Soft Fluffy Mango Chiffon Cake

• 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:

• Puree the mango in a food processor or a blender until smooth
• Preheat your oven to 330 F (165 C) for conventional oven. If you have a convection oven, I suggest lowering the temperature by 20 F (15 C). Place the oven rack 4th from the top (or adjust accordingly, you will know your oven best)
• 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 mango puree. Sift in the cake flour and 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 is 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 50-55 minutes for 8-inch chiffon cake. The time is just for 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

To serve:

• The cake can be served as is or you can serve it with slices of fresh mango and some whipped cream or a light dusting of icing sugar