Image is for illustrative purposes only.

A chiffon sponge is the lightest of the cake bases: oil instead of butter, a whipped meringue folded through, and a crumb that stays soft and springy even straight from the fridge. This one is flavoured with strong instant coffee and vanilla, so it bakes up a warm coffee brown with a clean mocha taste.

Because it is made with oil it never goes hard or waxy, which makes it a good partner for mousses, whipped cream fillings and light ganaches. It slices cleanly into thin layers, takes a soaking syrup well, and holds its shape in a layered entremet or a tall gateau.

Ingredients

The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units', you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 881
Number of Units: 2
Unit Size: 20 cm round tin, about 7 cm high
WEIGHT
(grams) 		ALTERNATIVE METRIC INGREDIENT IMAGE CONDITION
A 200 10 Egg Yolks Egg Yolk The egg yolk is the internal yellow part of an egg. room temperature
B 160 5.6 ounces Sugar Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
for the yolk batter
C 5 Salt Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
D 235 1 cup Cooking Oil Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed edible oil. Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such as herbs, chillies or garlic.
neutral flavoured
E 320 11.3 ounces Cake Flour Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product. sifted
F 8 0.3 ounce Baking Powder Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid, and is used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. It is used instead of yeast for end-products where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes, or for convenience. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through fermentation, breads made by chemical leavening are called quick breads. sifted
G 300 10 Egg Whites Egg White Egg white is the common name for the clear liquid (also called the albumen or the glair/glaire) contained within an egg. In chickens it is formed from the layers of secretions of the anterior section of the hen's oviduct during the passage of the egg. It forms around fertilized or unfertilized egg yolks. The primary natural purpose of egg white is to protect the yolk and provide additional nutrition for the growth of the embryo (when fertilized). Egg white consists primarily of about 90% water into which is dissolved 10% proteins (including albumins, mucoproteins, and globulins). Unlike the yolk, which is high in lipids (fats), egg white contains almost no fat, and carbohydrate content is less than 1%. Egg whites contain just over 50% of the protein in the egg. Egg white has many uses in food (e.g. mousse) and also many other uses (e.g. in the preparation of vaccines such as those for influenza). room temperature
H 265 9.3 ounces Sugar Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
for the meringue
I 5 Cream of Tartar

Cream of tartar, also known as potassium bitartrate or potassium hydrogen tartrate, is a byproduct of winemaking. It is known as cream of tartar in context with cooking. It is the potassium acid salt of tartaric acid (a carboxylic acid).


In food, cream of tartar is used for:

  • Stabilizing egg whites, increasing their heat tolerance and volume
  • Stabilizing whipped cream, maintaining its texture and volume
  • Anti-caking and thickening
  • Preventing sugar syrups from crystallizing
  • Reducing discoloration of boiled vegetables


Additionally it is used as a component of:

  • Baking powder, as an acid ingredient to activate baking soda
  • Sodium-free salt substitutes, in combination with potassium chloride

A similar acid salt, sodium acid pyrophosphate, can be confused with cream of tartar because of their common function as a component of baking powder.
J 54 1.9 ounces Instant Coffee Instant coffee, also called soluble coffee, coffee crystals and coffee powder, is a beverage derived from brewed coffee beans. Instant coffee is commercially prepared by either freeze-drying or spray drying, after which it can be rehydrated. Instant coffee in a concentrated liquid form is also manufactured.
granules or powder
K 10 2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
L 200 0.8 cup Water warm
1762

Recipe Calculator Tool

Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.

STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.

STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.

STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.

Custom Weight Per Unit (grams) Custom Number of Units
Calculate

Method

STEP ACTION DETAIL CONDITION
1 Pre-heat Pre-heat the oven to 170°C (340°F). Line the base of two 20 cm round tins with baking paper and leave the sides ungreased so the sponge can climb. Sides clean and dry, not greased
2 Dissolve Stir J (instant coffee) into L (warm water) until it has completely dissolved, then add K (vanilla essence) and set aside to cool. No coffee granules left; liquid at room temperature
3 Whisk In a large bowl, whisk A, B and C (egg yolk, caster sugar and salt) together. Pale and slightly thickened
4 Mix Whisk D (cooking oil) into the yolks in a steady stream, then whisk in the cooled coffee liquid. Smooth and evenly combined
5 Fold Sift E and F (cake flour and baking powder) over the mixture and whisk gently until smooth. A thin, lump-free batter
6 Whip In a clean, grease-free bowl, whip G and I (egg white and cream of tartar) until foamy, then add H (caster sugar) a little at a time while whipping. Glossy, medium peaks that fold over softly at the tip; do not whip to dry peaks
7 Fold Stir a third of the meringue into the batter to loosen it, then fold in the rest in two lots with a large spatula. Evenly coloured with no white streaks; keep the mixture airy
8 Fill Divide the mixture between the two tins, about 880 g each, and level the tops gently. Tins no more than two thirds full
9 Bake Bake at 170°C (340°F) for about 35–40 minutes, without opening the oven for the first 25 minutes. The top springs back when pressed lightly and a skewer comes out clean
10 Cool Turn the tins upside down on a rack and leave the sponges to cool hanging in the tins, then run a knife around the sides to release. Completely cold before turning out, so the sponge does not sink
11 Rest Wrap the cooled sponges and rest them before slicing into layers. Firm and easy to cut; best after a few hours or overnight

Important Notes

The full scaled recipe makes about 1,762 g of batter, enough for two 20 cm round tins about 7 cm high, or one tall 24 cm tin. Chiffon needs to grip the sides of the tin as it rises, so line only the base and leave the sides ungreased. Cooling the sponge upside down in the tin keeps it from collapsing. Once cold, wrap well and keep at room temperature for two days, in the fridge for up to five, or freeze for up to a month. It slices into thin, even layers and takes a coffee or rum soaking syrup very well.

Tools & Arrangements

Electric mixer or hand beaters, two large mixing bowls (one spotlessly clean and grease-free for the whites), balloon whisk, large rubber spatula, sieve, digital scales, two 20 cm round cake tins, baking paper, cooling rack, skewer.

Leave a Reply


No reviews yet.

Your rating
Add photos (up to 3)

Drag and drop your photos, or