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You will absolutely love this soft, fluffy, and cottony chiffon cake made with fresh Meyer lemon juice and dressed with a quick and simple lemon glaze. All the tips you need to make this successfully at home.
Baking chiffon cake has become a real hobby of mine ever since I started with my very first chiffon cake, which is the soft and fluffy pandan chiffon cake a few years ago. The soft, fluffy, and cottony texture of chiffon cake is certainly something I simply can’t get tired of. My family has eaten LOTS and LOTS of chiffon cakes since then. I seriously can bake chiffon cake every day if I could LOL. It’s a kind of cake that when I eat, I don’t feel like it’s going to weigh me down because it’s so light, fluffy, lightly sweetened.
What’s so special about Meyer lemon?
Meyer lemons are a special type of lemon known for their sweeter, less acidic flavor compared to traditional lemons. They are believed to be a cross between a regular lemon and either a mandarin or an orange, which gives them a unique taste. Meyer lemons also have a thinner, smoother skin that is often a deep yellow or orange, and their pulp is a darker, more orangey color. This makes them visually distinct from other lemons. Their flavor and appearance make them popular in cooking and baking. If you can get a hold of Meyer’s lemon, I highly recommend that.
Ingredients and substitutions
1. Cake flour
I highly recommend using cake flour for chiffon cake. If you bake chiffon cake often, definitely stock up on some cake flour. The ones made with all-purpose flour just don’t feel as soft and fluffy
2. Lemons
I use Meyer lemon when they are in season. If you can’t find any, regular lemons work too
3. Sugar
I use granulated sugar. You can also use caster sugar
4. Honey
The addition of honey gives a nice subtle flavor and richer color that would otherwise, lacking in cake made with lemon juice due to its acidity
5. Eggs
I use large-size eggs, which weigh about 58-60 grams when weigh with its shell
6. Milk
I use 2% low-fat milk. Feel free to use whole milk or other non-dairy milk
7. Oil
I use neutral-tasting oil like avocado oil
8. Salt
A small pinch helps to round up the flavor
9. Baking powder
I don’t usually use baking powder when baking chiffon cakes, but in lemon chiffon cake, it helps to give that height. The acidity in the cake can interfere with the ability for the cake to rise higher than it should be.
10. Powdered sugar/icing sugar
You only need this if you plan to make the glaze.
Meyer Lemon Chiffon Cake (with Easy Lemon Glaze)
Ingredients
Cake batter:
- 90 g egg yolks (room temperature) from 5 large eggs
- 17 g honey
- 70 g cooking oil
- 25 g lemon juice use Meyer's lemon if you can get some
- 70 g milk I use 1% milk, you an use water too
- 1 ½ Tbsp lemon zest
- 135 g cake flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
Meringue:
- 150 g egg whites – room temperature from 5 large eggs
- 1 tsp lemon juice or 1/2 tsp of cream of tartar
- 100 g sugar
Quick lemon glaze (optional):
- 100 g icing sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice or more as needed
Instructions
- This recipe is for 8-inch chiffon tube pan. Find recipe adjustment for different tube size and baking temperature at the foot notes.
- Make sure your 8-inch chiffon tube 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.
- The amount of egg yolks can be from 90-100 grams and egg whites from 150-160 grams
- Place the egg whites in a clean mixing bowl. I use a stand mixer with a whisk attachment to whip the egg whites. Put the egg yolks in a separate mixing bowl. You will have trouble whipping your meringue if there's a trace of grease in your utensils or bowls
- Let the yolks and the whites come to a room temperature, this may take about 30 minutes or so
Prepare 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)
- Add salt, honey, milk, oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest to the bowl with egg yolks in it. Whisk to combine. You may see some tiny lumps, but that's okay because of the lemon zest
- Sift in the cake flour and baking powder and whisk to combine
Prepare 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. 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 50-55 minutes. The time is just for a reference. Your oven may need less or more time to bake.You can start checking at 50 minute mark.
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 cooled 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.
- If you don't like brown crumbs on the outside of the cake, you can gently scrape it off using an offset spatula
Prepare lemon glaze:
- Once the cake has cooled down and ready to be served, you can quickly make the lemon glaze. Combine all the ingredients for the glaze and stir. Drizzle it over the cake and decorate with some lemon zest if you like
Storing:
- This glaze chiffon cake can be kept in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
Marv’s Recipe Notes
- For 15 cm (6-inch tube pan): multiply the ingredient amount by 0.6, use 3 large eggs, and round it to the nearest 10, for example if it is 48 you round it to 50. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 40-45 minutes.
- For 18 cm (7-inch tube pan): multiply the ingredient amount by 0.87, use 4 large eggs, and round it to the nearest 10. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 45-50 minutes.
- For 22 cm (9-inch) tube pan: multiply the ingredient amount by 1.4, use 7 large eggs, and round it to the nearest 10. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 55-60 minutes.
- For 26 cm (10-inch) tube pan: multiply the ingredient amount by 1.6, use 8 large eggs, and round it to the nearest 10. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 60-65 minutes.
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
Can I bake lemon chiffon cake without baking powder ?
Indeed, you don’t need baking powder to bake chiffon cake or sponge cake of any kind in general. Baking powder is more of an “insurance” for your cake to rise. I have baked many chiffon cakes, without baking powder and they rise perfectly. For this Meyer lemon chiffon cake, because of the acidity in the cake, baking powder helps to give the cake a nice height.
You definitely don’t need cream of tartar. Cream of tartar can be easily substituted with an acid like vinegar or lemon juice to help stabilize the meringue.
Baking with different size chiffon tube pan
This recipe is perfect for 20 cm (8-inch) chiffon tube pan. If you don’t have that size of chiffon tube pan, hopefully this conversion can help you bake using the size you have. I listed out the most common sizes here:
For 15 cm (6-inch tube pan): simply multiply the ingredient amount by 0.6 and round it to the nearest 10, for example if it is 48 you round it to 50. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 40-45 minutes
For 22 cm (9-inch) tube pan: simply multiply the ingredient amount by 1.4 and round it to the nearest 10. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 55-60 minutes
For 26 cm (10-inch) tube pan: simply multiply the ingredient amount by 1.6 and round it to the nearest 10. Bake at the temperature specified in the recipe for 60-65 minutes
How to store
Once it cools down completely, freshly baked chiffon cake can be kept in an air-tight container at room temperature for up to 3 days (ours never made it past 3 days LOL). For longer storage, you can freeze chiffon cake. You can slice them into individual slices and wrap them with a cling wrap and aluminum foil for double protection. I then, store it in a freezer bag for no more than one month. Simply thaw at room temperature before serving. I don’t recommend keeping them in the fridge as it will dry out the cake.
Did you make this Meyer lemon chiffon cake ?
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!
15 comments
Hi Marv, could you please provide the ingredient amounts and baking temp/time for a 7 inch tube pan? Thank you!
Hi Aileen, please refer to the notes section on the recipe card. I hope that helps!
Hi Marv! I just tried this recipe and the taste is great! I love the Meyer lemon flavor. The texture of my cake however is not as light and airy as your vanilla chiffon recipe. It is more bready. My cake rose well, so not sure if its due to my meringue. Would I be able to mix the flour and oil first and then the other ingredients to prevent gluten from forming similar to your vanilla chiffon recipe? Could this also be due to the amount of cake flour used in this recipe? Thank you!
Hi Aileen, I’m sorry that the cake didn’t turn out as you expected. Hmm…I’m not sure what could’ve gone wrong. I’ve baked this recipe several times and they turned out just fine. Did the cake feel “damp” and/or dense in texture ? I’m just thinking if there’s a possibility that it needed a bit longer baking time or like you said the meringue may get overmixed and deflated. You can try mixing the flour and oil first, but I don’t think that’s the cause though.
Hi Marv! I baked it again, and it was due to my egg white proportions. I don’t think I used enough. It is delicious, thank you!
I’m so glad it worked out this round and thank you for taking time to report back. At least I know I didn’t mess up somewhere LOL! Thank you Aileen!