My First Chiffon Cake - Peppermint Chocolate

As-Salam Alaykum,

As with all firsts it didn't go according to plan and I've learnt another valuable baking lesson, more on that in a tick, first what is a chiffon cake?

Chiffon Cakes are also known as Mayonnaise Cakes as they contain oil, water and eggs unlike Angel Cake which are made using no fat and can be rather dry Chiffon retains  it's moisture which in my book means they are better.

They are made by first whisking oil, egg yolks and water together, sifting cake flour and sugar into the oil mix and beating for 1 minute at high speed.

To give the cake it's light airy texture the egg whites are whisked separately to stiff peaks with more sugar i.e. a meringue then slowly folded into the first, denser oil/flour mixture.

Valuable Lesson - Fold meringue into the oil/flour mixture in 4-6 stages not in 2!

I didn't fold my meringue into the oil/flour mixture well enough, thinking I would knock all the air out of the cake if I folded in the flour in many stages I tried to do it quicker in 2 but it didn't work when I poured the batter into my silicone cake pans there was still quite a lot of the denser oil/flour mixture at the bottom of the mixing bowl which I scraped out and put into the center of one of the pans and gave it a quick stir in hoping for the best!

As I made two cakes the one you see below ended up being more dense in 'spots' where the batter hadn't been mixed / folded in properly Alhamdulillah it was still edible just not worthy of being frosted so I sprinkled it with icing sugar and put it to one side for second best bites.

Chiffon Cakes usually are baked in tube/Bundt pans as this helps the cake rise evenly and as they tend to sink once removed from the oven they are baked in ungreased/floured sided  pans and inverted (onto such things as the bottom of a flower pot) upon removal from the oven and left to cool totally inside the pan.

I haven't got any tube pans (they are on my long shopping list) so I resorted to my round silicone pans and still inverted them, onto a cooling rack lined with baking paper however, as silicone is non stick they started to slide out and stick to the baking paper, ooops! So I do recommend you use metal cake pans for chiffon cakes. It wasn't such a disaster after all, as once the cakes had cooled completely and been unmoulded from the silicone pans I peeled off the baking paper without causing too much damage to the surface of the cakes and kept those sides face down :)

The need to make the buttercream icing green and blue for this cake apart from it being peppermint flavoured of course, was that my 4year old son asked me for a green monster cake.
He got a green and blue frosted chocolate cake without a monster in site (depending on how you view this cake that is lol) I intended the blue to be a rose in the center, but I used an unfamiliar open star tip (not the wilton 1M which is my favourite for piping roses) and ended up going for a swirly circle?!

Next time I make this cake, I will dare to slice the fluffy pillow in 2 and fill it with a lighter buttercream, say Italian meringue or even whipped cream would go well as the cake is so delicate it deserves a filling to match.

Here is my cake recipe, using self raising flour instead of the more traditional cake flour.
The cakes flavour and the texture (lots of air holes) reminded me of a mint aero chocolate bar!

Peppermint Chocolate Chiffon Cake(s)

Adapted from Chiffon Cake Recipe found in the book, The Professional Pastry Chef by Bo Friberg.

Recipe makes 2 x 23cm cakes but the recipe can easily be divided by 2 to make only 1 cake. I highly recommend you make just 1 cake if like me, it is your first time baking this type of  sponge cake. Folding in a 4 egg white meringue will be much easier than one made using 8.

Ingredients

2/3 Cup (160ml) Vegetable Oil (I used sunflower)
8 Egg Yolks
1 Cup (250ml) Water, room temperature
1 Tablespoon Peppermint Oil
336 Grams Self Raising Flour
85 Grams Cocoa Powder
400 Grams Caster Sugar, divided (see method)
8 Egg Whites

Method

Pre-Heat Oven to 375F/190C /170C (fan)

Beat Egg Yolks, Oil, Peppermint Oil together and stir in water.

Sift Flour, Cocoa & 130 Grams sugar into egg yolk mixture and mix in. Beat mixture at high speed for 1 minute (2 if doing by hand with a spoon - it's hard work!) and set aside.

In a separate grease free bowl whip your egg whites at high speed (I recommend using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or an electric hand whisk) until frothy then gradually add 270 Grams sugar and continue to whisk until stiff peak stage.

Fold Meringue into your cake batter in 4-6 stages, I used a tablespoon to do this but ideally you need a bigger metal spoon or a rubber spatula.

Divide final cake mixture equally between your 2 cake pans and bake in the center of your oven for 25-30minutes or until the center springs back slightly when pressed with a finger.

Remove from oven and invert pans onto a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Fill and decorate your cake with your favourite icing, whipped double cream, jam, layer of fruit etc..