Orange Chiffon Cake

I loooove chiffon cake.

Pillowy soft, light and fluffy, it's kind of like eating... a cloud.

I've had too many dry, stiff chiffon cakes that become even drier the next day. This recipe will guarantee you a chiffon that's equally pillowy, but lovely, aromatic and moist (and will remain moist for three days if it isn't gobbled up immediately!)

ORANGE CHIFFON RECIPE:

Makes one 15cm tube pan. A tube pan is needed for chiffon cakes to rise properly without collapsing. Do not grease it or line it with baking paper! The egg whites need to cling on to the sides of the pan to climb and rise.

INGREDIENTS:

Wet Mix

3 egg yolks

20g castor sugar

40g oil (unflavored cooking oils like canola, vegetable or groundnut oil, NOT olive oil or butter)

45g freshly squeezed orange juice (it takes about half an orange)

Zest of one whole orange

Dash of vanilla extract

65g cake flour, sifted

Pinch of salt

Meringue Mix*

4 egg whites

1/2 tsp lemon juice (this will help to stabilise your egg white meringue)

45g castor sugar

*See notes for important meringue tips

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 160C.

2. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and 20g castor sugar till pale and fluffy (see pic in Notes).

3. Add in oil, vanilla, orange juice and orange zest. Whisk till well incorporated.

4. Sift in the cake flour and add your pinch of salt. Whisk till well combined, but don't overdo it.

5. In a separate bowl, put in egg whites and lemon juice. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment on, beat the egg white-lemon mixture on med-high speed till foamy.

6. Gradually add in the sugar in 4 batches. Don't throw it in all at once or your egg white mixture will deflate.

7. Turn up the mixer to high speed (Kitchen Aid #8) and beat till semi-stiff peaks form (see pic in Notes.) Do not under-beat or your meringue structure will not hold and the cake will cave in after it cools. Do not over-beat or your cake will become dry.

8. Using a rubber spatula, mix in 1/3 of the meringue into the wet mix. You don't have to be gentle here.

9. Fold in the second 1/3 of the meringue, gently now, until just incorporated. Fold in the remaining 1/3 till no more clumps or streaks of meringue is visible. Be gentle and do not over mix or you'll deflate all the lovely air in your batter!

10. Tap the bowl on your counter top to get rid of large air bubbles in the batter, then pour the batter into your tube pan. Do not rotate the pan as you pour the batter in or you may trap more large air bubbles in your batter.

11. Using a satay stick or a chopstick, run through your batter in a circular motion twice to get rid of any large air bubbles. Carefully tap your tube pan on the counter top twice again.

12. Shift your baking rack to the 1/3 bottom rack (second bottom rack in my oven). Bake your cake at 160C for 15 minutes, and then 140C for 32min. Check your cake at the 20 min mark. Once the top surface of your cake has browned, insert an overturned baking tray to the top rack to prevent cracking and over-browning.

13. Your cake is done when the top springs back when lightly touched.

14. Cool upside down! This is essential to prevent your cake from shrinking. Unmould only when fully cooled. It'll be a little tricky. Run a thin knife around the sides of your cake to help you (I have yet to perfect this part too, as you can see from the pics above!)

The cake keeps unrefrigerated in an airtight box for 3 days.

Enjoy burying your face in this orange pillow!

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Notes:

1. Semi-stiff meringue peaks in pic 1. It holds its shape but droops over slightly at the tip.

2. Fluffy, pale egg yolk-sugar mix in pic 2.

There's no baking powder here. It's all in the meringue. The meringue contains all the tiny air bubbles that give the chiffon cake its structure and its fluffiness. The trademark of a perfect chiffon cake is consistent tiny air bubbles with no large pockets of air bubbles in the cake. But aiya, it's alright if you get a few large air bubbles. Your cake will still be delish.

Meringue Tips

• It's easier to separate the eggs when they're cold. Do this at the very start before you prepare the rest of your ingredients, so that the egg whites have time to warm up to room temperature by the time you get to the meringue instructions. Room temperature egg whites gain more volume than cold whites when whisked.

• It is crucial that your egg white mixture is not tainted by any form of grease/ oil/ fat, or it will not whip up properly. Lightly wipe down your mixing bowl with some white vinegar if you're not confident that your bowl is clean and grease-free.

• Instead of using the shells to separate the eggs, I like to break one egg into a small bowl first and then use a spoon to scoop out the yolk. Place the yolk in the large bowl, and pour the white into your mixing bowl. Repeat with the rest of the eggs. This prevents the yolks from breaking and tainting the egg whites with fat from the yolk! (also saves you from ruining an entire batch of whites)

• This recipe uses more egg white than egg yolk for the extra fluff. Save the yolk for a savoury hollandaise sauce, or accumulate yolks for making a custard.

• The lemon juice acts as a tastier substitute for cream of tartar, commonly used in other recipes to stabilise the egg whites for meringues.

Other notes

• Do not open the door of your oven before the 15 minutes is up. The draft of cool air might cause the batter to sink in.

• The cake will rise substantially, so do not fill it beyond the 2/3 mark. Your cake will dome beautifully in the oven at first, and then flatten closer to the end of baking. Don't be shocked.

• I use a 15cm pan because I like my chiffon cakes tall and glorious. You could use an 18cm tube pan for this recipe as well. Just keep an eye on the baking duration, it might take less time.

• Make sure to use cake flour for that fluffy, soft texture.