Nimmy's Kitchen: Lemon Chiffon Cake

As the name suggests, this cake is just like a chiffon.... so soft, spongy and of course yummy. I had seen this cake recipe in many websites and always wanted to try out once. But somehow, i missed all the time.

When i got the message from Swathi, that our Baking partners challenge this month is 'Lemon Chiffon Cake' or ' Honey Cake', i didn't have a second thought....Yea, its of course the Lemon Chiffon Cake that i am going to try!! I was so happy to see the recipe and was ready with my apron.... ;)

There is something special with Baking Partners group this month....Yes, its been a year that this group has started and to tell you the truth it is growing stronger and stronger by each month. I joined this group about 3 or 4 months back, but i feel that i am there with this group from the beginning. That's the kind of togetherness you feel in this group. Through this group, i have made many virtual friends....i don't know them personally, not seen them at least once, but they are there for you when you have a difficult situation in cooking...I really adore this virtual relationship we have in our group. Hat's off to you Swathi for making this happen. To know more about our group, click here.

Happy Anniversary Baking Partners Group

Some days back, a personal from Dalmia Continental wrote a mail to me about a new product Hudson Canola oil, a brand recently launched in India by them. He asked me whether i would be interested in getting a free 1 ltr sample of this oil. I had always heard about Canola oil from my brother who stays in US. He used to tell me about the benefits of this oil. I knew that it was not available in India. So when i saw the mail about the free sample, i readily agreed and the sample was delivered at my door step after a few days.

I have seen many recipes that used Canola oil. It is one of the rare vegetarian sources for Omega-3, an essential fatty acid. Canola Oil has a very high smoking point, making it ideal for deep frying, high-heat cooking, roasting or grilling and even baking. Its light, neutral taste and aroma allows the natural flavors of food to shine through. Canola Oil is extruded from the seeds of the yellow Canola flower. It has the lowest saturated fat amongst all oils, very high monounsaturated fat, very high Omega-3 and rich Vitamin-E content.

I used this oil in many dishes and came to know that it doesn't have a distinctive taste or smell. I even made this Lemon Chiffon cake with this oil and to tell you the truth, the cake tasted excellent, may be it is due to the Hudson Canola oil i used in it. I am truly satisfied with this product that it can be perfectly used in Indian style of cooking. From now on, i will be using this product in my day to day cooking and ensure that my family is in good health. Thanks to Dalmia Continental for sending me this free sample of Hudson Canola Oil so that i could know the benefits of this oil and could spread the word about it through my blog.

Now back to my Lemon Chiffon Cake....

I had to pass through some difficult situations, while i was in the process of baking this cake. As i was whipping the egg whites to get stiff peaks (with my electric beater), the power went off. Was bit panicked...."How will i bake the cake?" With a positive thinking, that the power will come back soon, I started to whip it with my hand. Oh, god....my hands were paining like hell. But still didn't give up. I couldn't get stiff peaks, but was close to it. "Still the power is not back" I was again worried as to how will i bake the cake if it doesn't come back. Anyway, I mixed the batter and was ready with it. I was praying to god that let the power come back or else i will have to discard the cake batter......ooh.....and luckily after 15 -20 minutes, the power was back. Thanked god and i was back to my job..... ' in full swing'.

Baked it and the cake tasted really soft, spongy and a slight wonderful taste of lemon. hmmmm....tasted awesome. The only thing i noticed is that after the cake was baked, the top portion settled down a bit, may be it was because i could not bake the cake directly after mixing. Any way the cake tasted excellent. I am happy with that... Did a bit of changes to the recipe which i had got and the result was really good.

Ingredients

220 gm Maida/ All purpose flour
6 Eggs
140 gm + 75 gm Sugar (powdered)
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking soda
1 - 2 tbsp Lemon zest
100 gm Canola Oil (I used Hudson Canola Oil)
150 gm Water
25 gm Lemon juice
1/4 tsp Cream of tartar (substitutes are 1/2 tsp lemon juice or 1/2 tsp Vinegar)

Method

Sieve maida and baking soda. Keep this aside.
Separate egg whites and egg yolks. Put them in a clean and dry bowls. Keep these aside.
In the bowl which has the egg yolks, add in 75 gm sugar. Beat well using an electric beater till the mixture turns creamy and pale yellow in colour.
Add in canola oil, lemon juice, water and lemon zest into it.
Beat well till everything is combined properly.
Add in the sieved maida and baking soda mix into it. Mix well using a wooden spoon, till everything is combined properly.
Keep this aside.
Now, beat the egg whites by adding cream of tartar or any of the substitutes mentioned above.
Add in the 140 gm sugar, little by little and beat it till stiff peaks.
Preheat the oven in convection mode at 160 degree Celsius.
Greese the baking cake tin and line it with the butter paper.
Add in 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the cake batter (which we had kept aside). Use the cut and fold method to mix them.
Mix in the rest of the egg white mixture in the cake batter and mix again.
When everything is nicely mixed, pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin. Tap the cake tin a bit to get rid off any air bubbles in the cake batter.
Place the cake tin in the preheated oven for about 50 - 55 minutes. Mine took about 35 - 45 minutes.
Check in between whether the cake is cooked or not by inserting a toothpick in the center.
Once it is done, take it out from the oven and flip it on a wire rack and let it cool down completely. Don't take the cake out from the tin unless it is completely cooled. (check notes)
When it is cooled, take the cake from the tin.....cut and serve.
Enjoy this soft and spongy lemony chiffon cake!!!

Note:

It is said that once the chiffon cakes are baked, the cake tin is turned upside down over the neck of a bottle (as it is usually baked on a tube pan) to cool down for 3 - 4 hours or overnight which helps the cake to set at its maximum volume instead of settling. But instead of placing the cake tin upside down on a bottle, i thought it would be safe it place it on a wire rack.