The cake recipe you all wanted
This recipe comes from a Chinese-Australian friend of mine, Carolyn, who works at Wahaca and loves making cakes. It’s the most delicious thing – and that’s coming from me, someone who can take or leave a sponge cake.
This chiffon cake is the lightest, airiest sponge-like creation. Otherwise known as a Chinese wedding cake, it relies on oil instead of butter for an extra rich flavour, the egg whites being beaten to achieve the lighter than light texture, and no greasing of the pan to allow the cake to grip it and rise better. When the cake comes out of the oven, you hang it upside down to keep the lightness and let it cool as it gently falls away from the sides of the pan.
Here, the two halves are sandwiched with lightly whipped, barely sweetened double cream and passion fruit from Natoora, with whatever berries you have to hand.
Ingredients
You will need 2 x 7-inch deep, round cake tins
For the cake
110g cake flour (I use 100g plain flour mixed with 10g cornflour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 tsp salt
5 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla essence
100g caster sugar
85ml water or milk
65ml flavourless oil (I use corn or rapeseed)
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
To serve
400ml double cream, softly whipped with 40g icing sugar
Fresh fruit, to decorate
Recipe
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a separate bowl, mix the egg yolks, vanilla and half of the sugar until frothy. Add the sifted flour, then gradually add the water/milk and oil until combined.
In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until it starts to froth. Slowly add the remaining 50g sugar, whisking until soft peaks form (it should be stiff but not dry).
Fold a third of the egg whites into the batter, then fold all of the cake batter mix into the remaining egg whites.
Pour into the two tins – you don’t need to grease them as you want the cake to hang upside down when cooling without it falling out.
Bake in the middle of an oven heated to 180C (170C fan)/gas 4 for 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted.
Cool upside down on a rack, then decorate with whipped cream and whatever fruit takes your fancy. You could sub coconut milk and half a teaspoon of pandan essence for the water/milk to make a fluorescent green cake that can be served on its own. You could also make it in a 10-inch angel cake tin (preferably not fluted as it’s impossible to get out). The cake can be baked a day in advance.