Orange Chiffon Cake

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Orange Chiffon Cake

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Soft, light, moist, orangey -my favourite chiffon cake.

This recipe is an evolution of one passed down to me. Growing up, we ate very few cakes and cookies. It all seems very odd now that I bake and cook often.

I know of people who shudder at the thought of baking chiffon cakes. The fear is often of the cake not rising high enough and if it did, it would then be the fear that the cake will fall out of its baking pan as it cools in its upturned pan. Or perhaps that the outer layer of the cake might stick to the pan as you dislodge it, resulting in a pretty bald cake.

It ought not be intimidating.

I have weighed out all the ingredients, including the egg whites and yolks so the recipe is rather fool-proof. Weighing/measuring the eggs is important as my 'large size' egg could differ considerably from your 'large size' egg. Pictures are helpful when baking chiffon cakes so I have included pictures to guide you along.

For a successful bake keep these pointers in mind: 

• weigh/measure all ingredients including the eggs
• whip your eggs whites to stiff peak (don't under or over beat)
• fold in gently and quickly
• bake a little longer than what you would expect
• best to get an oven thermometer to ensure you are baking at my recommended oven temperatures

ORANGE CHIFFON CAKE                                                     

Prep:	20 minutes
Cook:	65 minutes
Inactive:	-
Level:	Moderate
Serves:	At least 8
Oven Temperature:	380F (190C), lowered to 340F(170C)
Can recipe be doubled?	No
Make ahead?	Taste best freshly baked but it can keep up to 3 days tightly covered. Refrigerate thereafter.

Just the ingredients (9.17oz)(260g)self raising flour OR Add 3 teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Top up with all-purpose/plain flour until the scale registers 9.17oz(260g). (7.05oz)(200g) caster sugar 3/4 cup (~ 3 oranges) orange juice  3 teaspoons (~ 3 oranges) zest  1/2 cup neutral tasting oil 1/2 cup (4.76oz)(135g)(~8) egg yolks  1 and 1/4 cups (11.04oz)(313g)(~9) egg whites 1 teaspoon cream of tartar (3.52oz)(100g) icing sugar

Ingredients

(9.17oz)(260g)self raising flour

To make self raising flour

In a bowl, add 3 teaspoons baking powder and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Top up with all-purpose/plain flour until the scale registers 9.17oz(260g). Sift before using.

(7.05oz)(200g) caster sugar

3/4 cup (~ 3 oranges) orange juice 
Use sweet fragrant oranges. As this cake contains no artificial orange flavours, use only oranges you are happy to eat yourself. Makes for a very big taste difference.

3 teaspoons (~ 3 oranges) zest 

1/2 cup neutral tasting oil

1/2 cup (4.76oz)(135g)(~8) egg yolks 

1 and 1/4 cups (11.04oz)(313g)(~9) egg whites

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

(3.52oz)(100g) icing sugar

Method

Use a chiffon/angel food cake/tube pan. Mine is made of aluminium. The bottom diameter should be 9"(23cm) and the height 4.3"(11cm). Do not use non stick or silicon. I have tried it with dismal results. It never bakes as high and the outer layer of the cake inevitably sticks to the pan.

Turn the oven on to 380F(190C). Oven rack adjusted to the lowest rung. I do recommend you invest in an oven thermometer as the internal temperature of ovens differ widely.

Putting the batter together

If you are making your own self-raising flour, remember to sift flour, salt and baking powder first. Mix in the self-raising flour with the caster sugar. Break up any lumps in the process. Set aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, mix the orange juice, zest, oil and egg yolks in that order. Do not add zest directly onto the egg yolks as it might coagulate the yolks.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet. Stir to incorporate breaking up any lumps.  Do not over mix as you do not want to overwork the gluten in the flour- you might end up with a doughy and heavy as opposed to a light cake.

Wipe the mixer bowl you will be using to whip the egg whites and the whisk attachment(s) with a little vinegar or lemon juice. This gets rid of any traces of oil which will prevent the egg whites from whipping into stiff peaks.

Add the egg whites and the cream of tartar into the mixer bowl. Start the mixer on medium speed. When the egg whites are frothy, gradually add the icing sugar a teaspoon at a time. 

Once you have added in all the icing sugar, check that all the icing sugar has been mixed in. Stop the machine and scrape down the bowl with a clean spatula.

The whites should be beaten to stiff peak at this stage. When you lift up the whisk attachment(s), the whites will hold its peak and not flop to the side.

Add a dollop of egg whites into the orange flour mixture to loosen the mixture. Work fast but do not over work it. It takes less than 15 seconds. The whites do not have to be fully incorporated at this stage. Refer to the photograph below.

Fold in the remaining egg whites in 2 intervals. Again, be gentle but work fast.

First half of egg whites are folded in. I am just about to add the next half of whites at this stage. Notice it is still  not evenly mixed which is fine.

Second half of egg whites folded in. Batter is now evenly mixed.

Pour the batter into the chiffon cake (tube) pan (no need to butter, flour or grease pan) and level out the batter. 

Before putting it on the bottom rack of the heated oven, drop the cake pan 3X on the work counter from a 1"(2.5cm) height to get rid of excess bubbles.

Reduce the temperature immediately to 340F(170C).

Bake for 30 minutes, cover the top with aluminium foil to prevent cake from over browning and continue to bake.

When is the cake baked through?

Unlike other cakes you do not use a cake skewer.

Instead, use your fingers to press half an inch down the top of the cake. The cake is ready when the cake springs back quickly (in about 1 - 2 seconds). This cake has to be baked a bit drier than you would a normal cake. Why?

The cake has to be cooled completely in its upturned cake pan that should be propped up on a can of bake beans. 

If the cake is too moist, it will be heavy and fall out of the upturned cake pan as it cools. Therefore, remove the cake from the oven only when the cake gives a quick bounce back when pressed ~ 1 - 2 seconds. It would have the feel of a firm soap sponge when pressed.

To dislodge cake, work a palette knife around the inside circumference of the cake ring. Press the knife firmly against the aluminium as you slide the knife. You want to scrape every lovely cake crumb off the inside of the cake tin.

Do the same for the inner tube of the cake ring.

Pull on the inner tube to lift the cake out from the cake ring. Set down on a level surface.

Press the palette knife against the bottom inside of the cake tin. Using a wide sawing motion, work palette knife around the base of the cake. 

Invert the cake directly on to your cake stand. If you have done a good job, the entire cake will be a lovely golden brown with no missing or peeling cake crumb.  

Slice with a serrated knife and serve with a cup of tea.

The outer golden brown layers has pretty much stayed on the cake. Pretty.

Tips

Tips for a successful bake? I pretty much outlined it all in 'Method' and in my introduction.
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