Monday 15 July 2013

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake - Baking Partner Challenge #12

So Baking Partners are back with a bang to celebrate it's one year anniversary of successful baking.. Yes, we have turned 1 year old. And this time there were 2 suggestions for baking the recipe of the month 'Cakes'. Humi suggested 'Medovik/Russian Honey Cake' & Saraswathy suggested 'Chiffon Cakes'. As I had an eye on baking Chiffon or Foam cakes from a long time, I chose Chiffon cake for this month's challenge. Thanks Saraswathy & Swathi for this wonderful challenge. Now let me share some facts with you that Saraswathy shared with us on Chiffon cake.




Chiffon (pronounced She-fon) cakes are a type of foam cakes and are light & soft & definitely yummy !! They contain egg yolks and whites separately whisked and folded in together with vegetable oil, all which makes them moist, soft & light.. This cake doesn't call for butter & the lower quantity of sugar gives me an extra reason to savor this low cholesterol cake;) Use of oil instead of butter aides in the airy quality of the cake & gives a longer shelf or refrigeration life. Refrigeration makes the oil in the cake soft & the cake becomes all the more tender. Deeps liked to have it chilled & directly from the fridge. He said, 'It tastes better when chilled'. Even my neighbor & friend 'P' was very happy with the cake & said it tasted awesome :D

The chiffon cake was created by Harry Baker, a Los Angeles insurance agent, in 1927.  Baker carefully guarded his secret technique for almost two decades, only selling his cakes to celebrities and the famous Brown Derby restaurant. The popularity of his cakes grew quickly, and he eventually sold the recipe to General Mills in 1947. 

I have halved the recipe here & used some substitutes for ingredients not available in this town. Refer the notes too while baking this cake, as they can help you get a perfect cake on your first attempt itself. The whisking of the egg whites is the most important part.. U get that right, consider half the work done. So lets see how to make this soft & tender cake. I have used normal buttercream icing & strawberries for serving.




Recipe Source: Adapted from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum


Serves: An 8 inch round cake pan with a ramekin in the middle


Store: Stays fresh for 3 days in room temperature, 10 days refrigerated, 2 months frozen

 

I Took:

Preparation Time: 30 minutes

Baking Time: 50 minutes

Cooling Time: 85 minutes



I Used:


Dry Ingredients
All purpose Flour-1 cup (refer notes)
Corn flour-2 tbsp
Caster Sugar-¾ cup
Salt-¼ tsp
Baking Soda-¼ tsp
Lemon Zest-½ - 1 tbsp
Wet Ingredients
Canola/Sunflower Oil-¼ cup
Large Egg yolks-1 no / 65 g
Water-⅓ cup
Lemon juice-1 tbsp
Vanilla Essence-½ tsp
For Meringue
Cream of Tartar-¾ tsp (refer notes)
Sugar-1 tbsp
Large Egg Whites-3 nos


The Way:



  1. In a large mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients. First work the sugar & lemon zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is grainy & very aromatic. Add the all purpose flour, corn flour (or the cake flour - refer notes), baking soda and salt to it
  2. Whisk together until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. If you have a stand mixer, use the beater attachment & beat on low
  3. Then make a well in the center of the ingredients and add the oil, egg yolks, lemon juice and vanilla. Mix until the batter is smooth & has no lumps. In a stand mixer, mix for about 1 minute on medium speed
  4. In a second large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add lemon juice (or cream of tartar) & beat (if on stand mixer, beat on medium speed) until they reach soft peak stage. This happens when the whisk or the beater start to leave a trail or when the peaks fall over when the whisk is raised
  5. At this stage add the 1 tbsp sugar & continue to beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks when the whisk is raised
  6. Using the balloon whisk (or a slotted spoon) add ⅓ of the egg whites to the cake batter & gently stir until incorporated. Add the remaining egg whites to the cake batter and very gently fold them into the batter until they are incorporated and no trace of egg whites remain
  7. Pour the batter into an ungreased tube pan and run a metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets. If you do not have a tube pan but would like to have a similar shape, then place an oven usable ramekin in the centre of your round pan and pour the batter to the sides of the ramekin as I did
  8. Preheat the oven on conventional mode at 165 degrees
  9. Bake in the lower rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes (refer your oven manual too) or until the cake bounces back when lightly pressed in the center
  10. Once cooked, take the cake pan & immediately turn it upside down on a bottle (or another ramekin or tumbler - whichever suits best for the pan). Allow to cool completely which took about 85 minutes for me
  11. Use a palette knife and loose the sides of the cake. Pull out the sides and work similarly on the bottom. Turn it over on to a plate upside down & sprinkle with a dusting of icing sugar or a topping of your choice & serve


Notes:

  • Do not grease or line or flour the cake pan. This will hinder the cake from rising up
  • Always use large eggs as called for in the recipe. Do not use medium or small sized eggs
  • Try to use castor sugar than normal ones 
  • The recipe calls for cake flour, but since I could not get it here, I used the substitute. Take an equal amount of All purpose flour. Remove 2 tbsps of flour from it & replace it with 2 tbsps of corn flour (NOT corn meal). This works just fine
  • Cream of tartar is used to stabilize the egg whites while beating up. Since I couldn't get those, I used the substitute lemon juice. Works perfectly OK
  • Make sure that the bowl used to whisk egg whites are clean & grease free. Traces of grease or egg yolks will not guarantee you proper whisking of whites
  • Proper & correct whisking of egg whites is essential to ensure the texture of the cake. Under or over beating can cause the cake to collapse or become too hard. Do the 'Overturn bowl test' to ensure that your whisking is the right amount. When you overturn the bowl of the whisked egg whites, it should hold & must not fall off
  • Do not let the egg whites sit for long once whisked. Immediately fold it onto the cake batter as this stage of stiff peaks is short lived
  • Take care while folding in the egg whites as over folding can cause the egg whites & thus the cake to deflate. Fold in gently using a whisk
  • Before pouring the batter into the pan, take the bowl and hit against the kitchen counter. This will cause bubbles to rise up to the top and pop. Do not hit the pan after pouring the batter as this may cause the formation of more bubbles

Here are some links that helped me greatly. Hope you guys too find it useful !

http://allthatmatters2rei.blogspot.no/2008/07/chiffon-cake-tips-and-trouble-ii.html
Cheers,
Chitz

Wanna see what the others in the Baking Partners group baked?? 

38 comments:

  1. sheer indulgence !! beautiful cake Chitz.

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  2. love the decoration, beautiful it is...

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  3. Lovely cake. I had the same brain wave for the cream of tartar replacement :-)

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  4. U've made it beautifully Chitz, beautifully decorated as well..YUm is the word

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  5. Wow...perfect dessert after a royal meal...

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  6. Perfectly baked chiffon cake dear.. Love your explanation and clicks.. Very informative tips..

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  7. Wow...Looks perfect Chitz. Love to have one slice ;)

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  8. Wow!!! So well made... I have a chiffon cake pan, in its box, not used yet... time 2 pull it out!!

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  9. I can only admire the beautiful outcome because to make it will be like a plunge for me. The cake is soft and has the elements of melt in the mouth moment.

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  10. cake looks super soft & gorgeous...wat a fabulous clicks...love to have a slice...

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  11. THis looks perfect and love your narration..easy to follow recipe..Thanks for trying out..

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  12. The cake looks so inviting. love the way you have decorated

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  13. Such a moist and soft looking cake - You made me drool :) Love it!!

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  14. Beautifully made cake..Looks so yum

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  15. Wow Chitz, the cake looks so soft and very very tempting and yum, yum...

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  16. Chitra,love the chiffon cake.Your notes tell me so much care has been taken to get the cake right..beautiful!!

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  17. chitz...the way the cake is with flavors and coated with cream, oh man that is one slice to take a bite...

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  18. Great clicks .. awesome cake.. Well explained..
    Glad to follow you.. Do drop in sometime when free to my space.. :)

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  19. Lovely cake Chitz.. i love lemon cakes. Thank you for such a detailed recipe.

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  20. Looks wonderful and flavorful chiffon cake chitz. Thanks for sharing some helpful links too :)

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  21. Wow this is such lovely looking cake :) I'll go thru the whole thing later :) congrats on your wonderful result :)

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  22. Superb cake ! lovely clicks !

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  23. Te ha quedado perfecto y muy delicioso gran trabajo,abrazos.

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  24. Beautiful and perfect, You did very well.

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  25. Can you link this entry to linky tool.

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  26. Your blog was not accessible day before yesterday, i had pinged u on this!
    Happy Happy one year anniversary Chitz!!! You guys rock. To me baking is therapeutic than cooking, you get the ultimate satisfaction seeing the outcome. I get to bake only when I head home...hmm...
    The cake is perfect baked, soft, moist, divinely colored, ahhh the double layered icing - drool worthy!!
    Great presentation and the notes section gives all the required info and the history of cake was good too! Btb Aptly named cake!!
    I envy your neighbor 'P'!! :)

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  27. now think its my chance to wish that you were my NEIGHBOUR !!! haa ha..this si soo well done !! just perfect...and nicely explained too..

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  28. Yummy looking cake..well explained n nice cliks.

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  29. wow chitz it looks awesome look at the cut just stunning.Perfect no words.

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  30. Thanks everyone for your lovely & valuable comments :) Hugs dearies !!

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  31. The strawberry addition looks super cute. Loved the cake

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  32. The cake looks perfect Chitra :) Love that addition of lemon zest in there. Yum!

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  33. Looks yummy, I guess its time for a Norway trip...!

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Thank you for stopping by !! I am really happy that you take time to let me know how you feel :-)