Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cakes must be cooled upside down to retain their full height, so it is best to bake them in a tube pan.

Ingredients

• 7 eggs, separated (be careful to not contaminate any of the whites with yolk)
• ½ tsp cream of tartar or 1 tsp lemon juice (baking powder will also do)
• 1½ cups sugar, divided
• 2 cups cake flour
• 2½ tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp salt
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup milk (or soy milk)
• 2½ tsp vanilla (replace with lemon extract and zest for a lemon chiffon)

To Prepare

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar (or lemon juice) until foamy. Gradually add ½ cup of the sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the remaining 1 cup sugar with the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, milk, egg yolks and flavorings until pale yellow. Add the dry ingredients and beat until well blended.
3. Gently fold the whipped egg whites into the yolk batter using a wire whip or cake blender. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so the batter is well-blended. Pour the batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan or angel food pan, or two 9-inch round ungreased cake pans.
4. Bake the cake in a preheated 325°F oven. If it's in a tube or angel food pan, bake it for 50 minutes, then turn up the heat to 350°F for the final 10 minutes, making a total baking time of 1 hour. If you're using two 9-inch cake pans, bake for about 40 minutes at 325°F, then 10 minutes more at 350°F. Don't open the oven during the first 45 minutes of baking; the cake will rise high above the pan, then settle back almost even. It's done when a finger gently pressed in the middle doesn't leave a print, and you can hear a crackling sound if you listen carefully.
5. NOTE: If baking in a small oven (like a toaster oven), 20 minutes at 325°F is plenty.
6. Cool the cake upside down for 30 minutes before removing it from the pan. If you've used a tube pan, set it atop a thin-necked bottle, threading the bottle neck through the hole in the tube.
7. To cut the cake smoothly, dip a serrated knife in hot water between each slice.