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Lemon Chiffon Cake

A light textured lemon cake made with eggs and oil.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword Chiffon, Lemon Cake
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Cooling 2 hours
Total Time 3 hours 15 minutes
Servings 10
Cost 5

Equipment

  • Removable Bottom Tube Pan

Ingredients

  • 7 large eggs separated and brought to room temperature
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour 250 grams (I used 250 grams White Lily)
  • 1 ½ cups sugar 300 grams
  • 3 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup light tasting olive oil or use canola
  • ¾ cup water
  • 4 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon lemon extract
  • ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
  • FROSTING:
  • 6 tablespoons butter softened 84 grams
  • 3 cups confectioners' sugar 360 grams
  • 4-½ teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • ¼ cup lemon juice or as needed
  • Dash salt

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°.
  • Sift together the flour, sugar and baking powder until evenly mixed. You can sift once or twice depending on how lumpy your flour is. Stir in the salt until it is blended evenly. Put this mixture in a large mixing bowl.
  • In a medium size bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Drizzle in the olive oil, whisking all the while, then pour in the water and whisk until evenly blended. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon extract and the vanilla.
  • Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a heavy duty scraper or mixing spoon until evenly mixed.
  • Using a hand held mixer or the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar until stiff peaks just start to form. With a heavy duty scraper or large spoon, fold ¼ of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Continue folding in egg whites ¼ at a time.
  • Fold mixture once or twice to make sure everything is evenly blended, but don’t overmix or you’ll deflate the whites.
  • Gently spoon batter (or pour, but do it gently) into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. Bake on lowest oven rack 50-55 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Immediately invert pan; cool completely in pan, about 1 hour.
  • Run a knife around sides and center tube of pan. Remove cake to a serving plate.
  • To make the frosting, combine the confectioners' sugar with the softened butter and beat until blended. Begin adding lemon juice a tablespoon at a time, stirring until creamy. Beat until smooth, then beat in zest. Spread over cake.

Notes

I haven't tested any of the variations yet, but these are some suggested in the book: For Butterscotch Chiffon, prepare as directed but substitute 2 cups of NOT PACKED brown sugar for the granulated sugar. Omit the lemon zest and the lemon extract.  For Orange Chiffon, omit or just reduce the vanilla to ½ teaspoon, omit lemon zest and lemon extract and use 3 tablespoons of grated orange zest.  Also, substitute orange juice for the water.  For Chocolate Chip Chiffon Cake, increase the sugar to 1 ¾ cup.  Just before pouring into the pan, add 3 oz of freshly grated semisweet chocolate.