Lemon Chiffon Cake

A light and airy cake is on the menu today.  It’s a cool day with overcast skies.  A respite from the tropical heat experienced over the last few days.  I really welcome the slight drizzle and the cool breeze with big open arms.  Walking my dog today has been so pleasant.

The weather has put me in a good mood to bake a lemon chiffon cake.  I hadn’t had a chiffon cake for many months.  The cake turned out pleasantly, light and airy with a tinge of fresh lemon scent.  I love it.  The recipe is pretty simple and uncomplicated.  I used the juice of half a lemon and some lemon rind to flavour the cake.  The other ingredients are the standard egg yolks, egg whites, vegetable oil, caster sugar and cake flour.  For the meringue, I beat my egg whites till they are at soft peak stage.  The cake rose beautifully and shrank just a little while cooling (this is normal).  The cake tasted light and refreshing and is a perfect pairing with tea or coffee.  I’m thankful for this simple enjoyment I have today.

Ingredients (for a 17cm chiffon cake pan):

• 3 egg yolks
• 15g caster sugar
• 20ml fresh milk
• 40ml vegetable oil (I used canola oil)
• 15ml lemon juice (about juice of 1/2 lemon)
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
• 70g cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 egg whites
• 45g caster sugar

Direction:

1. Preheat oven to 170C.
2. Using a hand whisk, mix egg yolks and 15g sugar until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Add milk and continue to whisk.  Then add lemon juice and lemon rind, whisk to combine.
4. Add vegetable oil and whisk to combine everything.
5. Add cake flour and baking powder and use a spatula to fold the flour into the wet mixture.  Set aside.
6. Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites until they become frothy.  Add 45g sugar in 3 parts, beating until you get soft peaks.
7. Take 1/3 of the meringue and fold into the egg yolk mixture.  Make sure that the meringue is completely folded in.  Repeat with another 1/3 until all the meringue is folded completely into the egg yolk mixture.
8. Pour batter into chiffon cake pan.  The cake pan doesn’t need any parchment paper or greasing.
9. Tap the cake pan on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles trapped in the batter.
10. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.
11. When the cake is done, remove from the oven carefully and immediately invert the cake pan on the base of a cup or bowl.  This step is important so that the cake doesn’t collapse.
12. Let the cake cool completely.  This takes about 1 hour.
13. When the cake has cooled, turn the cake pan over and use a thin bladed knife to run through the rim to release the cake.
14. Slice cake and store in an air-tight container.