Perfect Chiffon Cake

Chiffon cake is the best cake of them all. It is light as air, soft as a cloud and not too sweet. It is perfectly soft and impossibly light. Preheat your oven to 300F (150C) with the rack in the centre of the oven. To a medium mixing bowl, add 100 cups of cake flour and 70ml of vegetable oil then whisk until combined. Next, add 100ml of milk and 2 tsp of vanilla extract then whisk together until the mixture is homogenous.

It is okay if you have a few lumps left because you will whisk some more later. In a different bowl, separate 6 egg whites from the yolks and add the yolks to the mixture. Using a whisk, mix the egg yolks into the batter until it is lump-free and smooth and runny texture. Set it aside. Bring the bowl with the egg whites and add a quarter teaspoon of cream of tartar or lemon juice and whip the egg whites on high speed until it starts to form.

Add sugar in thirds and keep whipping at high speed until the egg whites reach stiff peaks. Take a third of the egg whites and add it to the batter and fill in with a spatula until well mixed through. Pour the batter into the egg whites and fold everything in by scraping along the bottom of the bowl and turning over the top.

Fold until the batter has just come together. Lightly brush the bottom of a round cake pan with a thin coating of oil then add eight teaspoons of flour and shake to distribute evenly and discard any excess flour. Pour the batter into teh cake pan then tap it a few times on the counter to remove any air bubbles trapped in the batter. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 55 minutes.

The cake will bake and rise then crack relieving some of the upward pressure then the cake will begin to drop back down. After it has deflated a little, take it out of the oven and drop the pan twice on the counter to release any excess steam air. quickly invert it and let the cake stay upside down until cool.

Wait at least 90 minutes for the cake to cool down before turning t back over or let it overnight at room temparature. To remove the cake from the pan, lightly press around the top of the cake to pull it away from the sides then run a thin blade around the cake pressing the knife against the inside of the pan. Free the cake and serve. This cake will melt in your mouth.