Saturday, June 20, 2009

Chiffon Cake

sponge

My favourite cakes are foam cakes, but they haven't been exactly the easiest kind to make. Alton's was a good start, but it was hardly perfect. I've definitely had my fair share of flops so I couldn't be happier when I cut into my cake and saw a tight knit crumb instead of the usual patches of egg or coarseness. I almost cried..haha. No seriously, I don't think I can even count the number of times I've whipped up a beautiful egg foam only to mess it up with my excessive folding and need to get rid of every single trace of egg white or flour until the whole thing deflated. It's kind of like making a batch of cookies with yummy batter only to have them come out of the oven burnt, hard and dry. I don't know what happened this time.. maybe the baking gods were on my side.. they better be there the next time I attempt a sponge or angel food cake! Since this cake is so light compared to butter cakes, I made a cream cheese frosting to add some richness. No crazy tower of frosting for me though!

This recipe comes from Rose Levy Beranbaum. I love her attention to detail, precision, accuracy and consistency. Her videos were really helpful and I would really suggest watching them if you're paranoid about folding like me. I made a vanilla version, replacing the orange juice with water and omitted all the flavouring except for vanilla. I also halved her recipe and baked in a 9 inch springform.

Rose Levy Beranbaum's All American Orange Chiffon Cake Recipe

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar

Cream butter on medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add cream cheese continue beating on medium until incorporated.

Add sugar and continue beating until incorporated. Don't overbeat or the frosting might turn soupy.

19 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous cake! The crumb is so tight and perfect! Congratulations on your success :)

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  2. I've never even tried one of those kinds of cakes. It looks spectacular!

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  3. that cake looks incredible! you are so talented.

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  4. I'm envious of your baking skills. I don't think I'm much of a baker. I don't even own a mixer! But I really want to make that cream cheese frosting... :)

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  5. Gorgeous and perfect looking cake Steph! I think when I've attempted foam cakes before I always get holes or weird stickiness on top.

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  6. It does look perfect! Nice job, I've never even attempted a chiffon cake. I like the cream cheese frosting you used too!

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  7. This is just beautiful! I love chiffon cakes.

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  8. I'm having deja vu here... when I was testing and trying scratch white cakes, I could NOT find one I liked. Then I tried Rose's white velevet and it came out perfect. Three cheers for Rose!

    Anyway, your cake looks beyond perfect! Congrats on a successful baking day :)

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  9. Successful baking days always make me happy :) That smell of burnt... you know you're about 30 seconds too late to save them. BLEH!

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  10. Ohh so lovely to see another chiffon cake recipe on your blog. And this time, a complete success! There is hope for me after all!! I will try this soon! :D

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  11. This looks incredible. Tt has an understated elegance that I just love. Great job.

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  12. It's beautiful, Steph! The baking gods SHOULD be smiling on you! I love simple cakes like this, and sometimes the simpler they are, the harder they are to make. (Why IS that?) I'm glad you were happy with your cake...I would be!

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  13. and may the gods continue to shine on your kitchen - now you just have to figure out what you did right :)

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  14. This looks perfect! Congratulations on achieving it! I just wish I'll be able to replicate this!

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  15. Looks lovely!
    What's wrong with towers of frosting? :)
    ~ingrid

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  16. Lovely cake. The texture looks wonderful. I'm glad Rose's recipe worked for you. I'm a big fan of Rose and recently made a wedding cake using her Yellow Butter Cake. Feel free to check it out on my blog.

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