Cranberry-orange chiffon cake
November 27, 2011 • Category: Dessert
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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Belinda @zomppa says:
Haha! It IS a great achievement! LOVE chiffon…so light and fluffy!
On November 27, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Rosa says:
A real beauty and ever so tempting! Beautiful texture.
Cheers,
Rosa
On November 27, 2011 at 3:38 pm
Melanie@MelanieCooks says:
Beautiful cake, cranberries are such a nice touch!
On November 27, 2011 at 5:55 pm
culinaire amoula says:
oh!! vraiment un délice .
On November 27, 2011 at 6:22 pm
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!
On November 27, 2011 at 8:20 pm
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
On November 27, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Priya says:
Super gorgeous cake,looks marvellous.
On November 28, 2011 at 4:24 am
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.
On November 28, 2011 at 9:16 am
deana says:
Perfect cake and great use for leftover cranberries. I think you are right about the invention… pure gold!
On November 28, 2011 at 9:57 am
Faith says:
Lol, you are right about that! This cake is beautiful, Joumana…cranberry and orange is a wonderful combination!
On November 28, 2011 at 11:51 am
Dana says:
Cranberry and orange are such a good pairing of flavors. So festive! There is no way I wouldn’t love this cake!
On November 28, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Jeannie says:
Beautiful! I love the cranberries dotting the cakes and look light and delicious!
On November 28, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Magic of Spice says:
This has such a holiday feel…beautiful chiffon cake!
On November 29, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Oui, Chef says:
These look SO delicious, and what a gorgeous photo!
On November 29, 2011 at 7:12 pm
domi says:
Je suis tout chiffonné devant ce petit bout de gourmandise si appétissante…
On November 30, 2011 at 12:13 am
weirdcombos says:
I’ve been trying to stay away from cakes but gosh this looks so tempting!
H
On November 30, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Susan says:
I love chiffon cakes and what a wonderful idea to ‘winterize’ it with cranberries and orange. Looks delicious!
On December 1, 2011 at 11:31 am
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
On December 3, 2011 at 11:42 am