CAKES - Chiffon Cakes

BUTTER CHIFFON CAKE

July 19, 2017 | Recipe by Bake with Paws
Butter Sponge Cake

Butter Sponge Cake


Butter Sponge Cake


Butter Sponge or Chiffon Cake?  I think is called Chiffon Cake.

I have been looking for this recipe for a while and I was very happy to see it shared by Jeannie Tay. This is my first attempt and the surface of the cake did not turn out as nice as what Jennie bakes. 

This Butter Sponge Cake recipe produces a cake with a texture that is soft like cotton. This is a highly recommended recipe!

I would suggest you read the following notes especially if you are don't bake often.

MERINGUE

Meringue plays a very important role in Chiffon Cake.  Over beating meringue may cause the cake to crack, while under beating will cause the cake to collapse or it may not rise much.

Use room temperature egg whites, this will yield more volume.  Cold egg whites will not whip well.  It is easier to separate your eggs when they are still cold, then leave the egg whites aside to come to room temperature. 

Make sure your bowl is clean and there is no any trace of egg yolk or fat.  Fat will interfere with the formation of meringue.

Use cream of tartar to stabilise the whipped meringue.  Cream of tartar is acidic and can be replaced with lemon juice or white vinegar. The replacement ratio is 1:2.  If your recipe asks for 1/4 tsp of cream of tartar, then replace with 1/2 tsp lemon juice.

Sources from herehere and here

Stages of Meringue:

Soft Peak – The meringue is soft and unable to hold its form, it will drip after you turn your whisk upside down.  You will see the ribbon lines, but it disappears the moment you stop whisking. 
 
Firm Peak – The peak will hold and fold back slightly when you turn your whisk upside down.  The meringue is glossy and the ribbon lines stay. This is the stage we look for if you do not want your cake to crack. 

Stiff Peak – The peak will hold straight and doesn’t fold back when you turn the whisk upside down.  The meringue is very glossy and thick too.  Most chiffon cake recipes will prescribe this stage but the cake will easily crack when baking.  However, if you don’t mind the cake cracking then it is fine. It doesn’t affect how the cake tastes.

Over-beating – The meringue looks grainy, broken and dull. We do not want this stage in baking as you will not be able to fold it into the flour batter nicely.

OVEN TEMPERATURE AND BAKING TIME

Do note that the baking temperature and timing provided are what works for my oven and should also be regarded as a guide only. Every oven behaves a little differently, so please adjust accordingly for your oven. 

It would be good to use an oven thermometer when baking. This will help you understand and know the actual temperature you are baking at. The actual temperature in the oven may not be the same as the oven’s setting.  Leave the thermometer on the same rack where you place your baking. 

I usually bake cakes with top and bottom heats setting.  I don’t encourage baking cakes with fan-forced mode as this setting uses a fan to circulate the hot air for quick baking or cooking at high temperature and may result in cracks on the cake.  However, if fan mode is used, it is recommended to reduce the temperature setting by about 20C if using a fan-forced mode.

WATER BATH vs DRY BAKE

For a water bath, the cake pan sits within another pan filled with a little water. Place the cake pan within a larger pan and pour hot water into the outer pan until it comes up to a level of 1.5cm – 2 cm.  Place the whole thing in oven and bake. 

The benefit of water bath is that it will moderate the baking temperature and prevent the cakes from cracking.  The cake texture will be very moist too.  

Chiffon cake baked without a water bath is more brown and crumbly.  Some may prefer this texture. Please make your own choice between water bath or dry bake. This is a very individual personal preference.  

If you have any questions regarding this recipe or any other post, please leave me a comment in the “LEAVE A COMMENT” link and I will reply you as soon as possible.

Recipe - Butter Chiffon Cake


Recipe adapted from Jeannietay's Blog

Yields: 1 square cake (6 inch square pan)

INGREDIENTS:

60g salted butter
85g all purpose flour (shifted)
1/4 tsp baking powder (I used Clabber Girl Double Acting Baking Powder)
4 egg yolks (from big size egg, around 60g)
60g fresh milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg whites
55g caster sugar (original is 75g)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Utensil : 
6 inch square or 7 inch round pan, greased the sides and line the bottom. Wrap the pan with aluminium foil so that the water doesn’t get into the pan if spring form pan is used.

METHOD:
  1. Shift flour together with baking powder in a bowl and set aside.
  2. In a saucepan, heat butter until just bubbly, switch off fire, then add 2/3 of the flour mixture, stirring until smooth.
  3. Add milk and vanilla extract and keep stirring, follow by egg yolks. Lastly, add in the last portion of flour mixer and mix until smooth. Set aside.
  4. Using an electric mixer, whisk egg white until frothy before adding cream of tartar and continue to beat until foamy. Gradually add in sugar and whisk until firm peaks formed (firm peaks is between soft peaks and stiff peaks).
  5. Mix 1/3 of meringue with yolk batter with a hand whisk. Add another 1/3 portion and fold gently with the whisk. Then pour in balance of meringue. Fold gently using a spatula until well incorporated.
  6. Pour the batter into a prepared pan and tap pan lightly to remove air bubbles.
  7. Baked in water bath at 155C for 70 minutes. Remove water and return cake into switched off oven to continue baking for another 10 minutes.
  8. Remove from the oven and drop the pan at a height of 10 cm onto a table top. This will prevent cake from sinking.
  9. Unmould as soon as you can. To remove the cake from the pan, run a thin-bladed knife around the inside of the pan and invert the cake on non stick baking paper. Peel off baking paper from the base and re-invert onto a rack to cool.

Comments

  1. Splendid , this is exactly what I m looking for

    ReplyDelete
  2. Is it ok to double up butter and flour to get an outcome between this sponge cake and original butter cake?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi. Do I use the same ingredients for 6 inch round pan ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for reading this recipe. This recipe may be too much for 6 inch round pan. I have tried to bake this in 6 inch round pan. But, I usually use 3 eggs recipe for my pandan chiffon cake in 6 inch round pan.

      You may try to reduce to 75% of the recipe. But, I have not tried and not sure it will work.

      Cheers :)

      Delete
  4. Hi. Can I hv the right measurements for 8inch pan

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, thanks for visiting here. To be honest, I never baked in 8 inch square pan for this cake. So, I can't give you the right measurements.
      However, you can try to increase the recipe to 6 eggs. Increase the ingredients by 1.5 times. If the cake is too short then you increase to 7 eggs which is 1.75 times.

      Cheers :)

      Delete

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