Cranberry-orange chiffon cake

November 27, 2011  •  Category:

 

America’s greatest achievement (for some) was when Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. From my pastry kitchen in Dallas, Texas, I say America’s greatest achievement was when Harry Baker invented the “chiffon”cake.


America beat France but no one was cheering; the chiffon cake is just as versatile as a génoise, except more moist and easier to make.

(Did the fellow get a medal or something?)

Recipe from Stephen Schmidt for Cook’s Illustrated, adapted slightly.

INGREDIENTS: 12 servings (1 large bundt cake or 24 mini-bundt cakes)

  • 1 1/2 cups of sugar
  • 1 1/3 cups of cake flour
  • 2 tsp of baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 7 eggs at room temperature (separate 5 eggs while still cold)
  • 1/2 cup of oil
  • 3/4 cup of fresh (and strained) orange juice
  • 1 cup of chopped cranberries
  • 2 tbsp of orange zest
  • 1 tsp of orange blossom water or vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven to 325F. Place flour, sugar, salt, baking powder in a large bowl. Whisk to combine well. Whisk the 5 egg yolks, oil, orange juice, zest and orange blossom water to combine until the batter is perfectly smooth. Set aside.
  2. Beat the egg whites in a mixer; when frothy, drop in the cream of tartar; beat the whites until stiff and thick but still shiny, about 5 minutes in a stand mixer. Fold the whites into the batter gently with a large spatula or balloon whisk until no visible white blobs remain.
  3. Pour cake into the pan of your choice; most recipes do not grease and flour the pan but I always do or use parchment paper, because I hate to see the cakes stick to the pan. Bake for 25 minutes or up to 45 minutes depending on the pan size. Test with a toothpick and if dry it is done. Cool and serve.

Comments

18 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. Belinda @zomppa says:

    Haha! It IS a great achievement! LOVE chiffon…so light and fluffy!

  2. Rosa says:

    A real beauty and ever so tempting! Beautiful texture.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

  3. Melanie@MelanieCooks says:

    Beautiful cake, cranberries are such a nice touch!

  4. culinaire amoula says:

    oh!! vraiment un délice .

  5. Meister@Nervous Cook says:

    These look so perfect for our Christmas open house this year. What lovely little cakes! I might have to make a Bundt (since I just acquired my first pan), but I’m sure it will be just as much of a hit with a dollop of hand-whipped cream. Yum.

    This time of the year is utterly delightful. Thanks for this post!

  6. Christine says:

    Hey Joumana, your Chiffon Cake is a Recipe Guessing Game on Knapkins. Think your friends can win? http://knapkins.com/guess_games/828?source=blog

  7. Priya says:

    Super gorgeous cake,looks marvellous.

  8. Claudia says:

    Bookmarked for my once a week holiday dessert. Love using cranberries in sweets – and the crumb is so light. If you post more of these I am in danger of making more than one dessert a week. I will hold you personally responsible for weight gain.

  9. deana says:

    Perfect cake and great use for leftover cranberries. I think you are right about the invention… pure gold!

  10. Faith says:

    Lol, you are right about that! This cake is beautiful, Joumana…cranberry and orange is a wonderful combination!

  11. Dana says:

    Cranberry and orange are such a good pairing of flavors. So festive! There is no way I wouldn’t love this cake!

  12. Jeannie says:

    Beautiful! I love the cranberries dotting the cakes and look light and delicious!

  13. Magic of Spice says:

    This has such a holiday feel…beautiful chiffon cake!

  14. Oui, Chef says:

    These look SO delicious, and what a gorgeous photo!

  15. domi says:

    Je suis tout chiffonné devant ce petit bout de gourmandise si appétissante…

  16. weirdcombos says:

    I’ve been trying to stay away from cakes but gosh this looks so tempting!
    H

  17. Susan says:

    I love chiffon cakes and what a wonderful idea to ‘winterize’ it with cranberries and orange. Looks delicious!

  18. Devaki says:

    I mean no disrespect that I scrolled down all the other posts and decide to comment on this one. I did simply because ever since my guests left last week I have been wantign to swoon over these cakes.

    When I first saw the post all I could think was this is the year I must GET THAT cake mixer so I can finally make this cake. Yes your post brings out the want in me..lol..

    You are off in Beirut now and I can’t wait to see your cuturally rich posts from yonder 🙂 Can’t wait to see and hear how life enfolds for you there.

    warm hugs & wishes!

    Devaki @ weavethousandflavors

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