chiffon cakes enjoy a separate fandom among dessert lovers. And understandably so, given one can guiltlessly indulge in it without the palate becoming exhausted with the sweetness overload. An orange chiffon cake is an even lighter version of the classic, because it is characterized by a zing and tartness that cuts through the sweetness of the sugar.
Here’s a recipe for the orange chiffon cake that you can make by combining the most humble ingredients you will certainly find in all home kitchens, with the sweet and sour seasonal oranges.
Orange Chiffon Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
- 251 gm flour
- 202 gm sugar
- 103 gm butter
- 5 eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 122 ml milk
- 2 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 63 ml orange juice
For the orange syrup:
- 204 gm sugar
- 201 ml water
- 2 tsp orange zest
- 63 ml orange juice
Method:
- First, you have to preheat the oven to 180°C, and grease two round cake pans, lining their bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, you are going to whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt, stirring them all together and then setting them aside.
- Using an electric mixer, you will need to beat unsalted butter in a large mixing bowl until it is completely creamy. While beating it, you can add eggs one at a time, and beat well.
- Then, you are going to add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture, then some milk, and mix just until combined.
- You are going to stir in pure vanilla extract, grated orange zest, and freshly squeezed orange juice into the mixture.
- Next, you can divide the batter between the prepared pans.
- You have to bake them for 25 to 30 minutes.
- Then, you can remove the cakes from the oven and let them cool in the pans for 5 minutes.
- For the orange syrup, you have to take a small saucepan, and in it, combine sugar, water, grated orange peel and freshly squeezed orange juice. You must let it cook, stirring constantly over medium heat till the sugar dissolves.
- You need to let the mixture come to a boil, then you have to turn the heat to medium-low and keep it there for 5 to 7 minutes.
- After that, you can remove the syrup from the heat, and let it cool to room temperature.
- To assemble the cake, you have to start by placing one of the cooled cakes on a serving plate, and brush the top of the cake with some of the orange syrup.
- Next, you will put the second cake on top of the first and brush its top with some syrup.
- You can now serve the cake, and enjoy its rich flavors.
Tips to enhance and decorate your orange chiffon cakerou
You can choose to add one or two teaspoons of the orange pulp or a pinch of salt to give your cake a sharp depth of flavor. To make the cake appeal to kids (or adults), you can mix a few drops of orange and white food coloring. The white will give the cake a pastel hue.
To decorate the cake for a kids’ party, you can crumb-coat the cake in a lemon-flavored yellow buttercream, and then stick yellow and orange Cadbury gems candies in a zigzag pattern along the sides. Decorate the top with chocolate shaving flowers and stick one gems in the center of each flower.
To make the decoration appropriate for an older group of guests, stick chocolate twigs, sugar tuille leaves and candy flowers dusted with gold and bronze luster dust along the sides starting from the bottom to the top. Stick a few accent flowers on the top in a cluster and pipe vanilla buttercream along the rim of the cake.
This is a fairly unique and interesting recipe. However, that must not stop you from trying your hand at it. After all, it is by trying new things in the kitchen that you will ultimately master them. The excitement of creating and tasting this dish, and the satisfaction of bringing joy involved by sharing this wonderful culinary delight with others will make you feel that the journey of baking it is all worth it.