Chiffon Cake

I think I'm a struggling food blogger because I am not good at taking pictures while I'm mid-process and then I just dig in before I think to take a picture. But, I was good when I made chiffon cakes last week for an order, and she helped me out by snapping a shot of the cake just before it was "devoured," as she said.

I'd never made a chiffon cake before, but the order was to be used at a '50s-themed baby shower, so I did some research and angel food cake and chiffon cakes were popular during that time. The cake gets most of it's lift from whipping egg whites to stiff peaks, and then carefully folding the rest of the batter in. It's actually a pretty easy cake to make, and the folding takes the most time.

You also need a special pan, and I got one with feet. The cake needs to cool upside down to keep from collapsing itself. This part seems weird to me, but it works!

I also made a strawberry sauce to go over the cake because, like its cousin angel food cake, chiffon cake is not an overly strong flavor. I just boiled down fresh strawberries, sugar, and water. I then strained the pulp out to make a smooth sauce.

And it was a hit! And now that I have the special pan, I'm pretty sure I'll be making more angel food cakes and chiffon cakes come fresh strawberry season!

I do love the way a golden brown cake looks!

Recipe for both chiffon cake and strawberry sauce come from the America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book. The only alteration I made was using more strawberries an less sugar in the sauce.

Coming later this week: Red Velvet Cake and French Silk pie.