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Soft and fluffy chiffon cake infused with an amazing aroma of coffee. I’m not a coffee drinker and I absolutely love this coffee chiffon cake. It’s so perfect for that morning breakfast or with that afternoon tea/coffee break!
Coffee chiffon cake is another one of my husband’s and my favorite chiffon cakes. I don’t even drink coffee but I love the aroma of the brewing coffee, coffee used in cooking and baking. This coffee chiffon cake is so soft and fluffy and has enough coffee aroma but is not overpowering! I strongly encourage you to try it even though if you are not a coffee drinker, there’s a high chance that you may like it.
Tips for success
1. Never grease the pan for chiffon cake
The cake will not rise high if you do so. Always use pan without any non-stick coating
2. All equipments used to whip meringue needs to be grease-free
The egg whites will not whip up if there are specks of yolks or grease
3. Don’t whip the egg whites on high speed
To obtain the fine crumbs without large air bubbles, whip the egg whites on medium speed instead of high speed. The meringue is also more stable that way
4. Add sugar gradually to the meringue
Add the sugar in 3-4 batches. By doing so, the meringue will be much more stable. Allow 1-2 minutes between each addition.
5. Pay attention to oven temperature
I always bake chiffon cake at 330 F (165 C). It seems to be the magic number for my conventional oven (bottom-heat only). You may need to adjust accordingly with your oven. Convection oven (top and bottom heat) may need to lower by 20 F (15 C)
6. Invert to cool upside down
It is important to cool the chiffon cake upside down once it comes out of the oven. If you let it cool down without inverting the pan, the cake will collapse on its own weight and you will have a dense and super short cake!
How to make soft and fluffy coffee chiffon cake
1. Get the eggs out of the fridge and separate them when they are still cold. They are easier to separate when they are cold. Let the yolks and the whites come to a room temperature, this may take about 30 minutes or so
2. Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C) for conventional ovenIf you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 25 F (15 C). Place the oven rack 4th from the top (or adjust accordingly, you will know your oven best)
3. Combine the instant coffee with hot water and set aside. Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. I use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there’s a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cooking oil, then add milk and coffee mixture. Sift in the cake flourand salt into the batter
5. Whisk to mix into a smooth batter. Set aside
6. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, add cream of tartar or lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish and air bubbles are fine. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, in 3 batches. I beat them at medium speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid). This will take a bit longer compared to beating at high speed. I used to do higher speed (speed 8), but the meringue is smoother and nicer when I maintain the speed on 6 and much more stable too. I highly recommend stopping several times to check on the consistency and scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure no sugar left on the side of the bowl. Whip until you reach a stiff peak but still have a slight bent on the tip. Then lower the speed to 4 and whip for 1 minute to even out large bubbles and stop beating
7. Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter. Using a whisk, using a cutting motion and fold over to mix. Repeat this motion several rounds
8. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix
9. For the last 1/3 of the meringue, use a rubber spatula instead to ensure you get all the batter at the bottom of the bowl mixed in as well. Use a cut down in the middle and fold over motion to fold gently but quickly. Make sure you don’t see any more white meringue. The mixture should be fluffy and voluminous.
10. Pour the batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the surface. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times. Use a skewer to draw a zig zag to pop bubbles inside the cake batter
11. Put the chiffon pan in the middle rack and let it bake for 50-55 minutes for 8-inch chiffon cake and 45-50 minutes for 7-inch chiffon cake. The time is just for a reference. Your oven may need less or more time to bake. The chiffon cake will rise and then flatten a bit in the oven towards the end of baking and this is normal, but it shouldn’t deflate a whole lot
12. Drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter several times to prevent shrinkage when you pull the cake out of the oven. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Please don’t be tempted to remove it from the pan if it’s still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
13. Once it’s cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge and the outer center of the tube to help release the cake. Gently push the base to lift the cake out. Use the knife again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake. There you have it !!! Enjoy and try to finish it within 3 days (which I’m sure it will be gone before then)
Did you make this soft fluffy coffee chiffon cake recipe?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
The recipe is adapted from here
Soft and Fluffy Coffee Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
Please measure with a kitchen scale. I don't recommend cup measurements for chiffon cake
For 6-inch (15 cm) chiffon tube pan:
For cake batter:
- 8 g instant coffee
- 10 g hot water
- 60 g egg yolks (room temperature) about 3 large egg yolks
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 36 g cooking oil
- 36 g whole milk
- 60 g cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 90 g egg whites (room temperature) about 3 egg whites from large eggs
- ½ tsp vinegar
- 60 g granulated sugar
For 7-inch (18 cm) chiffon tube pan:
For cake batter:
- 10 g instant coffee
- 12 g hot water
- 80 g egg yolks (room temperature) about 4 large egg yolks
- 40 g granulated sugar
- 48 g cooking oil
- 48 g whole milk you can use low-fat milk too
- 88 g cake flour
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 120 g egg whites (room temperature) about 4 egg whites from large eggs
- ¾ tsp vinegar
- 80 g granulated sugar
For 8-inch (20 cm) chiffon tube:
For cake batter:
- 13 g instant coffee
- 15 g hot water
- 100 g egg yolks (room temperature) about 5 large egg yolks
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 60 g cooking oil
- 60 g whole milk (room temperature) you can use low-fat milk too
- 100 g cake flour
- ⅓ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 150 g egg whites (room temperature) about 5 egg whites from large eggs
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 100 g granulated sugar
For 9-inch (22 cm) chiffon tube:
For cake batter:
- 16 g instant coffee
- 18 g hot water
- 120 g egg yolks (room temperature)
- 60 g granulated sugar
- 77 g oil
- 77 g whole milk
- 120 g cake flour
- ⅓ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 180 g egg whites (room temperature) about 6 egg whites from large eggs
- 1 tsp vinegar
- 120 g granulated sugar
Instructions
- Make sure your chiffon cake pan does not have a non-stick coating or your cake will not rise. The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to rise tall
- Get the eggs out of the fridge and separate them when they are still cold. They are easier to separate when they are cold. Let the yolks and the whites come to a room temperature, this may take about 30 minutes or so
Prepare the cake batter:
- Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C) for conventional oven. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 25 F (15 C). Place the oven rack 4th from the top (or adjust accordingly, you will know your oven best)
- Combine the instant coffee with hot water and set aside. Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. I use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there's a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls
- In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cooking oil, then add milk and coffee mixture. Sift in the cake flourand salt into the batter. Whisk to mix into a smooth batter. Set aside
Whipping the meringue:
- Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy, add cream of tartar or lemon juice/vinegar and whip until it turns whitish and air bubbles are fine. Gradually add the sugar as you beat, in 3 batches. I beat them at medium speed (speed 6 on Kitchen Aid). This will take a bit longer compared to beating at high speed. I used to do higher speed (speed 8), but the meringue is smoother and nicer when I maintain the speed on 6 and much more stable too. I highly recommend stopping several times to check on the consistency and scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure no sugar left on the side of the bowl. Whip until you reach a stiff peak but still have a slight bent on the tip. Then lower the speed to 4 and whip for 1 minute to even out large bubbles and stop beating
Fold meringue into the cake batter:
- Gently fold 1/3 of the meringue into the thick batter. Using a whisk, using a cutting motion and fold over to mix. Repeat this motion several rounds. Continue on with the second 1/3 of the meringue again to mix. For the last 1/3 of the meringue, use a rubber spatula instead to ensure you get all the batter at the bottom of the bowl mixed in as well. Use a cut down in the middle and fold over motion to fold gently but quickly. Make sure you don't see any more white meringue. The mixture should be fluffy and voluminous.
- Pour the batter into an UNGREASED chiffon cake pan. Use a rubber spatula to smooth the surface. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times. Use a skewer to draw a zig zag to pop bubbles inside the cake batter
Baking:
- Put the chiffon pan in the middle rack and let it bake for 40-45 minutes for 6-inch chiffon cake, 45-50 minutes for 7-inch chiffon cake, 50-55 minutes for 8-inch chiffon cake, and 1 hour 5 minutes for 9-inch chiffon cake. The time is just for a reference. Your oven may need less or more time to bake
Test for doneness:
- I know this is weird to say, but it's actually "safer" to overbake chiffon cake than underbaking. Underbaking tends to cause the cake to collapse. Usually if you insert a skewer inside the cake and no crumbs stick to it or very minimal crumbs, it is safe to say that the cake is cooked through. You can also touch the top and if it springs back, it's a good sign that it's cooked through. I like to have some golden brown on top. I don't know if you notice, but when the cake has a golden brown color on top, it's actually more flavorful too than when the cake is pale in color
- Don't be alarmed if your cake has some cracks on top. What you are looking at will become the bottom of your cake. I know many people mind it a lot and make a big fuss when the top of the chiffon cake cracks, but actually it's not a flaw.
Cooling:
- Drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter several times to prevent shrinkage when you pull the cake out of the oven. Then carefully invert the pan upside down immediately. Please don't be tempted to remove it from the pan if it's still warm. It takes about one to two hours to cool down completely
- Once it's cool down completely, use a spatula knife to run through the edge and the outer center of the tube to help release the cake. Gently push the base to lift the cake out. Use the knife again to run through the base of the pan and then carefully release the cake.
- I suggest that you wait for 24 hours before serving the cake (if you can wait). The flavor always gets better the next day compared to when you serve it on the same day
How to store:
- Let the cake cool down completely. Store the cake in an air-tight container for up to 3 days at room temperature. Try to finish it within 3 days (which I'm sure it will be gone before then)
12 comments
Can you please share a coffee icing for the chiffon cake. Thank you
Hello Maliha, are you referring to buttercream type of coffee frosting? or more like simple glaze made with powdered sugar ?