Chiffon Cake

Hurrah!

This is my very first post- the first real one, that is. I don't think that introductory one really counted...

Here is a recipe that I've discovered recently thanks to Chika of www.shewhoeats.blogspot.com. Chiffon cake is a wonderfully light and airy dessert that's perfect for hot August days when all one can do is laze around in the comfort of one's air conditioning. I altered the recipe a bit to include a hint of coffee flavour and some unexpected sweetness with the addition of dried cactus sugar. Here is the original recipe (my changes are marked with asterisks).

Chiffon Cake

1 cup + 1 tbsp cake flour

1 tsp baking powder

6 egg yolks

pinch salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 cup granulated sugar

**1 tbsp cactus sugar**

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

6 egg whites

**2 tbsp instant coffee**

1. Preheat oven to 340 degrees. Prepare 10 to 14 unwaxed paper cups for filling.

2. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and instant coffee. Set aside for later.

3. Beat the egg yolks, salt, vanilla extract, and six tablespoons of the granulated sugar until the mixture becomes a pale yellow and falls in ribbons from the whisk. Gently stir in the water and oil until barely combined, and then fold in the flour mixture from step 2.

4. Thoroughly wash and dry the whisk (Really, trust me on this one...step 5 will not be successful without this!)

5. Beat the egg whites with five tablespoons of sugar until stiff. When they are ready, the egg whites should be able to form peaks on the whisk.

6. Fold in the egg whites into the flour/egg yolk/oil mixture 1/3 at a time. The batter will immediately increase in volume and become much lighter.

7. Spoon the batter into the cups prepared in step 1 and evenly sprinkle the tops with cactus sugar.

8. Bake approximately 25 to 30 minutes. (This really depends on your oven and what kind of hot spots it has. I've found that rotating the tray midway helps in preventing the burning of innocent, sweet baked goods.)

9. Remove when the tops have puffed up nicely and cool the chiffon cake cups on their sides to prevent them from collapsing on themselves.

10. Enjoy!

As an added note, I would consider adding another tablespoon of instant coffee to the recipe. I originally intended for the coffee to disguise the taste of the egg yolks, which I found to be a bit bothersome the first time I tried this recipe. The quantity as currently specified in the recipe successfully masks the egg yolks but contributes only the faintest hint of its lovely, aromatic self.

**I'm really very sorry about the terrible format of this entry, but I've been struggling with the photos for nearly an hour and have reached the end of my patience. At first I wanted the photos to be seamlessly meshed with the steps to make it easier to follow, but it seems that the Blog gods are looking upon me unfavorably today. I will redeem myself by fixing this ASAP!**