🧾 Classic Chiffon Cake Recipe

Ingredients (8–10 servings)

Dry

• 2 cups cake flour (or fine all-purpose flour)
• 1½ cups sugar (divided)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt

Wet

• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ¾ cup water or milk
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla

Meringue

• 5 egg whites
• ½ tsp cream of tartar (optional)
• Remaining sugar

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👩‍🍳 Instructions

1) Make base batter

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and half the sugar.
Add oil, water, egg yolks, and vanilla → whisk until smooth.

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2) Whip egg whites

Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar.
Gradually add sugar → beat to stiff peaks.

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3) Fold

Gently fold egg whites into batter in batches (don’t overmix).

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4) Bake

• Pour into an ungreased tube pan
• Bake at 160–170°C (320–340°F) for ~50–60 minutes

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5) Cool upside down

Invert pan immediately to prevent collapse.

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📊 Nutrition (approx. per slice, 1/10 cake)

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💡 Why it works (simple science)

• Whipped egg whites = air bubbles (foam structure)
• Oil coats flour → prevents dryness
• No butter → lighter texture than regular cake

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🔥 Common mistakes

• Overmixing → deflates air → dense cake
• Greasing the pan → cake won’t climb properly
• Not cooling upside down → cake collapses
• Under-whipping whites → weak structure

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🍊 Variations

• Lemon or orange chiffon (add zest + juice)
• Chocolate version (replace some flour with cocoa)
• Pandan chiffon (popular in Southeast Asia)