Coffee Chiffon

I love Chiffon cakes. Fact.

Easy (ish) to make, no fuss and no need to decorate.

Light and moist texture that can be eaten on it's own with a good cup of coffee/tea.

I remember the first time I made this coffee chiffon, it was for my brother's birthday and he specifically requested not to have a cake made for him (due to the fact that he's not a fan of sweet things) but I couldn't let him go without a birthday cake. He loves coffee, so I searched for ages for a coffee chiffon recipe and when I eventually found one that I was kind of satisfied with, I reduced the sugar by almost a half; using what knowledge I already knew about Chiffon cakes, at the time, to tweak the recipe. 

I used cream for the middle to add an element of freshness - it worked wonderfully and the bro really enjoyed it. Happy days!

Bro and Ella with his birthday cake.

The second time I made this, the texture was even better but the sponge lacked any flavour of coffee and I was so gutted. The reason was simple, I changed the coffee I was using. 

The coffee I used the first time was made using Nescafe Original coffee granules.

The coffee I used the second time was made using Nescafe Azera. 

Now, Azera costs more and is supposed to give a more "authentic" barista style coffee so it baffled me as to why it tasted of nothing when added to the cake!

My advice to anyone trying this recipe out, is to play around with the coffee you use and once you find the perfect one, don't change!

I am still searching for the right coffee for my Coffee Chiffon - once I find it, I will be amending this post!

If you find the perfect coffee to add to this, please comment below and share with us!

For now, I hope you like this recipe.

Coffee Chiffon

Ingredients: 

A:

300g Plain Flour

150g Caster Sugar

1tbsp Baking Powder

Pinch of Salt

125ml Vegetable Oil

150ml Fresh Coffee

8 Egg Yolks

B:

8 Egg Whites

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

90g Caster Sugar

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
• Sieve the dry ingredients from list A in to a large mixing bowl.
• Make a well in the flour.
• Put the rest of the ingredients from list A in to the well and mix with a balloon whisk until the mixture is smooth, but make sure you don't over mix it.

• Beat the whites and Cream of Tartar until foamy, gradually add the sugar from B and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.

• Fold the stiff whites in to the coffee mix in 2-3 separate batches - I use a balloon whisk for this but you can use a spatula, whatever is easier for you.

• Fold carefully but quickly until all egg white lumps are gone and then use a large spatula to complete the folding.

• Pour carefully in to a Chiffon Tube Pan. Lift the pan an inch or 2 above the work top and drop it - do this a couple of times to remove large air pockets.

• Bake for about 65-70mins - remembering that different ovens vary so check after 60 mins - using the skewer method to check it is done. Cool upside down in the tin for at least 20mins. I usually let it cool completely in the tin.

• To remove the cake, use a thin sharp knife and run it around the side of the cake and tin, then once you have taken it out, run the knife along the bottom and inside the tube part to get the cake off the rest of the pan.

You can decorate it however you like - maybe with a caramel sauce? Fresh cream? Sprinkled with walnuts? 

I prefer it plain with no filling or icing and have it with a nice cup of tea.

I Decorated the one below with a chocolate ganache and filled with a whipped ganache.