Chiffon cakes may sound fancy, but if you can make angel food or sponge cakes, you can make this Lemon Chiffon Cake. Chiffon cakes use oil rather than butter as the batter’s primary source of fat and moisture. The result is a beautifully soft and moist, delicate, flavorful cake.
While angel food cakes usually serve as a base for something like cream and fruit, this chiffon cake stands on its own. It has lemon-flavored frosting, but you’ll get a burst of lemon in each bite without adding fruit or other ingredients like curd. This recipe is a keeper and a great starting place for those learning to whip egg whites in the cake batter.
Lemon Chiffon Cake Ingredients
- Large eggs: You’ll separate the yolks and whites for this recipe. The yolks will go into the batter first and then the whites will be whipped to help make the batter lighter.
- All-purpose flour: While some chiffon cakes use cake flour, this one uses all-purpose for more structure.
- Sugar: This helps keep the cake softer and more cakey, not bready.
- Baking powder: This helps the cake rise.
- Canola oil: Chiffon cakes use oil as the primary source of fat outside of egg yolks. Canola is neutral in flavor.
- Lemon zest and vanilla extract: These provide lemon flavor, of course. The vanilla helps give the cake a warmer background flavor.
- Cream of tartar: Cream of tartar helps the egg whites whip up quickly.
- Butter: The foundation of buttercream frosting.
- Confectioner’s sugar: This helps make the frosting nice and light, and of course, sweet.
- Lemon zest: The pockets of lemon oil in zest give the frosting a really bright flavor.
- Lemon juice: Using lemon juice helps ensure all of the frosting tastes like lemon.
Directions
Step 1: Get the oven ready
Preheat the oven to 325°F. This is a slightly lower temperature than you use with other cakes.
Step 2: Make most of the batter
Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt twice, into a large bowl. Whisk the egg yolks with water, oil, lemon zest and vanilla extract in a small bowl until the mixture is smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until the batter is smooth.
Step 3: Whip the egg whites
Combine the cream of tartar and egg whites in another clean bowl. Use clean beaters on medium speed to whip the mixture until it’s just stiff. Fold 1/4 of the egg whites into the batter. Once that’s in, fold in the rest of the egg whites.
Step 4: Bake and cool the cake
Gently spoon, do not pour, the batter into an ungreased tube pan. Stick a knife into the batter and cut around the tube pan. This removes the air bubbles. Bake the cake in the oven, on the lowest rack , for 50 to 55 minutes until the top springs back when you touch it lightly. Remove the pan from the oven and immediately invert it onto tube pan legs or heat-resistant funnel. Let the cake cool completely, for about one hour.
Step 5: Plate the cake
When the cake is cool, run a knife or metal spatula around the edges of the cake and remove the cake from the pan. Place it on a cake plate.
Step 6: Make the frosting
Mix the butter, confectioner’s sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and salt in a small bowl. Beat them until they’re smooth and spreadable. Frost the cake.
Lemon Chiffon Cake Variations
- Use a glaze instead of frosting: If you’re not into buttercream frosting, try using a lemon glaze like the one from this Glazed Lemon Chiffon Cake recipe.
- Try another type of citrus: If you want to make this cake with a twist, try using another form of citrus like lime. Make this Lime Chiffon Cake recipe.
How to Store Lemon Chiffon Cake
You can store this cake at room temperature in an airtight container for up to two days but the cake may begin to dry out. It’s best to eat the cake sooner than that.
Can you freeze lemon chiffon cake?
You can freeze the  lemon chiffon cake recipe unfrosted. Wrap it well in plastic and aluminum foil and place in an airtight freezer container for up to two months. If you have leftover frosted cake, you can try freezing it. Let it freeze on a baking sheet until the frosting is hard and then wrap it in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. But keep in mind that the quality of the cake may not be the same as it was when freshly baked after thawing.
Lemon Chiffon Cake Tips
Can you use a regular cake pan instead of a tube pan?
No. Tube pans have that center hole that allows for even heat distribution, including to the center. A regular cake pan won’t allow the chiffon cake to rise as high as it needs to. By the way, did you know you can convert regular cakes to tube and bundt pan cakes?
Do you have to grease the tube pan?
No. Greasing and flouring prevent the cake from sticking to the sides of the pan and in this case, the cake needs to be able to grab the pan’s surface to rise properly.
Will the cake be easier to handle when baked?
The finished cake will be very delicate due to having very little fat and a lot more egg than other cakes. You’ll be able to transport the cake on a plate and cut through it with a knife but it may tear easily. Be careful when handling it.
Can you let the cake cool right side up?
No. When you start to cool the cake, invert the pan so that what had been the top in the oven is now the bottom of the cooling cake. If you let the cake cool right side up, it may flatten as it cools and sink down into the pan. Inverting the cake helps stop it from flattening. When you invert it, set the pan on the little legs of the tube pans. If there are no legs, take a funnel and place the center of the tube pan over the funnel. Let the cake cool completely before trying to remove it. When you do try to run a thin knife or metal spatula (not plastic) around the inner and outer edges of the cake. You may have to use a sawing motion but be very careful not to tear into the cake. As you loosen the cake, press the spatula in between the cake and pan carefully. When the cake is loose, invert the pan over a plate. Tap the sides of the pan to help the cake fall out. Lift the pan and let the cake cool a little more to ensure it’s completely cool before you add the frosting. You may find it easiest to cut the cake with a serrated knife (use a sawing motion) or an electric knife. If you want more practice baking with tube and bundt pans, try one of these bundt pan recipes.
