High Altitude Chiffon Cake
Fluffy, light-as-a-cloud chiffon cake, with blueberry whipped cream frosting.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 ⅓ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 7 large egg yolks
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 7 large egg whites, room temperature
- ½ tsp cream of tartar
Whipped Cream
- 4 oz cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup blueberry preserves, optional
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups cold heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Getting Ready
- About an hour before you plan to bake your cake, separate your eggs while they're cold from the fridge. Eggs are easiest to separate when they're cold, but room temperature egg whites whip more quickly and easily. Separate all the yolks and whites, then let them warm up to room temperature for about an hour. Note: You don't want any trace of egg yolk in the whites, so if one of the yolks breaks while you're separating the eggs, set that one aside and use it for scrambled eggs or another baking project. When you separate an egg, I recommend letting the white fall into a separate small bowl first, then pour it into your mixing bowl. That way, you won't ruin the entire bowl of egg whites if one of the yolks breaks.
- Soak a cotton ball in a little white distilled vinegar, and wipe clean the bowl and whisk attachment that you'll be using to whip the egg whites. This ensures that they're free of fat or grease, which can prevent the egg whites from whipping.
- Preheat the oven to 325 F, and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Have ready an ungreased tube pan or angel food cake pan with a removable bottom.
Cake
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, water, oil and vanilla for about 30 seconds, until frothy. Add the flour mixture and whisk until smooth, then set the batter aside until needed.
- Pour the egg whites into the bowl of your stand mixer, and add the cream of tartar. Using the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium high speed, to soft peaks. This should take about 3 minutes.
- Add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites to the cake batter, gently folding them in until completely incorporated. Fold in another 1/3 of the egg whites, then fold in the last 1/3 of the egg whites, until you have a fluffy, airy batter with no visible yellow streaks. The batter needs to be evenly mixed so that your cake crumb is uniform throughout.
- Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the cake on the lower oven rack for about 50-55 minutes, until the top is puffed and golden brown, the cake springs back when gently touched, and a cake tester inserted comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven, and immediately turn the pan upside down on the counter. Let the cake cool upside down in the pan until completely cooled. This helps the cake keep its height, rather than deflating as it cools. To speed up the cooling process, I let it cool for 1 hour at room temperature, then in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, for a total of 90 minutes.
- To unmold the cake, run a sharp knife around the sides and center of the cake to loosen it from the pan, then remove the sides of the pan. Then use the knife to loosen the cake from the base of the pan. Use a dry pastry brush to brush the darker brown crumbs off the sides and bottom of the cake. Set the cake on a serving plate.
Whipped Cream
- With an electric mixer (stand or hand held), beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar on medium speed for about one minute, until smooth. Add the blueberry preserves and the vanilla, and beat until smooth.
- Add the cream, and whip on medium high speed until thick and fluffy peaks form that hold their shape.
- Frost the cooled cake with the whipped cream. The whipped cream is very stable, and will not deflate on the leftover cake.
- Serve immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to serve.
Notes
If the cake is frosted with whipped cream, refrigerate the leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. If the cake is frosted with buttercream, or left plain, you can store the leftover cake at room temperature.
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