Monday, June 15, 2009

Chiffon Cake

This is the cake that started the dessert craze for my friends and family. After I made this cake for my grandfather's memorial celebration, everyone started asking for cakes for their "special day."

Cake Ingredients:
  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil (safflower or sunflower)
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
  • 10 large egg whites
  • 1/4 tsp lemon juice
Cake Directions:
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line bottom of a 10-inch spring form pan with 3 inch-sides with parchment paper.
  • Sift together flour and baking powder. Add 1 1/4 cups of sugar and salt - and combine. Whisk together oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add yolk mixture to flour and whisk quickly for about 1 minute.
  • Beat egg whites using a mixed with a whisk attachment on medium speed until frothy. Add lemon juice and beat on medium-high speed until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add remaining 1/4 cup sugar and beat on medium-high speed until the whites hold firm, shiny peaks. Scoop about 1/3 of the whites onto the yolk mixture and fold gently to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the remaining whites until combined.
  • Pour batter into pan and bake until cake tester comes out clean (about 30-45 minutes).
Frosting Ingredients:
  • 4 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 4 to 6 Tablespoons of sugar
Frosting Directions:
  • Mix the heaving whipping cream until it begins to thicken. Then add sugar gradually as you whip at high speed. Whip until stiff peaks form.
  • I do not use a lot of sugar, so for those of you who like really sweet frosting, you're going to want to add a couple more tablespoons of sugar. Additionally, I typically like to mix some of the frosting with diced fruit to make the filling:

Decorations: Anything you want! Some people like to stick with one type of fruit, but my nephew Ethan asked for a "fruit cake" for his 6th birthday, so I made him his special cake with strawberries, blueberries and mandarin oranges:



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