Chocolate Chiffon Cake
Like all chiffon cakes, this Chocolate Chiffon Cake relies on vegetable (canola) oil making it lighter in texture than a butter-based cake. It is an excellent base cake that is moist and chocolatey, but still allows the richness of a mousse or buttercream filling to shine.
Read through the directions before proceeding as the chiffon cake method differs from other cake making methods.
The recipe calls for two separated eggs, plus an extra egg white. You can either use an extra egg and discard the yolk, or use 1.2 oz (the size of one egg white) from saved egg whites.
The cake will sink slightly on cooling, this is normal.
Chocolate Chiffon Cake
| Yield: 1 8-inch cake | # of Servings: 8 to 10 |
Ingredients
½ cup (2.33 oz / 66 g) all-purpose flour
¼ cup + 2 tbl (1.30 oz / 37 g) cocoa powder, sifted
½ cup (3.5 oz / 99 g) sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 egg yolks
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup + 2 tbl cup (3 fl oz) vegetable oil
¼ cup water, room temperature
3 egg whites
¼ cup (1.75 oz / 50 g) sugar
Special equipment needed:
- 8″ by 2″ cake pan
- Parchment paper circle
- Countertop or handheld mixer.
Pre-recipe preparations:
- Butter 8″ by 2″ cake pan, line with a parchment circle and butter the parchment
- Preheat oven to 350°F
Directions
- Place dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl and mix well with whisk. Set aside
- In large mixing bowl (this is where the final mixing takes place) whisk the egg yolks and vanilla extract, just until combined.
- Add vegetable oil and water. Whisk until combined.
- Add dry mixture and mix together with plastic spatula until smooth. Mixture will be thick.
- In machine bowl using wire whip, beat egg whites until soft peaks, slowly add the sugar, and continue beating until just firm meringue.
- Stir ¼ of the whites into the cocoa mixture to lighten. Fold in remainder just until whites are no longer visible.
- Bake until the center is firm, and a cake tester shows just until cake tester comes out clean, between 28 and 31 minutes.
- Remove from oven to rack. After 5 minutes, turn the cake upside down to another rack or cardboard circle and then flip back so its cools on the rack top side up.