What is "chiffon cake"

n. A very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavourings.

n. very light cake

A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings. It is a combination of both batter and foam type (sponge type) cakes.

Instead of the traditional cake ingredient butter or paste (such as shortening), vegetable oil is used; but this is difficult to beat enough air into. Therefore, chiffon cakes, like angel cakes and other foam cakes, achieve a fluffy texture by having egg whites beaten until stiff and folded them into the cake batter before baking. Its aeration properties rely on both the quality of the meringue and the chemical leaveners. Its oil-based batter is initially blended before folding into the meringue.

A chiffon cake is a cross between an oil cake and a sponge cake. It includes baking powder and vegetable oil, but the eggs are separated and the whites are beaten before being folded into the batter creating the rich flavor like an oil cake, but with a lighter texture that's more like a sponge cake. They can be baked in tube pans or layered with fillings and frostings.