Although most recipes only show you the back side of their chiffon cakes, my recipe teaches you how to make a airy and soft chiffon cake that has a perfect looking on BOTH SIDES!
By following this easy foolproof recipe, everyone can say goodbye to deflating, cracking, or burnt chiffon cakes.
- How to Make the Chiffon Cake Batter
- How to beat egg whites for chiffon cake?
- EQUIPMENT for making a chiffon cake
- INGREDIENTS for making a 6 inch chiffon cake
- Step-by-step: How to make a perfect chiffon cake
- Chiffon Cake FAQs, Tips & Trouble Shooting:
- Your Question 1: Can I use normal flour instead of cake flour?
- Your Question 2: Can I spray oil on my cake pan so that it can be unmolded easier?
- Your Question 3: What's the recipe for a 7 inch or 8 inch chiffon cake?
- Your Question 4: Chiffon Cake Baking Times & Temperature By Pan Size
- Your Question 5: Why did my chiffon collapsed in the middle? (I did not open the oven door)
- Your Question 6: Can I use this recipe to make a sheet cake?
- Your Question 7: How to make a chocolate chiffon cake?
- My Other Dessert Recipes You Will Also Like:
- Chiffon Cake – Perfect on Both Sides!
How to Make the Chiffon Cake Batter
When you make a chiffon cake, which step do you think is the most important one?
I guess most people would answer: “Perfectly whipped egg white is the key to a successful chiffon cake”.
People often pay too much attention to the egg white, while ignore the importance of the egg yolk mixture.
Let’s compare 3 different methods of preparing the egg yolk mixture: all together method, flour oil method, and hot oil method. After the comparison, you will realize the importance of the egg yolk mixture.
Method 1: All Together Method
“All together method” is the easiest and most popular method. However, it is also the method with the highest failure rate.
When you prepare the egg yolk mixture for a chiffon cake, how many of you simply mix egg yolks, oil, milk, and cake flour all together with a whisk?
That could be the biggest reason why your chiffon cake cracks or shrinks.
When the flour comes in direct contact with water (milk here), it will form gluten fast.
We need the gluten to form when we make chewy foods such as breads and buns. However, chiffon cakes are supposed to be airy, soft, and fluffy. When there is too much gluten, the cake will be hard and thick like a pizza.
Many other chiffon cake recipes will tell you to “fold the egg yolk mixture gently” to avoid the formation of gluten. Nevertheless, a much easier and effective method is to block the direct contact of flour and water⬇.
Method 2: Flour Oil Method
“Flour oil method” is to mix flour and oil first, then add in rest of the ingredients: egg yolks, milk, and vanilla extract.
The principle of this method is that after the oil is mixed with the flour, the oil surrounds the flour particles, effectively preventing the formation of gluten after we add water later.
With flour oil method, you don’t have to fold the egg yolk mixture “gently”. No matter how crazily you stir the mixture, the gluten won’t form, because the flour is already “protected” by a layer of oil.
This easy method can greatly increase your success rate in making fluffy chiffon cakes with no cracks on the surface.
Method 3: Hot Oil Method
Strictly speaking, “hot oil method” is a branch of the flour oil method. We need to heat the oil to 70-80°C, pour it to the cake flour, mix well, then add the rest of the ingredients.
In short, the hot oil destroys the protein in flour, preventing it from generating gluten. Therefore, with hot oil method, the gluten won’t form no matter how hard you stir the mixture.
However, I personally prefer “flour oil method” than hot oil method.
Because if we accidentally make the oil overly hot, it will burn all the proteins and cause the chiffon cake to fail to rise.
I used “flour oil method” in this recipe, look how perfect my chiffon cake turned out to be:
How to beat egg whites for chiffon cake?
Now that we have gotten the egg yolk mixture perfectly prepared, the next tough task is to beat egg whites appropriately.
Many foolproof chiffon recipes would suggest you to beat the egg white until stiff peaks form. Yes, it’s the easiest way for a novice baker to get started with.
With stiff-peak egg whites, your chiffon cake will for sure be tall, fluffy and tasty, but might have many cracks on the top surface. That’s why many recipes only show you the bottom side of their finished chiffon cakes.
However, if the egg whites are not whipped up enough, let’s say you stopped whipping at the soft-peak stage, there isn’t enough air trapped in the egg whites, your chiffon cake won’t rise tall enough to be airy and fluffy.
Therefore, I always whip my egg whites until medium peaks form, which is between stiff peaks and soft peaks stage.
Ms Shi
With my hand mixer, which has 6 speed levels, I usually use speed 2 to beat the egg whites for about 8 minutes to get medium peaks.
Time might be varied for different hand mixers, but it’s easy to observe the peaks to tell the stage of your egg whites:
- Soft peaks: when you hold your beaters up with the egg white peaks pointing to the ceiling, the soft peaks can barely hold its shape, and will blend down and point to the floor.
- Medium peaks: when you hold your beaters up with the egg white peaks pointing to the ceiling, the medium peaks will slowly bend down and eventually hold its shape at 45 degrees pointing to the floor.
- Stiff peaks: when you hold your beaters up with the egg white peaks pointing to the ceiling, the stiff peaks will hold its shape and point straight up to the ceiling.
Last words before you start:
As we all know, one single drop of egg yolk or oil could stop the egg white from being beaten stiff.
Therefore, no matter how great your egg separating skills are, I still highly recommend using three bowls (two small bowls, one large mixing bowl) to separate egg yolks and whites.
- Carefully open an egg upright over a small bowl, letting the egg white drop to the bowl, keeping the yolk in one of the shell halves.
- Pass the egg yolk between the shell halves until most of the egg white has dropped to the small bowl, transfer the egg yolk to another small bowl.
- Pour the separated egg whites from the small bowl to a large mixing bowl. Repeat with the remaining eggs.
In this way, even if we accidentally break a yolk in the middle of the separating process, we will only “pollute” one egg white, and the other egg whites in the large mixing bowls are still clean and safe.
You can save the egg yolk polluted egg whites for scrambled eggs, but NEVER try to scoop out the egg yolk and keep using the polluted egg white.
My countless failure experiences taught me this lesson: always use three bowls to separate eggs.
EQUIPMENT for making a chiffon cake
- Aluminum cake pan – 6 x 3 Inch (Both round cake pans or tube cake pans would work. Do not use a non-stick cheesecake pan.)
- Hand mixer – It is actually possible to whisk the egg whites by hand. It will take you about 15 minutes.
- Kitchen scale
- Oven
- Mixing bowls – You will need at least 2 large mixing bowls and 2 small bowl.
INGREDIENTS for making a 6 inch chiffon cake
- 3 large eggs (Each egg weighs about 60g with shell)
- 50 g cake flour (Can be substituted with 40g all purpose flour + 10g cornstarch)
- 30 g vegetable oil (Or corn oil)
- 30 g milk (Or soymilk, coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk …)
- 45 g sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ tsp lemon juice (optional)
Step-by-step: How to make a perfect chiffon cake
1. Separate 3 eggs into yolks and whites. Place the egg yolks in a small bowl, set aside on countertop. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl, keep in the fridge.
2. Add 50g cake flour and 30g vegetable oil into a large mixing bowl, mix with a whisk until smooth.
3. Add 3 egg yolks, 30g milk, and ½ tsp of vanilla extract to the cake flour oil mixture, mix with a whisk until smooth. Set aside.
4. Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
5. Take the egg white mixing bowl out from the fridge, add ½ tsp of lemon juice and 15g sugar into the egg whites. Use medium-low speed (speed 2 out of 6) of a hand mixer to whip the egg whites for 2 minutes until fish eye size bubbles form.
6. Add another 15g sugar into the egg whites, use medium-low speed to whip the egg whites for 2 more minutes until the bubbles are too tiny to be seen.
7. Add the remaining 15g sugar into the egg whites, use medium-low speed to whip the egg whites until medium peak forms (See the pictures below for the differences between “soft peaks” and “medium peaks”.)
8. Scoop ⅓ of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, fold until well combined.
9. Transfer the egg yolk mixture to the egg white bowl, gently fold until the color looks even.
10. Pour the batter into the cake pan, gently spread the batter with a spatula to create a smooth surface. Loosely cover the cake pan with foil.
11. Bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes.
12. Remove the cake pan from the oven, immediately flip it upside down and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
13. To unmold the cake, insert a small knife between the cake and the sides of the cake pan, run it around. Insert four fingers into the gap between the cake and the cake pan, press the cake towards its center, repeat until the bottom of the cake is separated from the cake pan. Flip the cake over onto a serving plate.
Chiffon Cake FAQs, Tips & Trouble Shooting:
I have been making chiffon cakes and keep revising my recipes for almost 8 years. Hopefully my recipe is detailed and informative enough for you to make a great chiffon cake.
But please feel free to leave a comment below if you have any questions or suggestions. I will make sure to read them and keep updating this trouble shooting section.
Your Question 1: Can I use normal flour instead of cake flour?
Yes, you can substitute 50g cake flour in this recipe with 40g all purpose flour + 10g cornstarch.
Cake flour contains around 9% proteins, while all purpose flour contains about 12% proteins. As we have mentioned above, when proteins and water meet each other, they will form gluten, which will make our cake chewy instead of fluffy.
Therefore, we will need to reduce the amount of proteins in regular flour by mixing in some gluten free powder, such as rice flour or cornstarch.
Your Question 2: Can I spray oil on my cake pan so that it can be unmolded easier?
Nope, please don’t do that. The cake won’t be able to rise if you use a nonstick cheesecake pan or if you spray oil over the cake pan.
A chiffon cake pan is supposed to be “non nonstick“. Because the cake needs to “climb up” along the cake pan’s walls in order to rise.
The best cake pan for making a chiffon cake is actually an aluminum tube pan with a removable bottom.
But as you could see, I used a 6 inch round pan without a removable bottom and still successfully made a perfect chiffon cake.
Your Question 3: What’s the recipe for a 7 inch or 8 inch chiffon cake?
| After → Before ↓ | 6 inch | 7 inch | 8 inch | 9 inch | 10 inch |
| 6 inch | 1.00 | 1.36 | 1.78 | 2.25 | 2.78 |
| 7 inch | 0.74 | 1.00 | 1.31 | 1.63 | 2.04 |
| 8 inch | 0.56 | 0.77 | 1.00 | 1.27 | 1.56 |
| 9 inch | 0.44 | 0.60 | 0.70 | 1.00 | 1.24 |
| 10 inch | 0.36 | 0.49 | 0.64 | 0.81 | 1.00 |
You can always use this chart to convert a 6 inch cake recipe to any size you need.
For example, if you want to use my 6 inch chiffon cake recipe to make an 8 inch cake, you can locate “6 inch” in the “Before ↓” column, then locate “8 inch” in the “After →” row, and find the number 1.78.
Multiply all the ingredients in a 6 inch cake recipe by 1.78 to get the ingredients you need for an 8 inch cake.
| After → Before ↓ | 6 inch | 7 inch | 8 inch | 9 inch | 10 inch |
| 6 inch | 1.00 | 1.36 | 1.78 | 2.25 | 2.78 |
Okay, if you don’t want to do the math, I can list them for you:
INGREDIENTS for making a 7 inch chiffon cake
4 large eggs (Each egg weighs about 60g with shell)
68 g cake flour (Can be substituted with 55g all purpose flour + 13g cornstarch)
41 g vegetable oil (Or corn oil)
41 g milk (Or soymilk, coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk …)
61.2 g sugar
2⁄3 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2⁄3 tsp lemon juice (optional)
INGREDIENTS for making a 8 inch chiffon cake
5 1⁄3 large eggs (Each egg weighs about 60g with shell)
89 g cake flour (Can be substituted with 71g all purpose flour + 18g cornstarch)
53 g vegetable oil (Or corn oil)
53 g milk (Or soymilk, coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk …)
80 g sugar
0.9 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
0.9 tsp lemon juice (optional)
Your Question 4: Chiffon Cake Baking Times & Temperature By Pan Size
The 55-minute baking time in this recipe is for a 6 inch cake. Please bake it for a longer time if you are going to make a larger cake.
Below is my suggesting baking time & temperature. But the best baking time and temperature for your cake might be slightly different, since we have different brands of oven, different types of baking pan, and blending gestures… You may need to take a couple of tries to figure out the best numbers for your cake.
For a 9in cake, you can bake it at 300 °F (150 °C) for 40 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 30 more minutes.
| Baking Times & Temperature | |
| 6 inch | Loosely cover with foil, bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. |
| 7 inch | Loosely cover with foil, bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 25 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. |
| 8 inch | Loosely cover with foil, bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 35 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 30 more minutes. |
| 9 inch | Loosely cover with foil, bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 40 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 30 more minutes. |
| 10 inch | Loosely cover with foil, bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 45 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 30 more minutes. |
Your Question 5: Why did my chiffon collapsed in the middle? (I did not open the oven door)
There could be a few possible reasons for a chiffon to collapse:
1. The egg white hasn’t been whipped enough.
If you whip the egg white until stiff peaks form, the cake would be tall and fluffy, but will also crack on the top surface. But it won’t affect the taste. However, if the peaks are too soft, the cake will shrink after it’s cooled, this will actually make the cake taste hard instead of fluffy.
Therefore, many recipes would say “whip the egg white until stiff peaks form”. You could start with stiff peak egg whites, then gradually move to medium peak egg whites after you gain more chiffon experiences.
2. It’s possible that you over blended the egg white and egg yolk mixture.
As soon as the egg white and egg yolk meet each other, the egg white will start to defoam fast. Make preheat the oven before blending them together, and blend them as gently and fast as possible.
3. It’s very likely that the oven temperature isn’t high enough.
My small countertop oven actually bake cake faster than my large oven. For this recipe, I baked my chiffon at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes.
You could try extension the first baking period for 5 to 10 minutes: baked at 300 °F (150 °C) for 30 minutes, then remove the foil, bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes.
As long as the cake is not turning brown or exploding like a mushroom, you can bake it for a longer time until it gets dryer and becomes more stable.
The last 10 minutes really matters. There was one time when I removed my cake from the oven to early, it shrank. I simply send it bake to bake for 10 more minutes. It cracked a little on the top surface, but it smelled better and grew back fully after the second time of baking.
Your Question 6: Can I use this recipe to make a sheet cake?
Round chiffon cake and flat chiffon sheet cake have similar recipes. But it is worth noting that:
1. A round chiffon cake has a much higher flour content than a flat chiffon sheet cake.
For example, to make a 7-inch round chiffon cake, we will need 4 eggs, 40 g vegetable oil, 40 g milk, and 68g cake flour…
However, if we are making a a chiffon sheet cake instead, we will need 4 eggs, 40 g vegetable oil, 40 g milk, and only 50g cake flour…
It is because that a chiffon sheet cake doesn’t need to rise as high as a round chiffon cake. And we want it to be as soft and flexible as possible, so that it won’t cracking easily when rolled up. Therefore we should add less flour to a chiffon sheet cake to make it moister and tender.
2. We need to bake a chiffon sheet cake at a higher temperature for a shorter period of time.
When making a round chiffon cake, I usually bake a 6 inch cake at 300 °F (150 °C) for about 55 minutes until the surface of the cake turns lightly brown. In this way we can make sure that cake rises slowly but steadily, so that the surface of the cake won’t crack and the center part of the cake will be fully baked.
A sheet chiffon cake is much thinner than a regular chiffon cake, so you don’t need to worry about the under-cooked inner part. When the top surface of the sheet cake is light yellow, the whole cake should already be fully baked.
For a 11×13 inch sheet chiffon cake, I baked it at 345°F/175°C for only 20 minutes. Do not wait until the surface of the cake turns golden brown. Otherwise it will be too dry to be rolled up.
Check out my chiffon roll cake recipe for more details:
Your Question 7: How to make a chocolate chiffon cake?
By adding cocoa powder to the cake batter, you can easily transform it into a chocolate chiffon cake with a delightful cloud-like texture.
Check out my Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe for more details:
My Other Dessert Recipes You Will Also Like:
Chiffon Cake – Perfect on Both Sides!
Equipment
- Aluminum cake pan – 6 x 3 Inch (Both round cake pans or tube cake pans would work. Do not use a non-stick cheesecake pan.)
- hand mixer
- Kitchen scale
- oven
- Mixing bowls
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs (Each egg weighs about 60g with shell)
- 50 g cake flour
- 30 g vegetable oil (Or corn oil)
- 30 g milk (Or soymilk, coconut milk, oat milk, almond milk …)
- 45 g sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ tsp lemon juice (optional)
Instructions
- Separate 3 eggs into yolks and whites. Place the egg yolks in a small bowl, set aside on countertop. Place the egg whites in a large mixing bowl, keep in the fridge.
- Add 50g cake flour and 30g vegetable oil into a large mixing bowl, mix with a whisk until smooth.
- Add 3 egg yolks, 30g milk, and ½ tsp of vanilla extract to the cake flour oil mixture, mix with a whisk until smooth. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 300°F (150°C).
- Take the egg white mixing bowl out from the fridge, add ½ tsp of lemon juice and 15g sugar into the egg whites. Use medium-low speed (speed 2 out of 6) of a hand mixer to whip the egg whites for 2 minutes until fish eye size bubbles form.
- Add another 15g sugar into the egg whites, use medium-low speed to whip the egg whites for 2 more minutes until the bubbles are too tiny to be seen.
- Add the remaining 15g sugar into the egg whites, use medium-low speed to whip the egg whites until medium peak forms (*see the pictures in content above for the differences between "soft peaks" and "medium peaks".)
- Scoop ⅓ of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, fold until well combined.
- Transfer the egg yolk mixture to the egg white bowl, gently fold until the color looks even.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan, gently spread the batter with a spatula to create a smooth surface. Loosely cover the cake pan with foil.
- Bake at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes.
- Remove the cake pan from the oven, immediately flip it upside down and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.
- To unmold the cake, insert a small knife between the cake and the sides of the cake pan, run it around. Insert four fingers into the gap between the cake and the cake pan, press the cake towards its center, repeat until the bottom of the cake is separated from the cake pan. Flip the cake over onto a serving plate.
Video
This recipe do not look scary to try 🙂 `How long do you let the cake in the tin cooldown (upside down) before you take it out? Can I use this recipe for a cake roll? Non chiffon related Q: Can you make “roze quartz” kohakuto?
Hi Nas. I let the cake in the cake pan cooldown for about 2 hours under room temperature. Or you can wrap it with a food wrap, keep it in the fridge for up to 3 days before you unmold the cake. Sure you can use this recipe for a cake roll, just replace the round cake pan with a rectangle Baking Sheet Pan. Line the bottom of the baking pan with a parchment paper so that you can unmold the cake easier.
I haven’t heard about roze quartz kohakuto before. Is this a kind of candy？🥰
..thank you for your recipes!
You are super welcome!🥰
Is it normal for it to be dense?
As a layman, I’d assume not. I’m pretty sure Chiffon cake is supposed to be light, so it could be that the air was knocked out of the batter. It could be that your meringue was at soft peaks, that your folding wasn’t gentle enough, or you somehow knocked the air out of the mix when placing in the pan. Then again, maybe you used AP flour without the substitution of cornstarch, which would result in potential gluten buildup. Hope this helps
Thank you!!
Thanks a lot for answering this question for me! It’s such a perfect answer, I can’t think of anything else to add 🤗❤
Hello,
I would like to ask which function (convection,…) do you use when you bake ?
The oven in the U.S behaves somehow a bit different…
In consequence I probably need to adjust the temperature.
Greetings from Europe <3
Hi thanks for leaving a question. My oven has a function selection of “bake”, “conv. bake”, “conv. roast”, “broil”, and “proof warm”. I have always been using the “bake” function for making cakes.
Merci pour votre recette ! Le gâteau gonfle à merveille mais dès que j’ouvre pour retirer la feuille d’aluminium, il retombe d’un coup !! Même en allant vite… J’ai fait le test 2 fois de suite : la 2e fois je l’ai laissé cuire 10mn de plus sous l’aluminium… Même problème. Je cuis à 150°C en continu, un essai en chaleur statique, l’autre en chaleur tournante : idem… Gâteau effondré et qui ne regonfle pas ! Avez-vous une explication s’il vous plaît ? Merci 🤗
Elle parle pas fr
Peut-être que la température du four devrait être plus élevée ? Je ne suis pas trop sûr… elle ne parle pas français alors j’ai essayé de répondre à votre question mais je ne suis pas un expert.
Why did my chiffon collapsed in the middle? (I did not open the oven door)
Hi Nana, there could be a few possible reasons for a chiffon to collapse.
1. The egg white hasn’t been whipped enough. If you whip the egg white until stiff peaks form, the cake would be tall and fluffy, but will also crack on the top surface. But it won’t affect the taste. However, if the peaks are too soft, the cake will shrink after it’s cooled, this will actually make the cake taste hard instead of fluffy. Therefore, many recipes would say “whip the egg white until stiff peaks form”. You could start with stiff peak egg whites, then gradually move to medium peak egg whites after you gain more chiffon experiences.
2. It’s possible that you over blended the egg white and egg yolk mixture. As soon as the egg white and egg yolk meet each other, the egg white will start to defoam fast. Make preheat the oven before blending them together, and blend them as gently and fast as possible.
3. It’s very likely that the oven temperature isn’t high enough. My small countertop oven actually bake cake faster than my large oven. For this recipe, I baked my chiffon at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. You could try extension the first baking period for 5 to 10 minutes: baked at 300 °F (150 °C) for 30 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. As long as the cake is not turning brown or exploding like a mushroom, you can bake it for a longer time until it gets dryer and becomes more stable. The last 10 minutes really matters. There was one time when I removed my cake from the oven to early, it shrank. I simply send it bake to bake for 10 more minutes. It cracked a little on the top surface, but it smelled better and grew back fully after the second time of baking.
I always have the issue of my cake rising really well whilst cooking but then collapses into a dense thick mess once cooled. Any idea why?!
i have the same issue!!
Hi Lan. It’s very likely that the oven temperature isn’t high enough. My small countertop oven actually bake cake faster than my large oven. For this recipe, I baked my chiffon at 300 °F (150 °C) for 20 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. You could try extension the first baking period for 5 to 10 minutes: baked at 300 °F (150 °C) for 30 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. As long as the cake is not turning brown or exploding like a mushroom, you can bake it for a longer time until it gets dryer and becomes more stable. The last 10 minutes really matters. There was one time when I removed my cake from the oven to early, it shrank. I simply send it bake to bake for 10 more minutes. It cracked a little on the top surface, but it smelled better and grew back fully after the second time of baking.
Hi Lan~ That is a very common problem people will face when making chiffon cakes. It is possible that the cake has not been fully baked, so the egg white structure is not solidified enough to support it’s shape after the cake is cooled down. You can raise your baking temperature up for 5 degrees, or extend the baking time for 5 to 10 minutes next time. And make sure you let the cake cool upside down on the cooling rack completely before unmolding.
Another reason could be that the cake has grown up too fast. That’s why I loosely cover it with a foil at the first stage of baking. We want the cake to grow slowly at this stage, so that it is less likely to crack or shrink later.
This looks great to try! But question, if baking in a 8×3 inch pan, does the time for baking change?
Hi Allie. For a 8 inch pan, bake 300 °F (150 °C) for 30 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 35 more minutes. Each oven could be slightly different. But my rule is that after you can smell the cake aroma, instead of the egg smell, bake it for 10 more minutes. You will need to observe the cake often for the last 10 minutes of baking. As long as the cake is not turning brown or exploding like a mushroom, you can bake it for a longer time until it gets dryer and becomes more stable.
It’s a very detailed recipe, love it! May I know if I can change the flavor? Example using cocoa or cheese? If yes, can use cheddar?
Hello I’d love to try this cake but I tried to find some cream to put on the cake but I can’t find some recepice can you please help me
and thanks for these really good recepies😍😁
Hi Elly~ My recent favorite cream is chestnut cream! You can find my recipe here: https://msshiandmrhe.com/chestnut-cream-cake/
You can also substitute the chestnut puree with the same amount of pumpkin puree to make pumpkin cream. If you use canned pumpkin puree, you may need to pan fry it over medium low heat for 10 minutes to reduce the water amount.
How much is 30g of oil in tbs??
2 1/4 tbsp
Hello! This has been so helpful! If I wanted to make a matcha chiffon cake, how much matcha would you add and would this change the ingredients/method eg less cake flour or bake time?
Hello! How long would this cake bake if I were to use a loaf pan? All my cake pans are nonstick
Hi Jenna. The baking time should be the same for a loaf pan.
If i am making a 8 inch, do I still use 50g of all purpose flour with 10g of cornstarch?
Wait … since I used AP and No Cornstarch, is that why my cake didn’t rise at all?
Oops it should be 71g all purpose flour + 18g cornstarch. Thanks for pointing that out, I forgot to revise these numbers.
Can I use this recipe for a cake roll? And how long should i keep it in the oven if using sheet pan?
What does 50g cake flour convert to cups?
0.4 cup, or 8 tbsps
Easy and fluffy! Love it!
I tried the conversion for a 9in cake tin. Unfortunately the result wasn’t successful, I don’t think it was cooked enough. should I cook it for more than 55mins?
Sorry to hear that it didn’t work well with your 9in cake. Yes, the 55-minute baking time is for a 6in cake. Please bake it for a longer time if you are going to make a larger cake. For a 9in cake, you can bake it at 300 °F (150 °C) for 40 minutes, then remove the foil. Bake at 300 °F for 30 more minutes.
Why do we need to cover with aluminum foil. Is there any alternative?
To prevent the top surface from over coloring. And to allow the cake grow tall slowly. If the cake grows too fast, it will be more likely to crack or shrink later. I can’t think of anything to replace foil at this moment. Probably you can substitute it with 2 layers of parchment paper, if you don’t have foil by hand.
Hi Ms shi,
Most recipe says that eggs should be at room temperature but you suggest putting the egg white in the fridge after separating the egg yolks . What’s the reason for this?
I have been successfully baking chiffon cakes using convection heat at 170 deg C on the 2nd lowest rack & it always turn out good. Only the top has some cracks .
I will certainly try your method to make the top look beautiful as well.
Thank you for sharing your tips .
Hi Mama Mia! Thanks for bringing up this interesting question. I just found out that most Chinese baking books and recipes have been telling us that cold egg whites are easier to be beaten and more stable. While Western countries’ recipes tell the opposite. I have tried to bake chiffon cakes with both freezing cold egg whites and room temperature egg whites. My experiences show that, as long as you are able to whip the egg whites until medium peaks form, the temperature doesn’t really matter. And it has been suggested that “Never keep eggs unrefrigerated for more than two hours”. So I always prefer to keep the egg whites in the fridge until use.
hai im jasa buzzer from Indonesia, i really like this food, looks very good, it seems i have trouble finding food like this in indonesia
I completely agree with what you have written. I hope this post could reach more people as this was truly an interesting post.
Hi! I only own non stick cake pans, but I really want to make this recipe, is there something I can do to be able to make this, can I ex. put baking sheet in the pan to help the cake climb?
Hi Lily, you can try lining the baking pan with baking sheet, if the baking sheet is not nonstick.
if i want to make it with cocoa powder? any suggestions?
好感动啊啊啊啊啊必须评论一下。找了好久才找到这么详细的食谱，给作业找个source太难了。
哈哈哈什么作业居然要找食谱？恭喜你找到哈哈！！
I have a North American recipe, (which means that you might have different flour, humidity and other ingredients) which is a basic golden chiffon cake, that then has a page of variations to make other chiffon, such as chocolate, lemon or orange etc. The modification from the basic chiffon to make it chocolate is to add cocoa powder to the liquid (water in this recipe) after the water has boiled. Allow to cool and add to the dry ingredients a per the normal instructions. My recipe is for a 10″ TUBE cake pan, the amount of water in increases from 3/4 of a cup, to 1 cup, with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder added to the water. The amount of flour for the cake is 1 3/4 cups (210 g), and it uses 5 egg yolks and 1 cup of (7-8)egg whites. (large sized eggs, but I don’t know if the egg size is consistent with what you would be using) I have made the chocolate chiffon many times and it is very good. I have always added the vanilla to my cakes, its not optional in my recipe, and I would not leave it out of a chocolate chiffon. There is no other change to the amounts of any other ingredients in the recipe.
You would need to consider the size of cake you are baking, and add a similar ratio of cocoa powder to your hot liquid, and likely increase the liquid amount as well.
Hi, I forgot to add the tin foil, will that affect it?
(Btw your recipes are so cute!)
If you forgot to cover the cake with tin foil, the top surface might get over-colored, and the cake might grow tall too fast, it’s more likely to crack and shrink later.
I tried making it again with tin foil and it came out perfect! It was incredibly tasty, also it had a wonderful texture! ♡
Can we add nuts in the batter?
what a mess. my cake exploded like a mushroom, and, after cooling down it shrank.
will never make this recipe again, that’s for sure.
Probably u did something wrong I did it and it turned out great! No cracks or shrinkage
can i make these into to cupcakes?
How does the type of milk affect the cake, and if using cow milk, what fat percentage is best? What kind of milk did you use in the pictures shown? excited to try this recipe 🙂
Hi Aldo, I used whole milk in the pictures shown. But the type of milk won’t affect the cake too much. I have been making this cake with whole milk, 2% milk, and soy milk. I won’t be able to tell the difference of milk by tasting or watching the cake.
hi! i wanna try making this recipe but i only have cooking oil (palm oil i guess?) and Omega 3-6-9 Vegetable Oil Blend so i wonder if i can use either the cooking or omega oil 🤔
Hello ms. shi! Could you tell me how many tablespoons are 30g of oil and 30g of milk?
Your recipes are easy and delicious! thanks for sharing <3 i love your chiffon cake hehe
Hi~ 30g oil is about 2 tbsps + 1/2 tsp
30g milk is about 2 tbsps
[…] Basic chiffon cake recipe: https://msshiandmrhe.com/chiffon-cake/ […]
Hi, if I’m using a convection oven and I can’t turn off the fan, should I adjust the temperature from 150c to 130C to have the same result?
Hi! My cake blooomed like a mushroom. I covered with aluminium foil and the cake rose so high that the top stuck to the foil. It also collapsed immediately once I take it out of the oven. Is this because temperature was too high?
[…] Make two to three 6-inch cakes by following my chiffon cake recipe. Optionally, for a black tea flavor, you can add a tea bag of ground black tea, which weighs […]
Hi! What does 5 1/3 egg mean in the 8 inch ingredients?
Hi Ms Shi! 🙂 Have you tried steaming the cake before and does it work? I don’t have a working oven at home but am thinking of trying out this recipe.
Hi Keats~ I haven’t tried steaming the cake before. But I’m afraid that the moisture in the steaming environment might make the cake soggy. However, I have seen people pour the cake batter directly into a rice cooker and utilize the cake function to successfully bake the cake. If you happen to have a multifunction rice cooker, you can give it a try.
I just tried your recipe and I still got a sink at the bottom of the cake. I followed the recipe, covered the tin with foil and placed it on the middle rack of the oven.
Hi, I’m having trouble converting grams to USA measurements because every website conversion chart says something different. Can you please help me convert these to cups/tbsp/tsp? Thank you!
50 g cake flour
30 g vegetable oil
30 g milk
45 g sugar
Thanks so much for putting together such a comprehensive recipe and tips, I reallyyyy want to try making this, but I live in Colorado. Is there anything I need to adjust for high altitude baking?
Just a small question, why do I need to cover the cake pan with foil, and remove it later? Thank you, it was delicious!
I always trust Ms. Shi’s recipes 🙂 Every single recipe I’ve made from here tastes so good, including this chiffon cake!! The texture and taste is perfect. I will make it again!
Hi, if i want to add a cocoa powder how much is the measurement? And should i cut the amount of the flour as well? Thankyou
Hi, thanks for the recipe.
Is your oven fan assisted? Whenever I’ve tried this recipe it’s taken a lot longer than suggested so I’m wondering if I should be baking it at 170°C instead, as my oven is old and doesn’t have a fan.
I have been baking chiffon cakes for quite some time now (but still always learning to do it better) and this is the first time I’ve seen a flat top like yours, and I’m wondering if this is why you cover it with foil for the first 20 min. What’s the science behind covering it with foil?
I have the same interior blue oven, is it LG? My oven I find is on the hot side and hate that the fan goes on and off intermittently even though is on conventional mode.
thank you so much for a very comprehensive article on chiffon cake.
Hi! I would love to try this recipe, would you be able to give any advice for using a 4 inch cake tin (2 inches in height) to make a mini chiffon cake? I’m unsure if I should just half/reduce the recipe and cooking time or if there is more to it considering the intricacies of a chiffon cake. Thanks!
I made this cake exactly as instructed and it came out perfectly! I’d like to note that I live in a high altitude area and I didn’t have to make any adjustments <3 I made some homemade whipped cream and put some berries on it and it’s one of the best things ever. Thank you for all the love you pour into your recipes!! <3
Hey! I baked this in 4 inch round tin and went more than the mentioned time. It still isn’t brown and a bit sticky on top too. It is baked though and not raw. Can I raise the temperature since this seems like the oven’s temp issue? What would you recommend?
I mean it i slightly colored but barely to be honest and it took more time to reach this stage. This was my first time baking a chiffon cake hence i pulled it out and checked with a tooth pich. It came out dry.
[…] Chiffon cake and sponge cake are very similar in appearance and share some common preparation techniques, making it difficult for baking novice to distinguish between them. However, they still have substantial differences. Before selecting your preferred cake type, let’s explore their differences! […]
[…] chiffon mixing method is a popular technique in cake decorating that has been used for decades to create […]