Do you know the lightness of a cloud? Chiffon cake will give you just this sensation: a soft dough, extremely soft and delicate to melt in your mouth. The feature of this particular Sweet American is precisely its irresistible lightness and softness. It can be enjoyed simple, as in this version flavored with vanilla and lemon and sprinkled only with icing sugar. But the chiffon cake is also the ideal base to make for cakes of all kinds, stuffed as you prefer or covered with icing.
The maximum softness is due to the addition of the cream of tartar to the whipped egg whites and to the chiffon cake mold itself which allows the passage of air and the homogeneous cooling of the cake. Alone or enriched with velvety creams, chiffon cake is a truly heavenly experience for the palate!
Here are other desserts similar to this one to try:
Read the recipe in English
To prepare the chiffon cake, start sifting the flour into a bowl 1. Sift the yeast as well 2 and add the extra fine sugar 3.
Also add the salt 4 and mix with a spoon to mix the powders 5. Take the eggs and separate the yolks and whites into two different bowls 6. Put the egg whites back in the fridge.
Add the water at room temperature to the yolks 7 and seed oil 8. Also add the grated zest of a lemon 9.
Cut a vanilla bean to extract the seeds with the tip of a small knife and add them to the yolk mixture 8. Beat the mixture with a whisk until you obtain a homogeneous cream, there will be no need to whip it. Then pour it into the bowls with the powders 11. Mix with a whisk until the mixture is smooth and free of lumps 12then keep aside.
Take the cold egg whites and pour them into the bowl of a stand mixer 13 (if you don’t have a planetary mixer you can use an electric mixer), then activate the whisk and start beating the egg whites. When they have become white and frothy, pour the cream of tartar by sieving it inside 14 and keep going the whips for a few minutes. Once the egg whites are well whipped, transfer a part of them to the mixture kept aside and mix quickly with a spatula to dilute the mixture. Then add the remaining egg whites a little at a time, always mixing with a spatula 15 from top to bottom so as not to disassemble them.
Now that the cake batter is ready 16pour it delicately into the chiffon cake mold: we used a mold with a 21 cm diameter base, 25 cm diameter on the surface and 10 cm in height (it should not be buttered and floured) 17trying to distribute it evenly 18.
Then bake the chiffon cake in a preheated static oven at 160° for about 60 minutes (for a fan oven at 150° for 45-50 minutes), positioning the cake in the lower part of the oven. Always do the toothpick test before taking the cake out of the oven to check if it is done, and only when it comes out clean do you take the chiffon cake out of the oven 19. Wait 5-10 minutes and quickly turn the mold upside down, using a plate to help you 20. Place the mold on the special feet, so that the cake gets air, cools down and detaches itself from the edges. When the cake is completely cold, remove the bottom of the mold with the help of a small knife 21.
This operation must be done quickly to prevent a part of the cake from sticking and “tearing” under the weight of the cake. Then lift the base 22sprinkle with icing sugar 23 and serve 24.
