chiffon cake做法 步骤 图解

7 inch tube pan
if use springform pan, it may have a volcano-like crack in the center

adapted from XiaoGaoJie's Chiffon cake


============ demystification ===================
1. eggs
room temp vs fridged? doesn't matter. room temp is easier to make the meringue, but the cold eggs don't change the final result. Also, w/ beating, the egg whites will heat up anyway

2. mix oil with flour first in the egg yolk mixture --- to stop gluten from forming at all

3. beating up egg whites: usually no oil no water required for the bowl.
- Oil doesn't matter in this step
- w/ really fresh eggs, egg whites are "hard" and adding 1 tbsp of water would even help with the beating

4. adding sugar to the meringue after bubble forms
sugar dissolves in the water of egg whites as syrup, which will wrap around bubbles and protect the bubbles in the meringue

5. meringue
- soft peak: curved tip
- medium peak: straight tip with a curve pliable
**** the maximum of the volume of meringue lies between soft and hard peak, and the hard peak forming stage (dry) is actually reducing the volume of the meringue.

用料  

chiffon cake的做法  

1. separate yolk and white

2. ---- egg yolk ----
   1. whisk together oil and flour (preferably cake flour) >>> leaves no room for gluten to develop
   2. whisk together yolks and milk. Should yield a fluid texture

3. ---- egg whites -----
   1. add white vinegar, beat egg whites
   2. beat till bubble forms, then add sugar in thirds
   
   3. beat till medium peaks (meringue holds patter and shiny, the peak is straight at the bottom but if you drag a curve, it will curve at top)

4. --- combine ----
   add meringue to yolk mixture in thirds

5. pour in a 7-inch cake pan

6. --- bake w/ cover ----
   cover the top with aluminum foil
   bake in 330F for 20 mins

7. --- bake w/o cover ----
   remove the foil and reduce the temp to 310F to bake for another 20 mins

8. ---- cool -----
   flip upside-down to cool

小贴士

============== changes in parameters ============ 4:10 ==
summary: meringue doesn't affect too much; temp and time is the key

1. number of eggs
4-6 is fine. less egg would have a slightly less rise

2. meringue
- hard peak: would crack a bit; collapse a bit after cooled; larger bubbles inside the cake; a bit coarser texture than medium peak
- stopped before the soft peak (no peak formed at all, water at the bottom of the meringue): collapse a bit after cooled, bottom slightly dense but overall structure is good
- violently mix meringue to the yolk mixture w/o folding gently: crack slightly; no collapse after cooled; very few big bubbles inside
***** meringue's stage and mixing affects the volume of the chiffon, but it's not the main reason for collapsing or cracking

3. not rising
- bigger, flatter pan: didn't rise up (b/c the heat can't get up in the center); collapse after cooled; denser than others
# temp is not high enough or didn't bake long enough

4. cracking:
- no aluminum foil cover and bake 330F for 45 mins: crack on top; will collapse a bit after cooled (the less done it is, the more it collapse here)
     reason: heat up on the surface to fast that the shape is fixed, the bubbles from inside cracked the top open
- covered in foil but baked for too long: crack in the center
    reason: surface and edges are formed, then the heat from the center cracked it open
***** cracking is not too bad, as long as it doesn't collapse too much, the texture will still be good