 Chiffon cake with chocolate | |
| Type | Cake |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Worldwide |
| Created by | Harry Baker |
| Main ingredients | Flour,vegetable oil,eggs,sugar |
Achiffon cake is a very lightweightcake made withvegetable oil,eggs,sugar,flour,baking powder, and flavorings.
Chiffon cakes (as well asangel food cake,sponge, and otherfoam cakes) achieve a fluffy texture by havingegg whites beaten separately until stiff and then folded into the cake batter before baking. Its aeration properties rely on both the quality of themeringue and the chemical leaveners such asbaking powder.
Chiffon cake can be baked in atube pan or layered with fillings andicings.[1]
In the original recipe, the cake tin is not lined or greased, which enables the cake batter to stick to the side of the pan, giving the cake better leverage to rise, as well as support in the cooling process when the cake is turned upside down to keep air bubbles stable.
The high oil and egg content create a very moist cake that does not tend to harden or dry out as traditionalbutter cakes might. This makes it better-suited than many cakes to fill or frost with ingredients that need to be refrigerated or frozen, such aspastry cream orice cream. The lack of butter, however, means that chiffon cakes lack much of the rich flavor of butter cakes.
The recipe is credited to Harry Baker (1883–1974), aCalifornian insurance salesman turned caterer. Baker kept the recipe secret for 20 years until he sold it toGeneral Mills, which spread the recipe through marketing materials in the 1940s and 1950s under the name "chiffon cake", and a set of 14 recipes and variations was released to the public in aBetty Crocker pamphlet published in 1948.[2]
Media related toChiffon cake at Wikimedia Commons
