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 recipe

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.

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 stand mixer or hand mixer will definitely make the process much easier and more effortless.

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.

1. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until the mixture triples in volume, about 3 to 5 minutes.
2. With a balloon whisk, stir in the oil.

3. Next, stir in the milk.
4. Add the vanilla extract.

5. 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.
6. The wet batter should now be thick, smooth and free of lumps.

Step 2. Make the meringue (whipped egg whites and sugar mixture)

1. Before you start, make sure the mixing bowl is completely free of grease. Combine the egg whites and cream of tartar.
2. Fit the stand mixer or handheld beaters with the whisk attachment. Whip at medium speed (speed 4 on my Kitchen Aid) until the egg whites become foamy. Add sugar gradually.

3. Continue whipping until the egg whites become thick, smooth and shiny.
4. 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

1. 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).
2. Fold in another third. Do this lightly with as few turns as possible to avoid deflating the trapped air bubbles.

3. Fold in the rest of the whipped egg whites. Again, as gently as you can with as few turns as possible.
4. 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 beaters, the cream should hold a fairly stiff, firm peak. The tip may droop just a bit, but it should not lose its shape or collapse on itself. On the other hand, it should also not be too soft and liquidy.

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

1. 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!
   
2. 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.
   
3. 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.
   
4. 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.
   
5. Use room-temperature ingredients. This is important with eggs. Cold egg whites tend to reduce meringue volume.
   
6. 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.
   
7. 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).
   
8. 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.
   
9. 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.
   
10. 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.
    
11. 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:

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