When it comes to cakes, it doesn’t get more American than a chiffon.
The chiffon cake was born in California and changed the way America baked, says cake cognoscente Anne Byrn, who wrote the runaway best-seller, “The Cake Mix Doctor,” and the sequels, “Chocolate From the Cake Mix Doctor”; “The Dinner Doctor” and “Cupcakes From the Cake Mix Doctor.”
Presidents had their favorite cakes, too, and here are what some of them craved:
• George Washington: Martha Washington Great Cake (a fruitcake made with wine).
• Thomas Jefferson: An orange-flavored sponge cake.
• Chester Arthur: Devil’s Food Cake.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt: Fruitcake (dark, dense chocolate cake).
• Richard Nixon: Baked Alaska (a sponge cake topped by a thick slab of ice cream and blanketed by meringue. It is then baked for about 5 minutes or until the top is golden brown).
• Jimmy Carter: Lane Cake (a three-layered cake filled and frosted with a boozy custard packed with pecans, raisins and maraschino cherries). It was served in the Carter home during his childhood.
— Anne Byrn
Instead of butter, the chiffon cake uses vegetable oil for moistness and relies on beaten egg whites for volume and lightness, Ms. Byrn writes in her upcoming cookbook, “American Cake: From Colonial Gingerbread to Classic Layer, the Story Behind Our Best-Loved Cakes From Past to Present,” which will be released Sept. 6 by Rodale Books. The book methodically looks at how cakes have evolved from the Colonists’ era to now.
The chiffon cake is quintessential American, Ms. Byrn says, unlike the gingerbread cake that came with the settlers, the sponge cake that had roots in England and France, the pound cake that originated in England and the angel food and crumb coffee cakes that immigrated with the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Harry Baker, an insurance salesman whose hobby was baking, is credited to have created the first chiffon cake in 1927, using vegetable oil. He made it for the famous Brown Derby Restaurant in Los Angeles, which sold the cake to Hollywood stars.
The story goes that he held the secret ingredient so close to his heart that he disposed his garbage of himself so that no one could find out why his cakes turned out so moist. He eventually sold the recipe to General Mills in 1948, so that “Betty Crocker could give the secret to the women of America.”
Ms. Byrn spoke last week in a phone interview from Nashville, Tenn., on how to master baking a chiffon cake.
Q: What do you think prompted Harry Baker to use vegetable oil instead of butter?
A: I would have been fascinated to have interviewed Harry Baker about that. Vegetable oil was a key ingredient at that time, and he must have tasted a cake with it. After all, Wesson oil was a 20th-century game changer.
Q: In addition to the oil, what are the key basics for a chiffon?
A: Flour, sugar, a bit of leavening, salt and a lot of eggs. Also, the egg whites need to be beaten separately from the yolks. Strong citrus flavors like orange and lemon can be added as well. The cake is a very good keeper.
Q: Other than a citrus chiffon, what other flavors appeal to you?
A: Instead of oranges and lemons in the batter and an orange glaze, you can add a teaspoon of espresso and top the cake with a chocolate glaze. Or you can add coconut milk and coconut extract and top it with desiccated coconut. The chiffon is a good canvas and can go with anything. It is like an angel food cake in that regard.
Q: What’s the best way to slice the cake?
A: A serrated knife is the best because it helps to preserve the height of a tall cake. You work so hard on the volume and you don’t want to push it down. Instead saw into it gently.
Q: Is it imperative to bake a chiffon in a tube pan or can it be baked in a Bundt, loaf pan or as cupcakes?
A: It’s best to bake a chiffon in a tube pan because it offers the height and structure to allow the cake to rise high. The pan allows the batter to grab on to the sides of the pan and thrust up the cake. You can bake a chiffon in layers or in a Bundt pan or make cupcakes, but the most dramatic presentation for a tall cake is the tube pan.
Q: How do you test a chiffon for doneness?
A: Check the cake at the earlier end of the baking time specified in the recipe. I always keep the light on in the oven when baking a cake, so I can see when it starts browning. The cake also needs to be firm when you gently press your finger on the top.
Q: Do you have any last words of advice for chiffon bakers?
A: Don’t cut corners. You do need to beat the egg whites separately and fold them in carefully into the batter with the yolks, sugar and flour to give the cake its volume. So don’t add the eggs as a whole.
Q: And your final thoughts about the chiffon?
A: It goes anywhere. It’s like a nice pair of jeans or a little black dress. It’s always in season, always appropriate. And uniquely American.
Arthi Subramaniam: asubramaniam@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1494 or on Twitter @asub.
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Fresh Orange Chiffon Cake
PG tested
The texture of chiffon cake is somewhere between a pound cake and an angel food cake. The original recipe called for baking the cake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes and increasing the temperature to 350 degrees and baking for an additional 8 to 10 minutes. But I found the cake top to be perfectly golden brown when it baked at 325 degrees for about 55 minutes.
2 medium-size lemons
2 large oranges
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1½ cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
7 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Grate zest of lemons to yield 1 tablespoon.
Grate zest of oranges to yield 3 tablespoons. Cut oranges in half and juice them to yield 3/4 cup of juice. Set the zests and juice aside.
Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 10-inch tube pan; set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Make a wide well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add oil and egg yolks, lemon and orange zests, and orange juice.
With a strong wire whisk, beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Set aside.
In another large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric mixer on high speed until a still peak holds when the beater is raised, about 3 to 4 minutes.
In three additions, fold about three-quarters of the yolk mixture into the whites. Next fold the whites into the remaining yolk mixture. Gently pour the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for about 55 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center of the cake just comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Spoon orange glaze over top of the cooled cake. If desired, sprinkle powdered sugar on top.
Makes 12 to 16 servings.
— Adapted from “American Cake” by Anne Byrn (to be published Sept. 6, 2016; Rodale Books; $29.99)
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Orange Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
In a small bowl, add sugar and then whisk in orange juice.
When smooth, slowly drizzle glaze over the cake.
First Published: June 29, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
