Lemon Chiffon Cake

An easy and good cake that has turned out well for me every time I've made it.

Adapted from Kathy Specht's 1991 Bon Apetit recipe

2 cups sifted cake flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

'Pixie dust':

powdered sugar
citric acid crystals (can be found in Middle Eastern markets)
grated lemon zest


Preheat oven to 325F. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Using electric mixer on low speed, beat in vegetable oil, egg yolk, lemon juice, water and lemon peel. In another bowl, combine egg whites and cream of tartar. Using clean dry beaters, beat until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/4 of whites into batter to lighten. Gently fold in remaining whites.





Pour cake batter into ungreased 10 inch diameter tube pan. Tap pan on counter or run rubber spatula through cake batter to release air pockets. Bake cake until springy to touch, about 1 1/4 hours. Immediately invert cake in pan over the neck of a bottle. Cool cake completely. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Transfer cake to a plate.

Pulverize about 1 tsp citric acid with a mortar and pestle. Blend with about 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Sift over cake with a fine-mesh strainer. Sprinkle additional lemon zest over. May need additional dustings, as it absorbs into the cake surface and forms a dry glaze. Don't overdo the citric acid, because it is REALLY sour.

Garnish with a lemon rose: peel a long strip from one of your zested lemons with a vegetable peeler, roll up and secure with a toothpick. Add a few mint sprigs. It's almost embarrassing how much bang you get for your buck with this. I think the garnish got more attention than the cake.



No pics of the cake sliced, sorry. By the time the potluck at work was over and the first shifters had arrived and decimated what we had not finished on third shift, all that was left were crumbs, a forlorn chunk, and a very wilted garnish.

There were quite a few user comments on the epicurious website indicating the cake alone didn't have a lot of flavor. So I came up with the tangy 'pixie dust' (remember Pixie Stix, the sour, powdered candy in the straws?). I'd like to try this again with a lemon glaze, or even a sprinkle of Limoncello liquor, or stuffing it with lemon curd. Other possibilities abound, I'm sure.