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Learn how to make a soft and fluffy basic vanilla chiffon cake. All the tips you need to make this basic chiffon cake successfully.
If you browse my chiffon cake collections, you will see that I have baked many different flavors of chiffon cake. The very first chiffon cake that I baked was this pandan chiffon cake. It was one of the best and I haven’t stopped baking chiffon cakes since! I love baking chiffon cake. Now, I realize that I haven’t had a plain basic chiffon cake posted on this site. I know!!! Well, when I said plain, it’s not plain. It’s vanilla flavor. The vanilla gets its chance to shine through in this recipe. Sometimes, all you need is a plain vanilla flavor!
Ingredients and substitutions
1. Cake flour
I highly recommend using cake flour to make chiffon cake. You will be rewarded with that pillowy soft fluffy texture
2. Oil
I use neutral-tasting oil like avocado oil. You can use any oil of your choice
3. Milk
You can use low-fat, whole milk, or non-dairy milk
4. Eggs
I use large size eggs, which weigh about 58-60 grams with a shell
5. Vanilla extract
Use high-quality vanilla extract
6. Sugar
I use granulated sugar, but caster sugar works great too
7. Salt
I use fine sea salt
8. Cream of tartar
Cream of tartar helps to stabilize the egg white meringue. You can also substitute with lemon juice or white vinegar
Important tips for successful chiffon cake
1. Chiffon tube pan
Make sure you get a chiffon tube pan that has NO non-stick coating. The cake needs to cling to the side of the pan to help it rise tall
2. Squeaky clean bowl and utensils
This is especially important when it comes to whipping the egg white meringue. Any spots or drops of grease in the bowl, whip attachment, etc, and you will have trouble whipping the egg white to a firm consistency
3. Room-temperature ingredients
Make sure the eggs and milk are at room temperature. I know some people chill egg whites in the fridge before whipping the meringue. I find the egg white whip better when it’s at room temperature
4. Pay attention to the meringue
You don’t want to overwhip or under whip the egg whites. If you whip the meringue too stiff, it will clump up and you will have difficulty combining the meringue with cake batter. They will separate and the meringue loses volume. If you under whip the meringue. Both scenarios will yield dense chiffon cake, worse, the cake may collapse too during cooling down
5. Know your oven
The baking temperature I’m sharing here in the recipe has been working well for me. Every oven is different, so you may need to experiment a bit sometimes to find the perfect temperature. Of course you can use what I share here as a starting point and adjust as necessary
6. Invert the pan
Once the cake is out of the oven, you need to invert the pan upside down immediately. This prevents the cake from collapsing on its own weight. This is why the tube pan (without any non-sticky coating) comes in handy for baking a chiffon cake. The cake is clinging its dear life to the pan 🙂
7. Don’t give up
Chiffon cake can be challenging to make, especially if it’s your first. I remember it took me several rounds before I finally got the basic down. I’m still learning something new every time I bake. Just take note of what happened and try to troubleshoot from there. I share a very thorough post on all the possible problems and how to remedy them in this pandan chiffon cake recipe
Soft and Fluffy Vanilla Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
For 6-inch tube pan:
- 50 g cake flour
- 45 g oil
- 54 g egg yolks from 3 large eggs
- 35 g milk I use 2% milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 96 g egg whites from 3 large eggs
- 50 g sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
For 7-inch tube pan:
- 65 g cake flour
- 60 g oil
- 72 g egg yolks from 4 large eggs
- 46 g milk I use 2% milk
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 128 g egg whites from 4 large eggs
- 65 g sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar or use lemon juice or white vinegar
For 8-inch tube pan:
- 85 g cake flour
- 77 g oil
- 92 g yolks from 5 large egg yolks
- 60 g milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 163 g egg whites from 5 large egg whites
- 85 g sugar
- ½ tsp cream of tartar or lemon juice or vinegar
For 10-inch tube pan:
- 135 g cake flour
- 122 g oil
- 146 g egg yolks from 8 large eggs
- 95 g milk
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 250 g egg whites from 8 large eggs
- 135 g sugar
- 1 tsp cream of tartar or use lemon juice/vinegar
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
- I strongly suggest weighing the ingredients including the egg yolks and the whites because the size of the eggs may vary. If the 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:
- Whisk the cake flour with the oil first. This helps to prevent the gluten from forming.
- Then add egg yolks, milk, vanilla extract, and salt. Whisk to combine. The batter is 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 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 for 6-inch cake, 45-50 minutes for 7-inch cake, 50-55 minutes for 8-inch cake, 60-65 minutes for 10-inch 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. 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
- You can gently scrape off the brown crust from the side of the cake for a cleaner look
Storing:
- The cake can be kept in an air-tight container for 2-3 days
RECOMMEDED TOOLS
*Nutrition facts are just estimates and calculated using online tools*
4 comments
Hi Marvellina, I tried the pandan chiffon with great success! Can you please tell me how do I convert this vanilla recipe for my 10 inch tube pan?
Hi Trifina, I have added the recipe for 10-inch tube pan. I hope it turns out well for you 🙂
Thank you so much! It turned out perfect!!
I’m happy to know that Trifina 🙂