Orange Chiffon Cake

I would have never tried this orange chiffon cake if not for the super-enthusiastic baking partners group. This orange/lemon chiffon cake is part of July month’s challenge. I’ve joined this really talented passionate bunch of bakers recently. After my adventure with Gougères last month, I was not going to try the Russian Honey cake (the other challenge for July), however tempting it was. I chose this Orange chiffon cake as this seemed to be simpler and I am happy to say the orange chiffon cake turned out quite well – soft, fine crumbed and fresh orange flavoured. However as always, there are a few things I wish I had done differently.

I used a dark non-stick round springform pan with a tumbler in the middle as I didn’t have a tube pan. The cake browned beautifully, with a nice golden top but the bottom had darkened a little too much. Maida Heatter in her “Orange chiffon cake” recipe specifically asks you not to use a dark pan.  Dark pans generally store heat and therefore brown faster and I think the composition of this cake lends itself to faster browning. So if you can, use a light coloured pan. I used the recipe and directions on fellow baking partner Sandhya’s blog and halved it. I took out the cake at 40 minutes. I think I should have taken it out a little earlier at 30 minutes or so. I was in such a hurry to shove the pan into the oven (my son was throwing things off the terrace) that I didn’t smooth the top, so the cake ended up higher around the inner edge and sloped down toward the outer edge sort of like a speed breaker. This is a beautifully soft light, fine textured cake and would go great with your evening tea.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 30-40 mins
Serves: 16 slices

Ingredients

Flour – 1-1/8 cup
Sugar – ¾ cup
Baking soda – ¼ tsp
Orange zest – 1 tsp grated
Orange juice – 1 tbsp
Egg yolks – 2
Water – 1/3 cup
Oil – ¼ cup
Vanilla Essence – ½ tsp
Egg whites – 4
Sugar – 1 tbsp

Method

1.      Preheat oven to 325 F. Use a tube pan that comes in two pieces or a round springform pan with a tumbler placed in the middle. Do not grease or flour the pan.

2.      Sift flour and baking soda twice and set aside.

3.      Separate eggs and leave outside at room temperature for 20 minutes or so.

4.      In a bowl, add sugar and orange zest and mix with your fingers till light and aromatic. Add the sifted flour and baking soda and mix well.

5.      Make a well in the centre and add all the wet ingredients (except egg whites and sugar) all at once – orange juice, yolks, water, oil and vanilla essence and beat on low speed until well mixed.

6.      Wash the beaters and dry them with a cloth. In a clean bowl, add egg whites and beat till the whites form soft peaks (small peaks that droop over when the beaters are lifted). Add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat till it holds stiff peaks (the peaks hold their shape when the beaters are lifted up).

7.      Fold one third of the beaten egg whites into the flour mixture. Fold gently taking care not to deflate the whites. Fold the remaining whites in 2 more additions. Turn into a tube pan or an ordinary round pan with a tumbler placed in the middle. Run a knife a few time through the batter to remove air bubbles. Smooth the top.

8.      Bake for 30-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Invert the pan over a tumbler or any other object so that the cake is a few inches above the counter and air can freely flow in and around the cake. Cool the cake for a couple of hours. Use a thin bladed knife to gently saw up and down along the sides of the pan to loosen the cake sides. Remove the sides of the cake pan. Use a similar up-down sawing motion to cut the middle of the cake from the tumbler. Remove the tumbler. Then slide the knife beneath the cake and slowly saw it from the bottom of the pan.

9.      Place on a plate dust the top with confectioner’s sugar. Slice and serve.