Cake Yield: 9x13" (23x33cm) rectangular cake, 2" high
Cake Servings (approx): 6-8
Vanilla chiffon layers filled with balsamic strawberries and diced mango, filled and frosted with honey whipped cream frosting
Mixing Method: Chiffon
Cake Texture: Lightest of my cakes: airy, velvety soft, and low moisture (though not dry)
Flavor Profile: Classic nutty baked flour and floral vanilla
Appearance: Light to medium yellow (depends yolk color), tiny air pockets, and fine crumb
Difficulty Level: 4/5 (See how I rank cake difficulty here)
Good Frosting Pairings: Whipped cream frostings
Filling ideas: Fresh chopped fruit, jams, or curds; flavored mousses; yogurt-whipped creams
Best for: Those who love cakes that are lighter or from Asian-style bakeries (e.g., Korean, Chinese, or Japanese cream/fruit cakes)
This cake is what I call my "hybrid" chiffon cake because I've combined the airy texture of a chiffon with the stability of a classic vanilla (American type) layer cake. It has the lightest texture of all my cakes and this one has a mellow vanilla flavor that goes great with any type of fruit and whipped cream.
Traditionally, chiffon cakes are baked in chiffon cake pans and then cooled upside down. These baking pans are large and tall, and contain a central hole. It kind of looks like a large donut, which facilitates even heat transfer throughout the batter. Cooling upside down allows the cake to remain tall so the weight of gravity doesn't push down on it.
I didn't want this cake to be restricted to a certain kind of obscure pan so I've developed my recipe so that we can reliably bake chiffons in all the different cake pans in the Cakeculator. Cupcakes and mini cakes bake well with this recipe and I've also used this chiffon to make tall stacked layer cakes.
If you make cupcakes or mini cakes:
Expect to see a little bit of shrinking when you allow the cupcakes to cool; this is normal. Since we can't hang the pan upside down like the larger cake pans (the cupcakes will fall out and the silicone is far too flimsy) the cakes will level down and possibly shrink on the sides just a tad. My test cupcakes and mini cakes were still fluffy and the loss in height was minimal. It does create flat tops though - so if for any reason you're looking for a cupcake or mini cake with a domed top, another recipe will probably work better (the most similar to this is the Almond Vanilla Cake).
If you make round 6" or 8" cakes:
I have cooled these cakes both right side up and upside down. If you cool them right side up - they will shrink down to a level surface and kind of be wrinkly on the tops. It didn't affect the inner texture of the cake at all, really. I feel like it's more of an appearance thing. (If it concaves or pulls away from the sides of the pan when you take it out of the oven, however, the cake is underbaked. The cake should level, but not collapse.)
If you cool them upside down, they will look slightly higher. Watch my video and you can see the little bit of difference. As far as the texture, I couldn't really tell - but the finished cake looks prettier. Though the appearance doesn't really matter if you're stacking layers inside a cake. I still let them cool upside down even though it is nerve wracking the first few times you do it. But don't worry, if it's fully baked - and I give you lots of visuals in the video on how to tell - it won't fall out.
Note that I use 2" high pans, which after turning the pans upside down kinda just barely smooshes the cake. If you use a 3" high pan, maybe you'll likely get noticeably higher cakes.
If you make sheet pan cakes (9x13, half sheet, 1/8 sheet):
**I have not tested this pan yet** But if you are adventurous and want to try - this is what I'd do: the ratio of the sides to the bottom of these pans is not big enough; it won't be strong enough to hold the cake in place if you tried to cool them upside down. So I'd cool these pans (with the exception of maybe the 1/8 sheet pan or maaayyybee 9x13) right side up. Make sure they are baked properly (see in vid and instructions) to ensure the cake levels but doesn't collapse. You'll get a wrinkly top, but I've always found this affects the inner texture of my cake very little. It's more of an appearance thing (wrinkly top).
The chiffon cake mixing method is kind of a combination of the muffin method (where you just mix wet ingredients into dry) and an egg foaming method where we fold in whipped egg whites into the batter. The whipped egg whites is where the aeration, or creation of tiny air bubbles, occurs for this cake batter.
As for the leavening effect, there’s baking powder, which when introduced to liquid (already in the batter) and heat from the oven creates carbon dioxide gas. This expands the air pockets from the meringue. There is also the effect of steam (water converting from liquid to gas) that occurs in (almost all probably?) cake batters while they bake.
First, the wet ingredients are mixed and poured into the dry ingredients, which contain baking powder. Then a meringue is made, which are egg whites that have been whipped on high speed with a bit of sugar to stabilize. This creates a foam, or tons of tiny air pockets that we then fold into the batter. The batter contains the baking powder, and when it all goes into the oven, the baking powder reacts to create carbon dioxide gas, which expands all those tiny air pockets from the meringue.
The more tiny air bubbles you have, the more consistent and velvety your crumb will be in the cake. We can control that by how long we whip the egg whites. As we whip them, the air bubbles get smaller and smaller. And as they do so - they get more stable. You'll know that because they'll be able to create a "stiff peak" without drooping. If you wanted a cake with air pockets that are a little bigger, you could whip to only soft or medium peaks. I think stiff peaks works best for this cake as it just creates this beautiful fine crumb.
This is a lightly moist cake with an airy crumb. The texture comes from a couple things. First is the way that we make the batter by folding in the meringue, which we just went over. This creates that open and light framework for the cake.
A single chiffon cake layer (6" round shown here) has a yellow, velvety, and airy crumb. Notice the browned surface and bottoms, and the flat top. This one was allowed to cool right side up.
As for the crumb itself, the reason why it's so delicate is the use of cake flour and corn (or potato) starch. Cake flour is a finely milled wheat starch that contains a low percentage of gluten forming proteins. Gluten formation creates a chewy texture, which is great in pizza crusts, but not at all desirable in cakes. To further minimize gluten, this recipe also uses a small amount of corn starch. Corn starch contains no gluten forming proteins at all, but fulfills the starch gelatinization amounts required to hold the cake together.
This vanilla chiffon cake has a very classic taste. The primary flavor is a nutty baked flour aroma, which will largely depend on the type of cake flour that you use. Bleached and unbleached flours taste very different - next time you buy some, smell a bit and you'll see what I'm talking about. Bleached flours have a bit of a nostalgic smell for me, as that's what's used primarily in most baking mixes that come from a box and probably what most commercial bakeries use. I use unbleached cake flour because it's the most convenient for me.
The second flavor profile is the floral vanilla. Here is where you can easily do substitutions for flavor. You can sub out for almond here, which my family loves, or other extracts either oil or alcohol based.
This is in the category of moderately difficult cakes. There are a few areas that you have to pay special attention to.
The structure of the cake is almost entirely dependent on whipping the egg whites and folding it into the batter correctly. It also has to be baked properly. If it underbakes, the cake will collapse when it cools.
Don't worry though! I'm a very visual learner myself and have already made all these errors - I outline all it all in my video so that you can see what every step looks like and how to spot and fix mistakes.
Whipped cream frostings are a dream with this cake. It's what's used in most Asian-style bakeries, which was the inspiration for this cake. You can flavor whipped cream frostings and stabilize them too (I did a whole video on that) and even color them if you like.
My favorite of the whipped cream frostings is one that is stabilized with Greek yogurt. It adds a tanginess to the whipped cream and goes so well with all kinds of fruit.
This cake is really great for anyone who wants a lighter style of cake. I would honestly serve this cake year-round with whipped cream frosting and different fruit additions for the seasons: citrus for winter, mangoes + strawberries for spring, berries for summer, and stonefruit + caramels for fall.
Here's a chiffon cake I made. It's 2 layers of 8 inch rounds that I sliced horizontally to give me 4 thinner layers. I then filled the cake with some freshly chopped mangoes and balsamic marinated strawberries. I made a honey whipped cream frosting to go on the outside of the cake as well.
For all other sizes, you should be ok with either grams or volume.
My cakeculator converts to estimated volume (cups, tablespoons, etc.) for American bakers, which are not as accurate and why you you will see differences between the weight and volume amounts. The correct and most accurate one will always be weight.
Ingredients like baking soda and salt are usually given volumentrically (teaspoons) because most household scales are inaccurate with smaller numbers.
This is the OXO scale I use on a daily basis. If you’re interested in other tools I use for my baking, I’ve compiled a list here.
Preheat oven: Move your oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C.
Line the bottom of your (not non-stick) rectangular pan with a piece of parchment paper. Don't do anything to the sides (butter or flour or paper) - you'll need to leave those bare so the rising cake can cling to them and give you the maximum height.
Prepare wet/dry ingredients: In a measuring cup, mix together room temperature water, oil, egg yolks, and vanilla extract with a fork. Mix until you see no separation of the oil and water - the egg yolk helps emulsify these liquids and it will look homogenous in color. Set that aside for now.
In a mixing bowl, sift in the cake flour, cornstarch, white granulated sugar (labeled "for flour"), and baking powder. Add the kosher salt to the bowl and whisk for about 30 seconds.
Mix wet and dry ingredients: Make a small well in the middle of the flour mixture and slowly pour in the water mixture from the previous step while whisking at the same time. As you whisk, you'll see the liquid slowly pulling in the flour mixture from the outer ring; this is to prevent lumps. Once you've poured in all of the water ingredients, keep whisking and stop just when all the flour has been incorporated. Set this bowl aside for now.
Whip egg whites: To another mixing bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Pour the white granulated sugar (labeled "for meringue") into a small bowl so it's easy to add to the egg whites while mixing.
With a hand or stand mixer and the whisk attachment, beat on medium speed until it's thick and foamy. Pour in about a couple teaspoons of sugar, continue to whisk, and then pour another couple teaspoons. No need to be precise on the amount of sugar, but wait about 5-10 seconds between additions to allow the sugar to dissolve a little before adding more.
Once all the sugar has been added, continue to whisk until you reach stiff and glossy peaks. When you pull up some meringue with the whisk attachment, you should see a point when you hold it upside down. It shouldn't be runny or drooping off the whisk.
Fold egg whites into batter: Take a spatula-sized small scoop of meringue and stir it into the batter using the whisk - this lightens the texture of the chiffon batter a tad.
Now take 1/3 of your freshly whipped meringue and fold it into the cake batter. Use swooping motions to scoop the batter from the sides and pile it towards the center. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the bowl once in a while. (My video shows this technique much better than I can describe it.) Once all the batter contains no more streaks of meringue, add the second third and continue to fold. Finish with the final third of the meringue. The batter should not have any lines of meringue, be slightly tan, and be much lighter in texture.
Pour the batter into your prepared pan.
Move the pans to a wire rack and let them sit for about 3 minutes. Take the wire rack and place over the cake pan and flip the cake pan over. (It may be a little taller than the pan if your pan is only 2 inches tall. It's ok, just put the wire rack on top.) And don't worry, it won't fall out. Because we didn't treat the sides of the pan with any fat or paper, the cake will stay inside the pan until you use a knife to loosen the cake from the pan.
If you would like to remove the cake, allow it to cool a little, then pull the parchment hammock to lift it from the pan.
*My older versions of this cake use milk, but I've since changed the liquid to water. I've found that this creates a much softer crumb than milk because it is pure moisture and no milk proteins. However, if you want, you can use milk, although I didn't find any taste benefit from doing so.
**Cake flour is best for this recipe. It is finely milled and contains less gluten-forming proteins than all-purpose flour. This gives chiffon a delicate, very fine crumb that is extremely tender. I use King Arthur Flour's Unbleached Cake Flour, but you can use bleached versions if you like.
***Cornstarch (aka corn flour) or potato starch can be used. This ingredient further decreases the amount of gluten forming proteins in the total amount of starches needed for the cake.
****If you can't find or don't have cream of tartar, sub double the amount of lemon or lime juice. Don't worry, it won't flavor the meringue.
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