This chiffon cake is extremely light and fluffy, and has become one of my favourite cakes. You can serve it with whipped cream and any seasonal fruit.
This recipe is adapted from Michael Lim, and I recommend watching his YouTube video to see exactly how it is made. This chiffon cake uses ingredients that you probably already have on hand, but does require some care and patience. The most crucial part is whipping the meringue to stiff peaks and gently folding it into the batter.
Notes for the Meringue:
- The eggs should be as fresh as possible and brought to room temperature. Room temperature eggs whip much better than cold eggs.
- The meringue needs to be beaten to a stiff peak. If the meringue is under-beaten, then the cake will not have enough structure and collapse. On the other hand, if it is over-beaten, you may knock out too much air when folding the meringue into the batter.
- As mentioned previously, folding the meringue into the batter should be done gently and very carefully. In this instance, as per Michael’s video, a whisk is used to fold the egg whites into the batter. You want to retain as much air as possible to ensure the chiffon properly rises.
Other Notes:
- The flours used for this cake are white rice flour and cornflour. Make sure that the rice flour is superfine. Some of the rice flours sold in Australian supermarkets are extremely gritty, almost like grainy sand. So I usually get rice flour from an Asian grocer or nutrition store.
- There is a little bit of baking powder to help the cake rise; however, it relies more heavily on the meringue.
- Chiffon cake uses a fat in the form of oil. Any neutral oil such as a vegetable or canola oil will work, but I do not recommend any strongly-flavoured oil such as olive oil.
- For the milk, I use a lactose-free full cream milk. I have not tried this, but to make it dairy free – you could use an almond, oat or soy milk.
- In terms of the tin, I recommend using a tube cake tin. I’m not sure if a normal, circular cake pan will work in this case. Unlike other cakes, you do not have to grease or line the tin with baking paper. This is because, as the cake is so delicate, it needs something to cling on to as it rises or it will collapse.
- After baking, the chiffon needs to be cooled upside down, resting on an upturned glass. With airflow underneath it, this will prevent the chiffon from collapsing after it bakes.
I would say that this chiffon cake is more difficult compared to most cakes, such as butter-based cakes which simply involve the creaming of butter and sugar. This is because it does require a lot of care and has a tendency to collapse.
You can serve this chiffon with whipped cream and seasonal fruit, but it does taste delicious on its own. I decorated mine with fresh flowers, mostly for the photos because it needed a bit of colour.
So I hope you enjoy the recipe, and let me know if you have any questions!
Gluten-free Chiffon Cake
Adapted from Michael Lim
- 5 large eggs, separated into yolks and whites (eggs should be 58-60g each with shell)
- 115g white rice flour
- 46g cornflour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 110g milk
- 70g canola or vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200g caster sugar, divided
- Whipped cream, to serve
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Make sure the oven racks are positioned so that there is enough room for the cake tin.
- In a large bowl, sift together the white rice flour, cornflour and baking powder. Add the salt, milk, oil, vanilla extract and 5 egg yolks. Whisk together until well combined. Add 100g of sugar, and whisk vigorously until well combined and fluffy, about 2 minutes. The mixture should be pale in colour and slightly thickened, but still quite loose.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat 5 egg whites on low speed. Gradually increase the speed until the egg whites become foamy. Then start adding 100g of sugar, about two tablespoons at a time, whilst beating on medium-high speed. Beat until sift peaks form.
- Using a whisk, gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk-flour mixture. To fold, you want to go around the bowl, down to the bottom and fold the bottom over the top. Then, using a whisk again, fold in the second 1/3 of the egg whites. Finally, fold in the remaining 1/3 using a rubber spatula until no white streaks remain (be careful not to fold the batter too much and knock out the air).
- Pour the batter into a 23cm tube tin. Gently run the spatula through the batter so it is smooth and evenly spread in the tin. Then, bang the tin on the bench three times. Bake in the preheated oven at 160°C for 50-55 minutes (I place mine on the 2nd last oven rack, at the bottom).
- Remove from the oven and let it cool completely upside down on an upturned glass.
- Once cooled, remove from the tin by running a knife around the sides and middle tube. Cut into slices and serve with whipped cream!