Strawberry Chiffon Layer Cake

• This recipe is for 6-inch chiffon tube pan. 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
• I strongly suggest weighing the ingredients including the egg yolks and the whites because the size of the eggs may vary. If they eggs are off by a few grams, it's not really a big deal
• 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
• Preheat the oven to 330 F (165 C) for conventional oven, 310 F (150 C) for convection oven

Prepare the cake batter:

• Remove the leaves from the strawberries and weigh them to get the amount you need. You can use a food processor or an immersion blender to puree them. You may need to puree more if it's hard to do it on a small amount of strawberries. You can always eat the leftovers 🙂
  
• Something that I've never really thought of before. Whisk the cake flour with the oil first. This helps to prevent the gluten from forming.
  
• Then add strawberry juice, egg yolks and a few drops of gel food coloring. Please take note that if you don't use any food coloring, the natural color from strawberry will turn brown after baking. It doesn't affect the taste, but that's just the way natural color is. So I recommend adding a bit of food coloring for that pink hue on the cake
  
• The batter should be fairly thick but flowy
  

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 the 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
  
• Then 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 chopstick or a skewer to draw a zig zag on the cake batter to pop any large air bubbles that are trapped inside and also to even out the batter. The large air bubbles will create large holes in the crumbs later. Gently drop the cake pan from about 10 cm height on the counter 2-3 times.
  

Bake the cake:

• Put the chiffon pan in the middle rack and let it bake for 40-45 minutes. 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. Start checking for doneness at around 35-40 minutes. The surface should be dry to touch and bounce back slightly when you gently pressing on it. If you insert a skewer towards the center of the cake, it should come out clean. If not, bake for another 5 minutes
• 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 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 has 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

Prepare whipped cream:

• Chill your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the fridge for 15 minutes. The cream whips better when everything is cold. Make sure the heavy cream has been chilled in the fridge too
• Pour the heavy cream, icing sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl. Use the whisk to stir it a bit so the powdered sugar won't fly when you start the mixer. Start whipping at medium-low speed until it becomes creamy and has soft peak. Remove about 1/2 cup of this mixture and keep it in the fridge. We will mix this with a bit of strawberry jam and a bit of red food coloring to make it a bit pink to frost the cake later.
• Continue whipping the rest over medium-low speed until the whipped cream is firm and can hold its peak. Beating at medium-low speed is to prevent us from overwhipping the cream. We don't want to overwhip this because it turns grainy and worse, it can separate and turn into a butter. Keep this in the fridge
• Get the other 1/2 cup of the soft whipped cream you reserve earlier. Add strawberry jam and a bit of red food coloring. Continue whipping on medium-low speed until it is firm and can hold its peak. Keep them in the fridge while you are getting ready to decorate the cake
  

Make the green petal (optional):

• Place the candy melts in a bowl set on top of a hot water (not touching the water) and stir to let it melt. Add a drop or two of gel green food coloring.
  
• Use the back of the small teaspoon to dab into the candy melts and then smear it on top of parchment paper to create a petal-like shape. Repeat as many times as you want.
  
• Put this inside the fridge and they will harden very quickly, ready for you to use in less than 5 minutes
  

Decorate the cake:

• Slice the chiffon cake horizontally as evenly as you can into 3 layers. Place the first layer on a cake board or a serving platter. Place the cake on a cake turner if you have one (I unfortunately don't have one!).
  
• Spread some whipped cream on the surface of the cake. Scatter 1/3 of the strawberries on top.
  
• Cover with more whipped cream.
  
• Stack on the second layer and repeat the same process.
  
• Stack on the third layer. Use the remaining whipped cream to frost the top and the sides of the cake using an offset spatula. Smooth the cream on the side and the top of the cake using the offset spatula or a bench scraper. Put the cake in the fridge for about 30 minutes
  
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• Then apply the strawberry whipped cream at the bottom half of the side of the cake all around. Smooth it with an offset spatula or a bench scraper.
  
• Arrange the green petals you made earlier at the bottom of the side of the cake (or anywhere you see fit). Return the cake to the fridge and let it chill for 3-4 hours or overnight before serving. This gives the whipped cream some time to set and hardened
• Right before you serve the cake, decorate the top with some fresh strawberries (whole or halved is up to you).
  

How to store:

• Store leftover cakes in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2-3 days.