Orange Chiffon cake

Baking a chiffon cake takes practice, lots of it.
I've had my shares of mishaps and even now I still stand in front of the oven and whisper, 'please, please don't collapse'.

That's the arrogance of a chiffon cake, but once you've conquered the basic know-hows, she's your best friend. The endless possibilities of flavors are yours to enjoy.
I'm going with orange today.

This cake has two parts to it. You deal with the egg white and yolk separately, then gently bring them together to get this fluffy characteristic of a chiffon.




For the first part, you would need:

4 egg white
1/3 tsp of tartar powder
50g fine sugar.

In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until mixture becomes frothy and foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar and tartar powder and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

(Cream of tartar is tartaric acid and is a fine white crystalline acid salt which is a by-product of the wine-making industry. It is used in the whipping of egg whites to stabilize them and allow them to reach maximum volume.)

Next you would need ,

4 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
80ml vegetable oil
65ml orange juice
zest of 3 oranges
100g cake flour
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Pre-heated oven at 170 degC.
Sieve flour, baking powder and salt together, set aside.
Place egg yolks in a mixing bowl, add sugar. Mix by hand till its creamy.

Drizzle in the oil, whisking at the same time till the mixture is well combined.
Sieve over the flour mixture and whisk until flour mixture is fully incorporated into the batter. Repeat the same with the juice Add in the orange zest and mix well.

Add the beaten egg white into the egg yolk batter in 3 separate additions, each time folding gently with a spatula until just blended. Do not work vigorously, but rather use a slow motion to blend in the egg white in untill the batter is well combined.



Pour batter into a 18cm (7 inch) tube pan (do not grease the pan).
Tap the pan lightly on a table top to get rid of any trapped air bubbles in the batter for 40mins or until the cake surface turns golden brown, and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.



(The batter is baked in an ungreased tube pan which allows the batter to cling to the sides of the pan as it rises. The tube in the center of the pan lets the hot air circulate so the heat can reach the center of the cake)



Remove from the oven and invert the pan immediately. Let cool completely before unmould.

The cake needs to be inverted immediately upon removing it from the oven as this keeps the cake from shrinking and losing its volume.

To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and the center core. Release the cake and run the knife along the base of the pan to remove the cake.


Enjoy....jue.