Soft and Fluffy Vanilla Chiffon Cake
Make a bakery-style soft and fluffy vanilla chiffon cake! Inspired by Japanese soft cakes, this vanilla chiffon cake has a light, airy and delicate crumb. Complete with baking and troubleshooting tips to achieve the perfect chiffon cake texture – no shrinking or deflating.
Everyone who knows me knows I love chiffon cakes. And more often than not, I usually enjoy my chiffon cake plain as Jane with a cup of coffee.
This one time, embarrasingly enough, I almost forgot that I was in charge of a party dessert.
At the spur of the moment, I had to pull something together without much thought or time to get special baking ingredients. This vanilla chiffon cake totally saved the day (and my standing, no less😝)!
This was also the first time I covered the cake with a luscious vanilla-flavoured whipped cream frosting and colourful rainbow sprinkles to make it look fun and festive.
Everyone from two-toothed toddlers to picky teens and elderly folks absolutely loved it! Rainbow-sprinkled vanilla chiffon cake is now one of my most popularly requested cakes.
In this post:
This vanilla chiffon cake is softer, moister and fluffier than a sponge cake but lighter, healthier and more delicate than a butter cake.
The best part? It’s so easy to turn it into a special dessert for any occasion.
Whether it’s for a christening reception, summer garden party, or senior’s bingo night, you don’t have to look far for a light and delicious dessert that you can make without spending a bomb. It’s easy to make a chiffon cake at a moment’s notice with common pantry ingredients.
Note: This post has been refreshed with a recipe update, new photos and additional baking tips in response to readers’ feedback. The new and improved recipe has been thoroughly kitchen-tested to deliver a moist, soft and fluffy chiffon cake as promised to ensure the best baking outcome.
Why you’ll love this vanilla chiffon cake
- Soft and fluffy. This recipe uses cake flour which makes the cake crumb extra soft and tender.
- Bold vanilla flavour. Using a natural and pure vanilla extract (not the cheaper and artifically-flavoured vanilla essence) infuses the cake with a rich flavour. You won’t taste the eggy-ness.
- Guilt-free dessert. A chiffon cake is much lower in calories, gram for gram, than butter cakes, bars or cookies, making it a relatively healthier option if you want to enjoy your just dessert without the guilt.
- Perfect cake base. Dress up with a simple whipped cream or buttercream frosting. Add your favourite edible toppings like funfetti sprinkles or strawberries.
- Whipped cream frosting. Made with whipping or heavy cream, this frosting is not too sweet, light as air, fluffy as fluff, and always melt-in-your-mouth luscious!
Did you know? When you sweeten whipped cream and flavour it with vanilla extract, you are making Chantilly cream or crème chantilly in French 🙂.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make a vanilla chiffon cake:
- cake flour – The key to soft and fluffy chiffon cakes is a soft flour (low-protein flour) like cake flour. If you can’t get cake flour, pastry flour can also be substituted 1:1.
However, if all you have is plain flour or regular all purpose flour, you can make cake flour by combining all purpose flour with a bit of corn flour to effectively mimic the protein content of cake flour. The result would be a slightly coarser crumb, but with all the flavour and just as enjoyable.
- baking powder – Even though most of a chiffon cake’s rise is facilitated by trapped air bubbles in the meringue which expand when heated, adding baking powder gives the cake a bit of extra lift and boost. If a cake doesn’t rise well, it could be due to expired baking powder, so be sure to check that yours is still active before you start.
- caster sugar. Caster sugar is also known as extra-fine sugar. This is the best sugar to use when whipping up meringues for chiffon cakes (as well as pavlovas and macarons) because of its ability to dissolve easily and cut finely through eggs, thereby trapping maximum air bubbles. If you can’t get this in your supermarket, regular white sugar or fine granulated sugar will work well.
- salt. Improves the flavour of the other ingredients and balances the sweetness of the cake batter.
- eggs (yolks and whites separated). Use large eggs, each weighing 60 grams (2 – 2.25 ounces) with shell. Tip – It’s easier to separate the egg yolks from the whites when eggs are cold.
- oil. A neutral-flavoured vegetable oil like sunflower oil, canola oil, safflower oil or corn oil works best.
- milk. Use full-fat milk for best flavour. However, dairy-free options such as almond milk, oat milk, or unsweetened soy milk also work well if you don’t mind their flavours coming through when the cake is baked. Optional: You can replace 2 teaspoons of the milk with lemon juice to give the cake a subtle tangy flavour.
- vanilla extract. Vanilla is the hero flavour here, so I like to use a good quality, unsweetened pure vanilla extract like Nielson-Massey Madagascar Bourbon. You can also replace the vanilla extract with lemon extract and add lemon zest to make this a lemon chiffon cake.
- cream of tartar. Helps the egg whites to whip up quicker and hold the trapped air bubbles, creating a more stable, lofty and glossy meringue. You can also replace cream of tartar with lemon juice/vinegar. For every 1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar in the recipe, use 1 teaspoon lemon juice or white vinegar.
To make the cream frosting:
- whipping cream. I use whipping cream or heavy cream with at least 35 – 38% dairy fat. If you’re skipping dairy, you can also use non-dairy whipping cream alternatives.
- vanilla extract or vanilla beans. Use a natural vanilla extract. I also love to use a good-quality vanilla bean paste here – the cream will have beautiful flecks of vanilla beans.
- caster sugar. I tend to use caster sugar to sweeten my whipped creams, but powdered or icing sugar works equally well. If using icing sugar, you will need to add more to get the same level of sweetness of sugar. For each tablespoon of sugar, substitute with 1¾ tbsps of powdered sugar.
- rainbow sprinkles (optional). I love rainbow sprinkles but you can always use any variety of edible sprinkles (see picture below), sparkling sugars, fresh fruit, chocolate curls, or toasted nuts.
If you enjoy chiffon cakes, you can try more of my chiffon cake recipes: coffee chiffon cake (check out the amazing coffee buttercream to die for), matcha chiffon cake, and marble chiffon cake.
Equipment
To make a chiffon cake, you will need some basic tools and equipment. You can do the steps entirely by hand but a
Here’s what you need:
- chiffon cake pan or tube pan with a removable loose bottom, 8″/20 cm
- a set of mixing bowls
- balloon whisk
- silicon rubber spatula
- wire rack
What is a chiffon cake?
Chiffon cake is a very light and fluffy cake with a delicate crumb. It is made with eggs, flour, leavening agents, sugar, and oil.
The key difference between a chiffon cake and other light cakes is that oil is used to moisten the cake instead of butter or shortening. This is why chiffon cakes stay moist for days, while sponge cakes tend to dry out quickly.
A chiffon cake is also considered a type of foam cake. Examples of foam cakes include sponge cake and angel food cake.
Foam cakes rely on whipped whole eggs or egg whites for aeration. Air bubbles are trapped by the eggs during the whipping process, becoming a light and fluffy foam (hence, the name). This is what gives the cake its lift and rise.
While baking powder can be incorporated to help foam cakes rise, it is the air bubbles trapped by eggs during whipping that do most of the heavy lifting.
Chiffon cakes are made with a cake mixing method called the ‘chiffon method‘, credited to Harry Baker (1883–1974) who invented the recipe.
It combines the muffin method (starts with mixing egg yolks and wet ingredients into dry) and an egg foaming method where whipped egg whites are folded into the batter.
How to make vanilla chiffon cake
Note: The recipe card including the ingredient amounts and instructions can be found at the bottom of this post. If you want to skip to the recipe card, scroll down to the bottom or click the ‘Jump to Recipe’ button at the top of this post.
Step 1. Make the egg yolk mixture.
- In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture triples in volume, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- With a balloon whisk, stir in the oil.
- Next, stir in the milk.
- Add the vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the sifted flour mixture to the egg mixture in 2 lots, stirring with a balloon whisk until completely incorporated.
- The wet batter should now be thick, smooth and free of lumps.
Step 2. Make the meringue (whipped egg whites and sugar mixture)
- Before you start, make sure the mixing bowl is completely free of grease. Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar.
- Fit the
stand mixer orhandheld beaters with the whisk attachment. Whip at medium speed (speed 4 on my Kitchen Aid) until the egg whites become foamy. Add sugar gradually.
- Continue whipping until the egg whites become thick, smooth and shiny.
- To check for stiff peaks, stop the mixer and detach the whisk. Turn it upside down – the whipped egg whites (called a meringue) should hold firm and steady. The tips should point straight up without folding into themselves, or possibly a little bit just at the very tips.
Note: Be careful not to over-whip the meringue. Once the meringue reaches the stiff peak stage, beating it further will cause the meringue to break down, collapse, and eventually separate. There is no way to salvage the meringue other than to start over with a fresh batch of egg whites.
Step 3. Fold the meringue into the wet batter
- Gently fold a third of the meringue into the egg yolk batter with a balloon whisk or silicon spatula. This is to lighten the batter initially and prepare it for the rest of the meringue (here’s a helpful post on the folding technique for cakes).
- Fold in another third. Do this lightly with as few turns as possible to avoid deflating the trapped air bubbles.
- Fold in the rest of the whipped egg whites. Again, as gently as you can with as few turns as possible.
- The chiffon cake batter should be light and foamy, homogenous in appearance, and at the same consistency throughout. The batter should not have any unmixed streaks or lumps of meringue.
Step 4. Fill the chiffon pan
Bring the mixing bowl containing the cake batter as close as possible to the ungreased tube pan. Pour in the batter from one position – the batter will spread to fill the pan.
Run a bamboo skewer or cake tester through the batter, drawing circles or zig zags. This will help eliminate deep air pockets. Level the surface of the batter with an offset spatula.
Step 5. Bake
Tap the pan firmly on the countertop once or twice to remove large air bubbles. Place the pan on the lowest rack in the preheated oven. Bake at 165°C (329°F) for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the chiffon cake is baked through.
Do not open the oven door at any time during baking. The safest time to check the cake for doneness is 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the baking time, or when a golden brown crust has formed on the surface.
As the cake bakes, it will expand in volume and dome on the surface. Do not worry when you see cracks appear halfway through baking. This is perfectly normal and characteristic of chiffon cakes.
To test the cake for doneness, insert a bamboo skewer or cake tester into the centre of the cake (any point between the funnel and the edge). When it comes out clean of crumbs or wet batter, the cake is done.
Step 6: Cool upside-down
Once the pan is removed from the oven, immediately invert the pan and place it on a wire rack. This allows the hot, moist air to circulate and dissipate.
The chiffon cake needs to cool upside down for at least 15 to 20 minutes so the crumb can stretch downwards, thanks to gravity. If you skip this step, the cake will sink and collapse on itself. Once the chiffon cake is cool enough, removing it from the pan requires a little care.
Use a thin knife (I use a long fruit knife). Insert the knife vertically between the cake and the side of the pan.
Working in short sections, press the knife blade against the side and rotate the pan. Work your way all around the pan to release the cake.
Next, run the knife between the cake and the funnel. Lift the cake out of the pan by its funnel. Finally, run the knife between the cake and the base of the funnel. Don’t worry if the sides aren’t smooth. You can cover up any rough crumbs with frosting.
Lately, I love using a hand technique to release my chiffon cakes (you can see how it works in this video) that creates the naked, crust-less look you see in the picture above.
Place on a serving plate in an upside-down position and let the cake cool. Cover the cake loosely with plastic wrap to keep in the moisture while you make the whipped cream frosting.
Step 7. Make the whipped cream frosting (Chantilly cream)
Before you start, put a large mixing bowl and balloon whisk in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Make sure the whipping cream is cold out of the refrigerator – don’t take it out until you’re ready.
Combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in the mixing bowl. Whip with a balloon whisk by hand or with a handheld mixer at medium-high speed.
Once you start whipping, don’t walk away or take your eyes off the cream – the entire process will only take a few minutes.
But it only takes seconds to go from a light and billowy soft-whipped cream to a heavy, curdled, and grainy one. Tip: The good news is that you can rescue an over-whipped cream by adding a tablespoon or two of cold milk or cream to the whipped mixture. Whisk again to return the cream to the perfect texture.
Beat the cream mixture until you get firm peaks (see picture above). When you lift the whisk or
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the whipped cream until needed.
Step 8. Frost and decorate the cake
Once the whipped cream is cold, transfer it into a piping bag (my favourite are Ateco piping bags) – reserve some of the cream if you want to pipe designs. If you’ve never used a piping bag before, here is a useful post for beginners.
Make sure the vanilla chiffon cake is completely cooled. Start by piping the cream into the hole and filling it to the top. Next, pipe thick rows all around the cake, working from the bottom to the top.
Cover the top of the cake with cream. With an offset icing spatula or cake scraper, spread the cream evenly and smooth the sides and top.
To create the piped swirls as seen here, fit a piping bag with your favourite piping tip and pipe swirls or rosettes on the top.
Refrigerate the frosted cake until it is cold before adding the rainbow sprinkles to prevent them from bleeding or sinking into the cream (note: rainbow sprinkles will eventually bleed into the cream so it’s best to do this on the day you are serving the cake).
For a simple and elegant look, you can skip the colourful sprinkles. Instead, decorate the top with fresh strawberries (I recommend using whole and sliced strawberries) and fresh mint leaves. You can also turn this vanilla cake into a layer cake. Slice horizontally into the number of layers you want and fill with cream.
Chiffon cake tips
- Use weight measures. If you haven’t made the switch to using weight measures in your baking journey, I highly recommend it now. I list most recipe ingredients by weight because it is proven to greatly improve the quality and consistency of baking outcomes. Use a digital food scale for precise and accurate measurements every time, and you’ll get great results!
- Use the right pan. This is because the batter needs to cling to the sides of the pan as it rises, which is what gives the cake its height and airy crumb. The best pans are made of aluminium or stainless steel with a removable base.
Dark-coloured pans will produce a dark brown crust, while non-tinted or light-coloured pans will yield a light brown crust. If you use a dark-coloured pan, check that is it not a non-stick coating which will not work well for chiffon cakes. - Do not grease the pan. Chiffon cakes will not be able to cling to the pan if the sides are greased or if the pan has a non-stick coating.
- Check the pan size. The batter should fill no more than 3/4 of the pan. That being said, I have gotten away with filling up to 7/8 of the pan. If you do have leftover cake batter, you can fill muffin paper cups and bake them for 15 – 20 minutes, or until done. However, do not put them in at the same time as the chiffon pan to avoid opening the oven door when the cupcakes are done.
- Use room-temperature ingredients. This is important with eggs. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume.
- Separate eggs carefully. Never let any yolk get into the whites. Yolks contain fat which will prevent the meringue from developing stiff peaks. For the same reason, the bowl you use to hold or whip the egg whites must also be grease-free.
- Beat the meringue to stiff peaks. Getting the meringue at the ideal stiffness is crucial to the final texture. As you beat the egg whites, they will naturally progress from soft peaks to medium peaks to stiff peaks. When the egg whites start to thicken and look shiny, pause more frequently to check for stiff peaks. To avoid over-whipping, beat the egg whites at medium speed throughout (it will take a bit longer).
- Sift dry ingredients together. Stir and sift dry ingredients like cake flour, baking powder, and salt to distribute well. This helps the cake to rise evenly and uniformly. The cream of tartar is for whipping up the meringue, so do not add it with the dry ingredients.
- Use a balloon whisk. I strongly recommend folding with a balloon whisk over using a silicon spatula. Due to the inherent shape and structure of the whisk, it is easier to incorporate the meringue without deflating it too much. A whisk also reduces large air pockets in the batter.
- Check the baking temperature. Ovens tend to have hot spots which can affect baking times as well as cause a cake to bake up unevenly. Use an oven thermometer so you can check the oven’s internal temperature and make adjustments.
- Cool the chiffon cake upside down. The chiffon pan must be inverted immediately once taken out of the oven. Allow it to ‘hang’ in this position until completely cooled. The cake will collapse on itself in minutes if it is not inverted instantly.
Recipe adjustments for different chiffon pan sizes
I’ve included a section here on recipe adjustments you can use to fit the most common chiffon pan sizes. While I try to be exhaustive, you may have a chiffon pan size that falls somewhere in between the pan sizes listed below.
If that is the case, I recommend that you make the recipe for the pan size that’s slightly smaller. For example, if you have a 7.5-inch chiffon pan, make the cake recipe stated for a 7-inch pan.
6 inch/16 cm chiffon pan:
For the egg yolk batter: 3 egg yolks, 25 grams sugar (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon); 40 grams milk (2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons); 20 grams oil (1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons); 1¼ tsp vanilla extract; 60 grams cake flour (2.1 ounces); ½ teaspoon of baking powder; ¼ teaspoon of salt.
For the meringue: 3 egg whites; ¼ tsp cream of tartar; 50 grams (¼ cup) caster sugar.
7-inch/18-cm chiffon pan:
For the egg yolk batter: 4 egg yolks, 35 grams sugar (2¾ tablespoons); 55 grams milk (3 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons); 28 grams oil (2 tablespoons + ⅓ tablespoon); 1⅓ tsp vanilla extract; 80 grams cake flour (2.8 ounces); ¾ teaspoon of baking powder; ⅓ teaspoon of salt.
For the meringue: 4 egg whites; ½ tsp cream of tartar; 65 grams (⅓ cup) caster sugar.
9-inch/23-cm chiffon pan:
For the egg yolk batter: 6 egg yolks, 50 grams sugar (¼ cup); 78 grams milk (5 tablespoons + ¼ teaspoon); 42 grams oil (3½ tablespoons); 2½ tsp vanilla extract; 120 grams cake flour (4.25 ounces); 1¼ teaspoon of baking powder; ⅔ teaspoon of salt.
For the meringue: 6 egg whites; ¾ tsp cream of tartar; 100 grams (1 cup) caster sugar.
10-inch/25-cm chiffon pan:
For the egg yolk batter: 7 egg yolks, 55 grams sugar (¼ cup + 1 teaspoon); 90 grams milk (6 tablespoons); 50 grams oil (4 tablespoons); 1 tbsp vanilla extract; 140 grams cake flour (4.9 ounces); 1 teaspoon of baking powder; ¾ teaspoon of salt.
For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 1 tsp cream of tartar; 110 grams (1 cup + 2 teaspoons) caster sugar.
How to store vanilla chiffon cake
Chiffon cake can be enjoyed warm or chilled. Without frosting, this vanilla chiffon cake will keep well at room temperature for 3 days. Beyond that time, it should be stored in an airtight container and refrigerated for another 2 – 3 days.
If covered with whipped cream or fresh fruit, refrigerate the finished cake immediately and keep for up to 5 days. When you are ready to enjoy a slice or the whole cake, allow it to stand at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.
How to freeze vanilla chiffon cake
Chiffon cakes are very freezer-friendly, however, I do not recommend freezing a chiffon cake once it’s been covered with a whipped cream frosting (buttercreams are okay).
To freeze, wrap the chiffon cake with several layers of plastic wrap to seal it tight. Wrap with heavy-duty aluminium foil. Place it on a freezer rack in an upright position. Freeze for up to 3 months.
Trouble-shooting: frequently asked questions
Chiffon cakes are easy enough for novice bakers but can be a little tricky, especially if you are making one for the first time. To make things more complicated, there are often several potential factors for a chiffon cake not turning out right.
Here are the most common chiffon cake problems, how to diagnose what the possible causes are, and how to correct them:
The causes could be an over-whipped meringue or over-baking. A meringue that’s too stiff tends to clump and requires more mixing to incorporate. This can cause the batter to lose trapped air bubbles, resulting in a cake texture that’s drier and denser.
To overcome this, you need to pause whipping more frequently to check the meringue once it starts to thicken and develops a glossy appearance – a tell-tale sign that the meringue is nearing the stiff peak stage. Avoid over-baking the cake – too long a baking time will dry out the cake.
If the cake rose in the oven but then collapsed, the likely cause is that it was underbaked. This will cause the cake to have a dense, almost rubbery texture. To prevent this, test the cake for doneness and extend the baking time if necessary, checking every 5-10 minutes.
There could be a few causes: an under-baked cake, an under-whipped meringue (see ‘beat the meringue to stiff peaks‘ in my tips above), using the wrong cake pan or using a non-stick pan (see ‘use the right pan‘ in my tips above).
This is likely due to a deflated cake batter or an under-whipped meringue. If you make too many folds to incorporate the meringue, you will overwork the cake batter and cause the meringue to lose air and volume. An under-whipped meringue is not stable and will easily lose trapped air bubbles, causing the cake to bake up dense and short.
This points to an uneven mixing when folding the meringue into the wet batter. An unevenly mixed cake batter will cause the cake to not rise properly and develop holes in the crumb. The best way to incorporate the meringue is to use a balloon whisk – fold quickly but gently, with as few turns as possible.
Also, remember to run a cake tester through the cake batter and tap the tube pan firmly on a countertop before baking to eliminate the larger air pockets.
Save for Later:Soft and Fluffy Vanilla Chiffon Cake
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Soft and Fluffy Vanilla Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
For the batter:
- 5 egg yolks
- 40 g caster sugar
- 65 g milk
- 35 g vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla essence
- 100 g cake flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
For the meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
- 80 g caster sugar
For the Chantilly cream:
- 500 g whipping cream or heavy cream 35 – 38% dairy fat
- 35 g powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Make the batter:
- Preheat oven to 165℃ (329℉) using the top and bottom heating mode. Use the lowest rack position in the oven. Set aside a 8"/20 cm chiffon pan. Do not grease.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with a balloon whisk until the yolks triple in volume, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla extract with the whisk until well incorporated.
- Add the sifted flour mixture in 2 lots, stirring with a balloon whisk until completely incorporated. The egg yolk batter should now be thick, smooth and free of lumps.
Make the meringue:
- Fit a stand or handheld mixer with a whisk attachment. Before you start, make sure the mixing bowl is completely free of grease. Pour in the egg whites and cream of tartar. Start whipping at medium-high speed until the egg whites become foamy.
- Add the sugar gradually and continue whipping until the egg whites develop stiff peaks. The meringue should be thick, billowy, smooth, and shiny.Note: To check for stiff peaks, turn the whisk upside down – the meringue should hold firm and steady. The tips should point straight up without folding into itself, or possibly a little bit just at the very tips.
Fold the meringue into the egg yolk batter:
- Fold ⅓ of the meringue into the egg yolk batter with a balloon whisk or silicon spatula. This is to lighten the batter initially and prepare it for the rest of the meringue.
- Fold in another ⅓ of the meringue, again gently and with as few turns as possible to avoid deflating the trapped air bubbles. Repeat with the remaining meringue until the cake batter looks homogenous and is of the same consistency throughout. There should not be any streaks or lumps of meringue.
Fill the pan
- Bring the cake batter as close as possible to the chiffon pan. Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan from one position – the batter will spread to fill the pan.
- Run a bamboo skewer or cake tester, drawing circles or zig zags through the batter. Level and smooth the surface with an offset spatula. Tap the pan firmly on the countertop to remove air bubbles on the surface.
Bake
- Place the pan on the lowest rack in the preheated oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the chiffon cake is done. The cake is done when a bamboo skewer or cake tester inserted into the centre of the cake (any point between the funnel and the edge) comes out clean of crumbs or wet batter. Note: Do not open the oven door at any time during baking. The safest time to check the cake for doneness is 5 to 10 minutes before the end of the baking time, or when a golden brown crust has formed on the surface. As the cake bakes, it will expand in volume and dome on the surface. Do not worry if cracks appear halfway through baking. This is perfectly normal and characteristic of chiffon cakes.
- Invert the cake: Once the pan is taken out of the oven, immediately turn it upside down and set it on a wire rack. Let the cake 'hang' until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.
- Release the cake: Insert a sharp, thin-bladed knife vertically between the cake and the side of the pan. Working in short sections, press the knife blade against the side and rotate the pan. Work your way all around the pan to release the cake.Next, run the knife between the cake and the funnel. Lift the cake out of the pan by its funnel. FInally, run the knife between the cake and the base of the funnel.
Make the Chantilly cream:
- Put the mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 15 miuntes.
- Combine the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract in the cold mixing bowl. With a stand or handheld mixer, whip the cream mixture at medium-high speed (or do it by hand with a balloon whisk) until stiff peaks form. Cover and refrigerate the cream.
Frost and decorate:
- Once the Chantilly cream is cold, transfer it into a piping bag – reserving some cream if you intend to pipe designs.
- Make sure the chiffon cake is completely cooled. Pipe the cream into the hole and fill it completely. Next, pipe thick rows all around the cake, working from the bottom to the top. Finally, cover the top of the cake with cream. With an offset icing spatula or cake scraper, spread the cream evenly and smooth the sides and top.
- To create the piped swirls as seen here, fit a piping bag with the your favourite piping tip and fill it wih the reserved cream. Pipe designs as desired.
- Refrigerate the frosted cake until it is completely cold before adding the rainbow funfetti. This is to prevent the colours bleeding or sinking into the cream (Note: rainbow funfetti or dot sprinkles will eventually bleed into the cream so it's best to do this on the day you are serving the cake).
Hi Celia.. thank you do much for giving such detailed instructions on each and every recipe.. i am yet to try this chiffon but tried your genoise and was successful.. always confused between these 2 cakes .. which one do you prefer for layer cakes?
Hi Ram! Glad you found my blog and have tried the genoise sponge cake with success, thanks so much!
If you haven’t made chiffon cakes as yet, I’d go with a sponge cake as you can bake it in your baking pan of choice (or shape as well), making it more versatile and practical. Plus, it can take on pretty hefty fillings.
The chiffon is lovelier in terms of texture (softer, silkier mouth feel and moister) but for best results, it needs to be baked in a chiffon pan so you’ll have a tube-shaped cake to turn into a layer cake.
The chiffon would make a pretty cake with fillings and frosting too, no matter! I hope this helps! Let me know which you went with and how you get on!
Hi Celia
Do you have to bake the cake in the chiffon or tube cake tin or can you use a different pan and then if so which would you recommend.
Kind regards
Lyndre.
Hi Lyndre, I would only use a chiffon pan to bake a chiffon cake as it ensures the best outcome in terms of the intended texture – an airy and fluffy crumb. I’ve tried baking the batter in regular cake pans (also inverting them once out of the oven) but you just won’t get a light and open crumb, though the cake will still be soft and moist. The best success I’ve had with regular cake pans is when I used pans (ungreased) that aren’t coated with a non-stick layer, so aluminium works best. Hope this helps somewhat.
Hi, how do I keep the bottom part from turning brown? Yours looks very nice and clean. Thanks!
Hi Jay, apologies for the late reply. My chiffon cakes tend to lack deep browning because the chiffon pans I use are made of aluminium. Generally, light coloured pans will produces cakes with a light brown crust, darker coloured pans will produce a dark brown crust. I also like to release chiffon cakes from the pan using a hand technique, so the brown crust layer stays stuck to the pan and I get nice clean sides. Here’s a video on how I use that technique so you can try. http://www.foodelicacy.com/matcha-chiffon-cake
Hi Celia,
I’ve tried to make this chiffon cake but somehow after cooling it, it always shrinks in the middle part. If i cut it early its just right but if i leave it out for a while it becomes denser. Could i hv the measurements in grams? And am i doing something wrong?
Hi Irene, do you mean there is like a ‘waistline’ around the cake? I’m not sure exactly without the help of a visual cue. However, I’ve re-tested baking this cake again today, this time reducing the amount of milk from 85 grams to 65 grams, as well as increasing the vanilla extract from 1 teaspoon to 2 teaspoons (to overcome the ‘eggy’ taste in the feedback mentioned by a few readers). The cake turned out really well with straight sides, no sinking in the middle even after it completely cooled.
I reckon the problem might be either slightly under-whipped egg whites or slight under-baking, both of which could explain the dense texture of the cake.
Try the changes I mentioned, and this time, also bake for just a bit longer. I resisted the urge to pull out the cake at the time I usually do, and gave it an extra 5 – 7 minutes. The ingredients are already given in grams except for oil (3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon = 33 grams). Do share if this helped you overcome the issue.
Hi Celia. I’d like to bake a pandan cake and I’ve been looking for a recipe which I think will yield the fluffiest and tastiest. And when I came across your recipe and the reviews you got for the cake, I’m excited to try it. However I only have a 9-in (22cm) pan and your recipe calls for an 8-in pan. It would be highly appreciated if you can help me out. Thank you.
Hi Celia, I have baked this and other chiffon cakes, rises and tastes great, BUT it sticks to the pan and “shaves” the whole cake every time! I have a real chiffon tin, invert over a bottle and it’s super tasty but what I’m I doing wrong?! It’s right not to grease, right? Thanks!
Hi Naho, that’s interesting, I haven’t had that happen before😆 It could be a case of the cake having too much moisture from the mix of ingredients. You could either try: (1) reducing the amount of milk by 1 tbsp; OR (2) when the cake is done baking, turn off the oven and leave the pan in the turned-off oven for 7-10 minutes to dry it out a bit. Still invert it immediately once out of the oven. I’d love to know which option you go with, and what difference it makes to the sides of the cake (if any) when you release it from the pan. This is so intriguing for me too! Hope this helps!
How many grams with shell for the eggs?
Hi Manny, I usually use large eggs weighing 60 – 62 grams each, with shell.
Can I us fan forced oven, and how many degree?
Hi May, sorry I missed your question! I’ve never baked a chiffon cake in a fan-forced oven, but the general guideline is to reduce the baking temperature by 20°C to imitate conventional. So, that would be 145°C for this chiffon cake.
Do you use oven with fan or no fan?
Hi May, the temperature setting is for conventional mode (top and bottom heating) and not fan-forced.
I wish I could post my yesterday’s first attempt at Chiffon Cake based on this recipe. i didn’t even have a tube pan, so I put a rolled Al foil in the middle of a normal pan, and the cake turned Food-magazine-picture perfect! no cracks, completely cylindrical, with a lacy, soft texture. I did some slight changes: I used 2 teaspoon lemon juice/white vinegar instead of cream of tartar. based on some other website’s tips, I added the powder sugar all at once to the egg white. I also used 80 g all purpose flour + 20 g corn starch since I did not have cake flour. I used lemon zest + fresh Vanilla beans for flavoring. I did not tap the tube after filling it; instead I rolled it gently clock-wise and anti-clock wise several times. I also baked at lower row at 160 C for 40 minutes. I also used a fresh lemon juice-sugar-cream icing and decorated with fresh strawberries, thin slices of lemon and mint leaves. Thanks for the beautiful recipe.
Sayeh, you are amazing! You’ve managed to completely improvise on-the-go by turning your regular pan into a ‘chiffon’ pan, and with ingredient swaps and alternative methods. You deserve all the credit for getting this cake to turn out beautifully, Food-magazine perfect as you said. You’re right, I wished I could have seen it! Thanks to your sharing, you’ve been able to educate me and readers here how to make a chiffon cake even you don’t quite have everything on hand. Well done! p.s. sorry for the late reply.
Hi!
Is it possible to use a regular round 8-inch springform pan?
Hi Chas, this cake needs to be baked in a chiffon pan in order for it to rise evenly and to a nice height. That said, I have baked this in 2 round pans (has to be pans that do not have non-stick coating) for making a layer cake and it was great. It rises well but will collapse slightly in the centre. I don’t grease the pans and do over-turn them when I remove the cakes from the oven. It’s a little tricky to release, but it can work out. You’ll have to try for yourself. Hope this helps!
Dear Celia♥️ I’m an Italian Girl, can you give me precise misures for a Vanilla Chiffon Cake of 26 cm please?
Dear Alessandra, thank you so much for writing in! I’m sorry I got a bit behind but if you’re looking to bake this, here are the amounts you can use for a 25-26 cm tube pan – For the batter: 8 egg yolks; 65 g caster sugar; 135 ml milk; 5 tbsp + 1 tsp oil; 1¾ tsp vanilla extract or essence; 160 g cake flour; 1.5 tsp baking powder; ¾ tsp salt. For the meringue: 8 egg whites; ¾ tsp cream of tartar; 130 g caster sugar. Hope this works out for you!
Hi Celia! Thanks for the recipe.
I have a question about the milk. Can I use cold milk?
Thanks
Hi Hill, thank you for writing in. Yes, you can use cold milk.
HI. Celia..
I am using the same one… the first attempt i use the normal one. *No vanilla smell but very eggy smell
second attempt i tried the non sugar one.. *still no smell and very eggy…
but the same vanilla use on other cake.. it have smell!!!
hahahahahaha
very unusual
my dear Celia, i have a very similar vanilla chiffon cake that i have attempted twice on my 23cm.. the texture and baking everything is ok
but i cannot taste or smell the vanilla at all
i am using pretty good vanilla from Nielsen Massey (non added sugar edition)
first attempt i use 1tsp
second attempt i even use 2 tsp! .. :O
something not right here hahahahaha
Hello dear Kit! Thank you for sharing! That sounds so unusual! I also use the same brand but it’s labeled as Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract, and it’s really good. No issues with no aroma or no taste. Maybe you can look it up.
Hi, I would like to try chiffon cake of yours…
As you mention to use appropriate size pan. Is it ok to use 9″ tube pan for your recipe?
Hi Chin you can use a 9-inch tube pan but the cake won’t be as tall because the amount of batter is meant for an 8-inch tube pan. You can try a 6-eggs recipe. I hope you can share how it works out!
For your convenience, here are the adjusted amounts.
For the batter: 6 egg yolks; 50 g sugar; 100 ml milk; 60 ml oil (4 tbsp); 1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract; 120 g cake flour; 1 1/4 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp salt; For the meringue: 6 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 95 g sugar.
Hi Celia
Do you have a recipe for earl grey chiffon cake? If possible, can you share 3 eggs recipe.
Hi Adeline, thank you for asking! I’ve been meaning to get to an Earl Grey chiffon cake recipe, and coincidentally, I received a number of requests this week for one! What a coincidence! So, I’ve definitely got to work on one now. Will definitely keep you posted!
Hi Celia,
Your Chiffon Cake always looks great in colour and texture. ?
Mine is good in texture, but the outside colour of my Chiffon is always brown. Could you tell me how to get a perfect shape and colour please.
Thank you
Hi Januar, thank you for sharing! I think it’s more to do with the aluminium chiffon pan I use, and also the release method. When I bake in my larger dark-coloured chiffon pan (like the one I use for orange chiffon cake, I get a nice, brown crust all around which is what I actually prefer. But if I bake in a light-coloured aluminium chiffon pan (which is the standard 8-inch chiffon pan I use for most of my chiffon cakes), the crust tends to stick to the insides of the pan even when I run a knife around to loosen the cake. Other times, to release the cake, I hit the outside of the pan (pretty hard) all around until the sides of the cake start to loosen and come away. That also leaves me with a nice and lighter-coloured crust all around the cake, like what you see. Hope this helps!
How do I covert grams to cups in each measurement
Hi, if you’re using US cups, the equivalent for the ingredients listed in grams would be approximated as follows: 3 tbsp sugar for the batter; ⅓ cup + 1 tsp milk; ¾ cup + 1 tsp cake flour; and 6 tbsp sugar for the meringue.
Hi Celia
What would the measurements be if I used 3 1/2 eggs instead of 5?
Thanks!
Hi Christine! You can try these measures for a 3-1/2 egg recipe. For the batter:3-1/2 egg yolks, 25 g sugar; 60 ml milk (4 tbsp); 35 ml oil (2 tbsp + 1 tsp); 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 70 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt. For the meringue: 3-1/2 egg whites; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp cream of tartar; 60 g sugar. Hope you get a successful bake!
Hi Celia
What would the measurements for the other ingredients be if I used 3 1/2 eggs instead of 5? Thanks
Hi Ivy! Have a go with these measures for a 3-1/2 egg recipe. For the batter:3-1/2 egg yolks, 25 g sugar; 60 ml milk (4 tbsp); 35 ml oil (2 tbsp + 1 tsp); 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 70 g cake flour; 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt. For the meringue: 3-1/2 egg whites; 1/4 + 1/8 tsp cream of tartar; 60 g sugar. Hope these turn out well for your bake!
Can I use 10 inch chiffon pan for your vanilla chiffon cake recipe ?
Hi Shirley, it’s better to scale up the recipe to fit a 10-inch tube pan to get a nice, tall cake. Try these amounts – For the batter: 7 egg yolks; 60 g sugar; 120 ml milk; 70 ml oil (4 tbsp + 2 tsp); 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; 140 g cake flour; 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 3/4 tsp salt; For the meringue: 7 egg whites; 3/4 tsp cream of tartar; 110 g sugar. Hope to hear how it turns out! Happy baking, Shirley!
Hi, can I replace cream of tartar with baking powder? Will it affect the meringue mixture?
Hi Grace, you can replace cream of tartar with lemon juice in equal amount. Lemon juice has the same acidity as cream of tartar, which will help whipping up egg whites to stiff peaks as well. Happy baking and hope you’ll enjoy this cake!
Thanks for the clarification. It rose high and it’s really soft,
fluffy and moist. But just became compressed when pressed. Lacks the usual bounce. Perhaps I didn’t bake long enough. I’ll give it a try again! Helpfully can perfect it soon! Thanks!!
Hi! Tried baking with your recipe! It turns out tasting great and really soft. But it’s not bouncy. Really soft and when pressed down, doesn’t bounce back like usual chiffon would. Did I overbeat the egg whites?
Hi Vera, thank you for trying this out! Was the texture fluffy, but not bouncy? And did the cake rise tall? If it’s a case of under-whipped egg whites, the cake will not be as tall and have a slightly dense crumb. If it’s a case of overwhipped egg whites, the texture will be airy and fluffy, but will taste a bit dry. But even if the whites are whipped just right, but was over worked during folding, you could also end up with a moist but slightly denser, less fluffy texture. It might not even be the whipped egg whites, as sometimes underbaking could be a factor because ovens vary and so, baking times will vary as well. It’s hard to say with certainty without seeing it. Hopefully, these have given you some clues.
May I know where u get the chiffon mold from ? how tall is required for the height ? thx
Hi Evon, my 8-inch (20-cm) chiffon tube pan is just under 4-inches. I got it a long time ago from Sia Huat in Chinatown. But you can easily get chiffon pans from Phoon Huat stores, as well as shop online.
Hi Celia. You are a saint. Thanks a million for the gula melaka ingredients. Let me try and I will send you a picture. Muacks.
Dear Celia. I have lots of good gula melaka sugar in my pantry. I would like to make a gula melaka chiffon cake Would you be so kind as to tell me how to adapt the ingredients to include gula melala sugar into this vanilla chiffon cake please? I am seeking advice because gula melaka tends to be more liquify when it is beaten. Thank you very much.
Hi Doris, you must have read my mind, haha! I was just thinking of a gula melaka chiffon cake to add to my series of posts on chiffon cakes! I haven’t thought through the process in detail. I think you would need to have a combination of gula melaka with caster sugar to make it work. The gula melaka (grated) can replace most of the sugar in the egg yolk batter (yolks, oil, milk, vanilla, flour etc), but you might need more because gula melaka isn’t as sweet as regular sugar. The egg whites should be whipped with regular sugar, the finer the grain like caster sugar, the better. Instead of milk, you could substitute with coconut milk for a more ‘lemak’ gula melaka flavour. I haven’t done this myself, Doris, but this is roughly how I would do it. Haha! Let me know how it turns out if you try this!
Doris, I worked out some ‘test’ amounts: For the batter: 5 egg yolks, 140 g gula melaka, 85 ml coconut milk, 50 ml oil, no extract, 110 g cake flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt. For the meringue: 5 egg whites, 1/2 tsp cream of tartar, 40 gm caster sugar. I highlighted in bold the differences from the vanilla chiffon cake recipe.
I suggest grating the gula melaka, then dissolving it in coconut milk heated over low heat (can add a few knotted pandan leaves if you like, remove and discard after heating). Let the gula melaka-coconut milk mixture cool to room temp. Add this after beating the egg yolks, and together with the oil. The rest is as per the recipe.
Is it possible to convert your measurements to cups or ounces? I live in the United States. Thank you!!
Hi, Thank you for the recipe.
I try over the weekend but my cake will shrink. =(
Hi Hazel, it is normal for chiffon and sponge cakes to shrink away from the sides of the cake pan as they cool. The tops will also sink a little, unless your cake had major shrinking, which could be caused by a number of possibilities, like over mixing the batter, or over-whipping the egg whites, or an uneven or too hot an oven temperature.
I realise no butter was used.
Does the lemon extract necessary?
Hi Hazel, this recipe doesn’t use butter, but if you like, you can use melted butter in place of oil, and you can omit the lemon extract.