This Chocolate Chiffon Cake still delivers plenty of chocolate flavour, but its light texture makes it a great cake for any occasion. Chiffon cakes also happen to be one of my favourite types of cake to bake. Before you start, make sure that all the ingredients are at room temperature. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a ban Marie. Set this aside to cool a little. In the bowl of a mixer, beat together the egg yolks and oil followed by the milk then the melted chocolate.

Mix until blended. Add the sifted flour/ cocoa powder/ baking soda and baking powder. Mix to combine, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Set this aside then in a clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar. Gradually add the sugar, whisking continuously, until stiff peaks. Add 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Mix to combine.

There is no need to be gentle at this stage. Add the remaining egg whites in 2 batches, and gently fold the whites into the batter until no streaks remain. Pour into an ungreased tube pan and lift the pan to about 10cm from the tabletop. Drop the pan, this removes the larger air bubbles. Repeat this a couple of times. Bake at 160°C for the time stated for your pan.

You may need to adjust the baking time, depending on your oven. If the top gets too brown or cracks too much, cover with a piece of aluminium foil – just open the open, place the foil over the cake and close the oven door as quickly as you can. Invert the cake pan until it cools completely before removing from the pan.

Ingredients;

  • 1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 3/4 cup hot water
  • 1/2 cup dutch process cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 5 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • 8 large egg whites, room temperature

Instructions;

  1. Preheat oven to 325F. Take out a 10-inch tube pan
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, 1 1/4 cups sugar, salt and baking powder.
  3. In a large bowl, whisk together hot water and cocoa powder, then allow to stand for 10 minutes to cool to room temperature.
  4. Whisk in vanilla extract, vegetable oil and egg yolks until well combined, then stir in the flour mixture.
  5. In another large bowl, beat egg whites until frothy at medium speed, then turn the mixer up to high speed.
  6. Once the eggs have at least doubled in volume, gradually stream in the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar and continue beating until the eggs reach stiff peaks.
  7. Fold the beaten eggs into the cocoa mixture, making sure no streaks of egg whites remain visible. Pour into prepared pan.
  8. Bake for 60-70 minutes, until the cake is set and holds its shape when lightly pressed in the centre.
  9. Turn cake upside down to cool completely on the counter before sliding a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen it. Invert cake onto a cake plate to serve.