Tender and light as air, chiffon cake is one of my favorite cakes to eat because it’s so light and fluffy. It has a delicate, soft texture that’s pillowy soft and just melts in your mouth. Today we are going to make this light and fluffy original chiffon cake with a simple and easy to follow recipe. I’m also going to show you how to decorate it with a simple technique that will WOW your guests!
These are the ingredients for the cake:
First, mix the oil and flour.
First combining the oil and flour is simple and won’t develop gluten.
You can stir it any way you want, and you don’t have to sift the flour neither.
Now add the egg yolks and milk. Stir until all is well combined.
Now let’s whip the egg whites. Add cream of tartar to the egg whites and beat on high speed.
Cream of tartar can stabilize the meringue. If you don’t have it, you can add a small teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar instead.
You can also use a stand mixer for this, both methods will work just fine.
When you see big bubbles forming, add a third of the sugar. Continue to beat on high speed.
When the foam becomes finer and silkier, you can add another third of the sugar. Continue to beat on high speed.
The foam will continue to get silkier, and you will start to see some texture lines/trails.
At this point you can add the remaining sugar and beat on medium-high speed.
Continue beating until you see some stiff peaks. After lifting the whisk, the meringue is stable and firm, and the peak will not drip.
Scoop about one-third of the egg whites into the batter and fold it in gently. This is to lighten the batter initially and prepare it for the rest of the egg whites.
The motion is like first draw a circle around the edge, then draw a straight line in the middle.
Once it’s mixed well, change to a spatula, and pour it into the egg whites.
Continue to fold gently until it’s all combined. Same motion: first draw a circle around the edge, then draw a straight line in the middle.
Repeat this movement until the batter is homogeneous. Don’t overdo it.
Transfer the batter to the pan Immediately, tap it a couple of times, shake it and draw a few circles with a toothpick to flatten the surface.
Place it in the preheated oven and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 50 minutes.
Personally, I prefer to bake it at 300°F (150°C) for 40 minutes, then increase the temperature to 320°F (160°C) for 5 minutes.
This is after a few testings with my oven as oven temperature varies.
If I just bake it at 300°F (150°C) for 50 minutes, even though it’s perfectly baked, the top of the cake will be a bit sticky after it’s cooled.
So if you have the same problem, you can do the same switch.
Once it’s out of the oven, tap it on the table once, then cool it upside down. It will take 2-3 (or longer) hours to cool completely.
While waiting for the cake to cool, let’s prepare the decoration pieces.
I’m using white chocolate wafer to make the garnish because it’s easy to handle. You can also use the regular white chocolate/chocolate chip.
Melt it in the microwave for about a minute. Follow the melting instructions provided on the bag.
Once it’s melted, spoon it on a piece of parchment paper.
Then run the spoon on one end and pull it away.
Put them in the fridge. They will harden very quickly.
Now that the cake is cool, remove it from the pan slowly, then slice it into 3 layers.
Now let’s make the whipped cream frosting. Combine the heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar into a chilled mixing bowl.
Beat on high speed until it thickens.
This is good.
We are going to start decorating it!
Add a little bit of cream at the bottom to secure the cake to the cake board.
Since I’m going to put strawberries in the cake, I’m also going to apply a thin layer of strawberry preserves in it. This is optional.
Next apply a layer of whipped cream frosting.
Now add the diced strawberries.
Repeat these steps.
The top layer is usually the bottom of the cake. This is because it’s usually the flattest part and will be easier to frost.
Cover the entire cake with the whipped cream frosting.
Smooth out the cream the best you can, it doesn’t have to be perfect.
I have some strawberries here that I dipped the end into the white candy melt earlier. This is to prevent any strawberry juice from bleeding onto the cake.
Now pipe some cream around the strawberries with the star 1M piping tip.
Next we will add the garnish that we made earlier to the side of the cake.
For the finishing touch I’m going to dust some powdered sugar on it.
And this is now completed!
Ingredients (for a 6″ cake):
Egg yolk batter:
- 3 egg yolks
- 45g Cake flour
- 35g Milk
- 45g Veg. Oil
Meringue:
- 3 egg whites
- 50g Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Cream of tartar or lemon juice
Whipped Cream Frosting:
- 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 tbsp powdered sugar
Tutorial Video: