Monday, May 9, 2011

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake

This cake has gotten such short-shrift, it's not even funny. This was the cake I baked for dessert the Shabbat before I went home. I figured that if I didnt take the time now to tell you all about this cake, it would get lost in the shuffle of this blog. And that's just not right. This Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake from the Cake Bible is a soft, fluffy, sponge-cake like, cake. It's ethereally light and delicate that would perfectly complement a cup of tea. Since it was just me and S, the cake had barely a slice taken out of it by the end of Shabbat. Slowly, when the girls got wind of it, it disappeared, and to raves, no less. What would have gone to waste made some people very happy. Although this recipe appears in the Cake Bible, I used Rose's technique from her latest book and baked the cake in a springform pan with a flower needle/pin inserted in the middle. It worked beautifully; my cake didnt sink. To me, chiffon cakes are extremely underrated. Now with my new mixer, making them will be a snap- stay tuned for future chiffon cakes!

Lemon Glow Chiffon Cake
slightly adapted from the Cake Bible

225 grams all purpose flour
300 grams sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup oil
7 large eggs separated
3 large egg whites
156 grams water
30 grams FRESHLY SQUEEZED lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 325.
Place the flour, all but 2 tbsp of sugar, baking soda and salt into a bowl,
and whisk to blend.
Add the oil, yolks, water, juice, zest and vanilla,
and whisk until smooth.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of your mixer and beat until foamy. Add the cream of tartar.
Beat until stiff peaks are formed.
Scoop a quarter of the egg white mixture into your batter,
and fold thoroughly. Repeat with all of the egg whites. Your batter will be nice and billowy.
Pour into an ungreased 10 inch springform pan. Place a flower needle, rounded part on the bottom, into the center of the batter.
Bake around an hour or until a cake tester inserted comes out clean. Cool the cake upside down on an elevated cooling rack.
Unmold; Remove the flower needle and serve. 

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I looooove chiffon cakes, especially marble chiffon (but lemon chiffon is up there, too). Totally agree about it being underrated. I want to give this a try. You like the springform with the nail baked in for even baking better than the tube pan?
BTW, on the chiffon front, the LA Times just did a whole article on chiffon cakes--maybe they are poised for a comeback!