Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cakes are so light and airy, they never fail to leave you with a guilt-free form of satisfaction. Don't be fooled though, my friend, these babes get their moistness from a high oil content in the recipe. So even though chiffon cakes resemble angel food cakes in terms of appearance and texture, it's not a legit "healthy dessert". Well, of course, it's a much better alternative to stuffing your face with cheesecake and shortbread when you're trying to maintain a healthier diet (save those for you 20% indulgent times).

That said, this recipe has been adjusted to be low in sugar and lower in fat, so it's much healthier and could fit the 80%-healthy criteria, I guess. Don't worry though, the texture and flavour has not been sacrificed, this chocolate chiffon cake is still moist with it's fluffiness coming from the well-beaten egg whites (meringue) and baking powder. Use a good-quality pure cocoa powder for a flavorsome and rich, yet mildly sweet cake.

The success of baking a well-risen chiffon cake depends on: (1) mastering the technique of beating egg whites (2) folding in egg whites gently and (3) appropriate tools. This tube pan below is crucial for baking chiffon cakes, the tube in the middle enables even distribution of heat, so the cake could rise beautifully. This, however, is not the most important use of the tube pan. The tube in the middle is around two inches taller than the sides, therefore, when the cake comes out of the oven we can immediately turn it upside down to cool without exerting pressure on it. By doing so, we stop the cake from shrinking while being left to cool.

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Recipe for Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Makes an 8-inch cake

Ingredients:

• 6 + 3 Tbsp Egg White, at room temperature
• 5 Egg Yolks
• 100 g Sugar
• 60 ml Vegetable Oil
• 150 ml Milk
• 180 g Cake Flour
• 1 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 25 g Cocoa Powder
• 1 tsp Instant Coffee Powder
• 1/2 tsp Distilled White Vinegar/ Lemon Juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 160 °C. Prepare an 8" tube pan with a removable bottom, do NOT grease it.
2. Make egg yolk batter. Sift cake flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl. Mix in sifted cocoa powder and instant coffee powder. Add in 1/3 of sugar and roughly mix together.
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients (above), then pour in lightly beaten egg yolks, vegetable oil and milk. Mix with a hand-held whisk till the batter is lump-free. Set aside.
4. Make meringue. In a separate bowl that is dry and clean, beat egg whites and distilled white vinegar/lemon juice with an electrical mixer on low speed. When bubbles form on the surface, add in half of the remaining sugar and beat on medium speed. Finish adding in all the sugar a little by little. Keep beating till stiff peak forms (the egg whites have a blunt "tail" when you lift up your whisk), this is "meringue". 
5. Combine mixtures. Scoop 1/3 of the meringue into the batter we made previously, whisk until just incorporated.
6. Pour the mixture back into the meringue and fold in with a spatula. This is a critical step to making a good chiffon cake, you have to work quickly but gently to avoid breaking and deflating the meringue. Stop immediately when there are no chunks of meringue left.
7. Pour batter into your tube pan and bang on the counter for a few times to release large air bubbles.
8. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes.
9. When cake is done, remove from oven and immediately turn it upside-down to cool completely (takes around 30 minutes to an hour, it really depends on the temperature of your house).
10. Once cooled, run a knife round the outer and inner sides of the cake to remove the pan. Do the same for the tube base. 
11. Sprinkle some icing sugar on top (maybe upload a photo and #peachybunnybakes first) and serve! :P 

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