Cake

Notes:

  1. If you would like to be updated for more recipes which I strive to create to perfection for sharing and for free, do check out my Instagram, Facebook Page, or YouTube 🙂 Thank you so much for all of your support! Feel free to tag me or link back here!
  2. Serve fresh at room temperature (up to 4 days) or refrigerated up to 6 days. If refrigerated, do remove it 20 – 30 mins prior to serving. You can also consider microwaving it for a short blast.
  3. Please do not copy and paste the recipe without my permission, but feel free to link back here!

Enjoy!
– Bakeomaniac, Javier Tan