Here is a delicious cake that has been omnipresent on the web lately, and is a great American classic. Moist, light, fluffy and highly versatile, the Chiffon cake is a guaranteed hit. For best results, use an angel-food/chiffon cake pan, and make sure your eggs are at room temperature before whipping the whites.
You can serve it plain, with a sprinkling of powdered sugar, or decorate with whipped cream, frostings of choice, or fresh berries. Check out the layer-cake version I made for my son’s birthday here.
Chiffon layer cake with strawberries and whipped mascarpone frosting
- 2 1/4 cups (310 g) sifted cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups (300 g) superfine or regular sugar, divided
- 1 tablespoon (12 g) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) cold water
- 1/2 cup (100 g) vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 egg yolks at room temperature
- 9 egg whites at room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
For about 8-10 servings
Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C).
Sift the flour, 1 1/4 cups (250 g) sugar, baking powder and salt together twice into a large bowl.
In a another bowl, beat the yolks, water, oil, zest and vanilla on high speed until smooth. Stir into the flour mixture until smooth. In another large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, beat (with clean beaters!) the egg whites with the cream of tartar until soft peaks are formed. Add the remaining 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar, and beat on high speed until the peaks are stiff but not dry.
Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture to fluff it up, then fold in the remaining whites. Do so gently, only until the egg whites are no longer visible. Overmixing will deflate the egg whites, and yield a denser, shorter cake.
Scrape the batter into the the chiffon pan (ungreased) and spread evenly. Bake in preheated oven until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean 45-55 minutes.
Let cake cool, upside-down, for 4-6 hours before removing from pan. To remove, turn right-side-up, run a small knife around the edges to detach cake from sides of pan. Invert onto a serving platter and gently remove bottom.
Serve as desired.
