Picture Perfect Cooking

I had such high expectations for this little recipe.  I expected a tall, light and fluffy cake similar to an angel food cake.  Maybe I don’t understand exactly what a chiffon cake is, but I was a little disappointed.  Don’t get me wrong…this cake had a wonderful light lemony flavor, but the texture seemed a bit off.

I did have to use a slightly bigger pan (9 inch instead of 7 inch), because I did not have the size called for in the recipe, so the outcome may have been my fault and not the recipe’s.  I will probably keep looking for that perfect lemon cake.

3/4 cake flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp granulated sugar

3 large eggs, separated

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup water

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

zest of 3 lemons

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and have ready an ungreased 7 inch tube pan (I used a 9 inch because that is was I had.).  Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, vegetable oil, water, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla.  Add reserved dry ingredients and beat until smooth.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy.

Add cream of tartar; beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute.  Gradually add remaining 1 tbsp sugar; beat on high until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Gradually fold the egg white mixture into the batter; start by folding 1/3, then fold in the remaining 2/3.

Pour batter into pan.  Since the pan I used was a 2 piece angel food cake pan, I covered the bottom with foil to avoid leaks in the oven.

Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes then, using a butter knife, slide the knife around the cake and turn it out onto a cake platter.  As you can see, mine decided to crack so I just sliced it.  I served this cake with the Sunshine Salad from a couple of weeks ago and they complimented each other very well.