Orange Chiffon Cake
I DID IT!
My orange chiffon finally has a distinctive orange flavour. The last time I baked it, half my tasters thought it was lemon.
I used 2 oranges instead of 1 this time, and replaced the water in the recipe with orange juice. That refreshing orange citrus smell filled the whole house while baking, I couldn't wait to taste it.
This is my 7th chiffon attempt. Now I know how to tell when the meringue is ideal for baking - my egg whites were initially contaminated with egg yolks and the meringue ended up watery. I really didn't want to use more eggs than necessary (I've used 11 eggs for a 6-egg recipe before..that's more than a whole tray!), but the most important lesson I've learnt in baking is:
When you have to choose between time and convenience, choose the first. It's better to spend more time and effort for a perfect cake than to save time and money on ingredients only to ruin the cake.
And so, I redid my meringue. I'm glad I did. The sponginess and fluffiness was heavenly!
I'm now ready to share my recipe! I'll try more unique flavours soon like those you see in Yummi Chiffon. Orange is quite a standard flavour (but still yummy nonetheless). I'll do banana again, and black sesame!
Recipe for a 16cm tube pan but I did it with 21cm and it turned out ok (not overly flat).
Ingredients:
Egg yolk mixture -
4 egg yolks
80g caster sugar
60g vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 2 oranges
Juice of 1.5 oranges (~120ml)
120g cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Egg white mixture (for meringue) - Use a grease-free bowl
4 egg whites
100g caster sugar
Pinch of cream of tartar (optional)
Method:
1. Beat egg yolks and caster sugar on high with an electric mixer until thick, pale yellow, creamy. A whisk is usually not fast enough or intense enough unless you have superhuman arm strength. You want to see thick creamy ribbons when you lift the arms of the mixer up high. Don't worry about overbeating this mixture.
2. Whisk vegetable oil, vanilla extract, zest, and juice together well. Add it to your egg yolk+sugar mixture above and whisk till incorporated.
3. Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt into your wet mixture. The sifting is IMPORTANT. You don't want lumps to form in your batter. Do your sifting slowly and steadily, while constantly using the whisk to mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Keep your batter as smooth as possible. If lumps form, you'll have to pour your lumpy batter through the sieve to remove them. When the dry ingredients are fully incorporated and smoothened into the wet, set aside.
At this point you can preheat the oven to 160C. I normally don't preheat my oven at the beginning since the prep time takes so long, I'd just be wasting electricity heating the oven for so long.
4. For the meringue, the mixer's arms have to be grease-free and completely clean. If you only have one electric mixer, this means you have to wash them thoroughly after preparing your egg yolk mixture. Use hot water to remove any traces of grease.
5. Once that's done, beat egg whites on high until foamy with your electric mixer. Then add the caster sugar slowly until stiff peaks form. You may add a pinch of cream of tartar to increase the stability of your meringue.
6. Fold 1/3 of your egg white meringue into the egg yolk mixture to lighten the egg yolk mixture. Using a whisk to mix at this stage is fine too.
7. Fold in the remaining egg white meringue into your egg yolk mixture. You can choose to fold using a spatula or mix using a whisk. Most recipes ask for folding instead of whisking so that enough air remains in the mixture, but I've learnt from my cakemaster Charlene that it doesn't seem to matter. I prefer a whisk because that way I can make sure no lumps of meringue are left unnoticed in the batter.
8. Pour batter into an ungreased 16cm / 21cm / any dimensions in between tube pan and bake for approximately 1 hour until toothpick comes out clean. Watch the cake! You don't want to overbake it (it deflates in the oven in that case).
9. Immediately invert pan to cool the cake upside down after removing from the oven. When cooled, use a knife or angled spatula to remove the cake from the pan.
10. (Optional) Sprinkle sieved icing sugar over the top or garnish with orange zest or slices and serve.
