Julie Clark
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Lemon Chiffon Cake
Light, fluffy, lemon chiffon cake made with fresh lemons. Make a simple lemon glaze to top the cake for a simply gorgeous lemon dessert recipe.
Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe
Lemon is one of those flavors that I rarely crave and definitely gets neglected because of that. It’s always an “Ok…I guess I’ll make lemon cake” idea until I taste the fresh, tart lemon flavor. My taste buds dance a jig and I wonder why it took me so long to come back home to a lemon dessert.
This lemon chiffon cake is soft, light and fluffy. Top it with lemon glaze and decorate with a sliced lemon for a “wow” dessert that takes no time at all!
How to Make Chiffon Cake Light and Fluffy
Chiffon cakes are similar in texture to an angel food cake. They are meant to be light and fluffy. To help achieve a fluffy texture, you’ll separate the egg white and yolks. Mix the yolks in with the rest of the wet ingredients, then you’ll beat the cream of tartar and egg whites until they hold stiff peaks.
As the last step of making this cake, gently fold the whipped egg whites into the cake batter. Be careful not to mix too much at this point. You don’t want to beat the egg whites down.
Lastly, to help the cake stay tall and light after baking, you’ll immediately invert the warm, baked cake and allow it to completely cool upside down. Once the cake is cool, then you can remove it to a cute cake plate for serving!
Lemon Glaze for Cake
If you’d like, you can drizzle lemon glaze on top of the cake. I used a simple mixture of powdered sugar, lemon extract and heavy cream. Powdered sugar drizzle icings have so many variations. You can read different ways to make this glaze here.
In short, simply whisk the ingredients together and drizzle it over a cooled cake!
Tools to Make a Chiffon Cake
- Stand Mixer: A hand mixer will work, but I always find it easier to froth eggs with a stand mixer.
- Angel Food Cake Tube Pan: I find that traditional aluminum pans work best.
- Flour Sifter: Because you should always take the extra step to sift flour for excellent results.
Other Lemon Cakes
Lemon Chiffon Cake
Light, fluffy, lemon chiffon cake made with fresh lemons. Make a simple lemon glaze to top the cake for a simply gorgeous lemon dessert recipe.
Servings 12
Ingredients
- 7 large eggs (separated & at room temperature)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cups sugar
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Lemon Glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Separate the eggs, putting the egg yolks in one bowl and egg whites in another. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In another bowl, mix together the egg YOLKS, water, oil, lemon zest and vanilla.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until well combined.
- Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites. Using a stand mixer, beat until the peaks are stiff. (This took about 4 minutes in a stand mixer.)
- Gently fold the egg white mixture into the batter until combined. Batter will be very light and fluffy.
- Pour into an ungreased tube pan and bake on the lowest rack for 50 minutes, or until top springs back when touched.
- Immediately invert the pan and let it rest upside down on three glasses.
- Allow the cake to cool upside down completely, then slide a knife around the sides and center of the pan to loosen the cake.
- Remove the cake to a plate.
- To make the lemon glaze, whisk together the sugar, lemon extract and heavy cream. Add additional heavy cream to get desired drizzling consistency.
- Drizzle the cake with the lemon glaze.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
The calories shown are based on the cake being cut into 12 pieces, with 1 serving being 1 slice of cake. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate.
Nutrition
Calories: 283kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 13g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 111mg | Sodium: 238mg | Potassium: 184mg | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 195IU | Calcium: 64mg | Iron: 1.6mg
