If you have read my blog for a while, you may know that I love chocolate a lot. I have also made a lot of chocolate desserts, but never really tasted a chiffon cake with chocolate flavour. That is why when I get a new baking book, The Essential Baker, the recipe for a cocoa cake appeals to me straightaway.
Chiffon cake is always a favourite of mine. It may be strange that a butter lover like me actually love lightness and moistness of a chiffon cake. Developed in the 1920s as a crossbred between butter and angel food cake, chiffon cake became very popular in the 1940s when the recipe was sold to General Mills by the creator.
For me, this is definitely the cake that would suit Asian palate. It´s not buttery and rich, but lightly sweet and moist. And Asian people love soft cake and bread so this is spot on. In countries like Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia, the pretty green pandan chiffon cake is very popular among the local. If you haven´t tried pandan chiffon cake, you really should! A reliable recipe can be found here.
I have served my chiffon cake with crème fraîche and some cherries juice. To make the cherry juice from frozen cherries, simply heat it up with some lemon juice, water and sugar. It´s really lovely with the cake. However, you can just eat the cake plain to appreciate the special soft and moist feature of a chiffon cake.
Ingredients (for a 10-inch tube pan with removable bottom)
Mixture A
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ cup boiling water
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups cake flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 ¼ cup castor sugar
¼ tsp salt
½ cup unflavoured veg oil (Corn oil is good here)
6 large egg yolks, at room temperature
Mixture B
6 large egg whites, at room temp
½ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup castor sugar
Method
Preheat oven to 325F.
Transfer the mixture to the ungreased tube pan. Even out the top. Bake for 1 hour or until the cake is done.
Sounds delicious. Going to attempt this one day. Now I am waiting for the weather to clear before I make that feta cheese bread. All ready to go. wish me luck.
Looks great, you really went all out. Since you love chocolate as much as I do, do you own a chocolate fondue fountain? I got mine for $40, but they have cheaper and more dishwasher-friendly models out there. I love mine, but it is super messy.
Oh my gosh, you really know how to get us drooling over the keyboard and monitor, this looks really yummy!
hey Anh, I am thinking of making chiffon cake too! Really miss the kind of chiffon cakes from Asian Pastry Shops!
I don’t like super-sweet cakes, so I think I would like this.
Anh, that is brilliant! My dad is a huge fan of chiffon cakes and so I’ll have to make this on the weekend for him! Just a question though – he doesn’t like chocolate, so if I were to replace the cocoa with something like matcha or red bean, how much would you think I should use?
This will sound stupid but I didn’t really know what a chiffon cake was before, so thank you! Also, thanks for mentioning pandan cake because I’ve seen it at my boyfriend’s house and always wondered what it was (yet forgot to look it up)! I’d love a slice of your cake. 😀
The perfect amount of lightness and who can hate chocolate? As usual your photos are just wonderful, too.
Edith, all the best with the bread. I hope you like it!
Looks delicious! Soft , light and yummy!
I love chiffon cake! I really miss it. And to have it in chocolate – doubly yummy!
perfect chiffin cake! i;d like to have a slice please 😀
It looks beautiful, Anh! And it also looks like it has a wonderful light texture. The cherries are a delightful accompanyment and are so pretty alongside the chocolate…very enticing.
What can I say but beautiful
Your creations are always so delightful that my comments might sound boring
Your cake is gorgeous!
Anh…I always wanted to make chiffon cake but somehow I have been hesitant…Can I bake the chiffon cake in a normal cake pan as I read somewhere that some particular type is used for chiffon cakes?
I like chiffon cake and can have a lot since it’s so light and fluffy. I like pandan, and of course would not mind giving a shot at the cocoa-version since it’s chocolate-based 😛
Anh, this is my kind of cake. Your cake looks so wonderfully light yet moist. I LOVE chiffon cake, but that’s my mom’s territory. She makes me my fav. cake from my childhood which is a rainbow chiffon cake. But more recently, we started calling it “collapse cake” because in the last few years that she’s made this chiffon cake, it has been collapsing like a deflated souffle. But we still love the
Asha, come over and share a piece with me!
Indeed, not just another cake! That Koko Black chocolate is something special, isn’t it?
The name alone says that it’s special. I don’t think I’ve ever had a chiffon cake before.
Ooh, so light and fluffy looking. I was trying to make spongecake the other day but my egg whites wouldn’t get firm without cream of tartar.
Looks lovely! I fear I may be to heavy-handed for a chiffon cake but maybe I’ll try your recipe…chocolate is certainly motivation enough!
wow, this does look delicious!:) and i love cocoa!!
Of course your friends like that cake! I bet they try to figure out ways to get you to make it more often–it looks fabulous. I love chiffon cakes and you obviously have making them down pat. Yum!
Although he hasn’t said as much, I fear my partner actually dislikes anything that is rich and chocolatey yet generally likes chocolate itself. Chocolate puddings etc are out! I think this could be a real hit with him. Perhaps it’s just the light chocolate dessert I’ve been seeking!
Looks beautiful! I will definitely give this a try
I MUST try that. It’s a MUST!!! If not, I know I’m gonna miss out a lot!
Your cake looks lovely and delicate, a perfect dessert for a warm evening.
Lucy, Koko Black is truly something I love. They are just soo good!
wow, what a cake ! looks so good.
That looks really good. I have not tried making a chiffon cake yet. I am putting this on my to try list.
I love chiffon cake too, but I’ve never made it before, because I think it is difficult to make. It reminds me of Hong Kong style cakes.
Simple yet beautiful! A great way to showcase chocolate.
I am sitting here having my morning tea and wishing I had a piece of your cake to go along with my tea! I was just over at Nora b’s site and she had scrolls, Belinda had muffins and Lucy had a wonderful story about her grandmothers baking. What lovely posts for a morning read. Your cake looks lovely! I, like so many other folks, love chocolate. This recipe sounds perfect as it has chocolate
never tried chiffon cake…not that i remember anyway. looks wonderful and delicious. your food styling is fantastic. –jai
hehe what would you think of me if i told you i’ve still never ever bake d a chiffon cake ? I ‘ve been wanting to almost forever, but just havent gotten around to doing it. Definately bookmarked for the lucky day
How funny–my mom and I just had a conversation about how my grandmother’s first cake was an orange chiffon cake. I never knew it. Apparently, it has a long (and delicious) history, and I’d love to try yours with cocoa. It’s just lovely.
Gosh this cake looks so yummy!! Just love your site. All bakes and cooking looks great.