This moist Orange Chiffon Cake recipe is the perfect spring dessert! It would be perfect for Mother’s Day. You don’t want to miss out on this simple orange sponge cake recipe!
This Orange Chiffon Cake has a long and storied history in my family.
The recipe actually comes from my grandmother, my father’s mother. I always loved it growing up- she would make it whenever we visited (along with her Apple Walnut Cake). You know that trick about putting bread slices at the end of a cake to keep it moist that has been floating around Facebook lately? She was doing that back in 1989.
But this cake is one of my favorites- and my dad’s too. The year after my parents remodeled their kitchen (so this would have been 1997-ish), my mom decided to make this cake as his birthday cake. I remember getting home from school that day and seeing cake. Lots of cake. All over the kitchen. Collapsed into a sad heap. My mother (who is no slouch in the kitchen) was, rightfully, totally out of patience- “I don’t know what the hell is wrong with this oven. These cakes keep collapsing while they are cooling!”
She did finally succeed, and she wrapped up all her cake fails and gave it to my dad for his birthday. Her sense of humor and humility is A+. However, I’m fairly sure she hates this cake to this day.
This cake is packed with orange and citrus flavor, perfect for spring. There’s no two ways about it- you have to use at least two bowls for this, which is what I try to avoid when cooking at all cost. Sorry. Just be lazy and throw them in the dishwasher. Its what I do.
Tools needed to make this delicious orange cake:
- An [easyazon_link identifier=”B00004RFPY” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]angel food cake pan[/easyazon_link] is important for this recipe.
- It would also be helpful to have an [easyazon_link identifier=”B00A2KD8NY” locale=”US” tag=”gogogogo03-20″]egg separator[/easyazon_link] for this recipe, too!
If you liked this moist Orange Chiffon Cake recipe, then you will also love these ones:
Orange Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups cake flour
- 1 ½ cups white sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 egg yolks
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon orange zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup egg whites from about 8 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Icing:
- ⅓ cup butter softened
- 1 ½ tablespoons orange zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 4 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons orange juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- In a medium sized bowl, add the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk together and form a well in the middle. Add the egg yolks, oil, juice, zest and vanilla and set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the egg whites and cream of tartar. Using a handheld mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Using the same handmixer/beaters, mix together the egg-flour-orange bowl until smooth.
- Fold the egg yolk batter into the bowl of egg whites, 1/4 at a time.
- Pour into an ungreased 12" angel food/tube cake pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Invert pan while cooling. Remove from pan.
- To make the icing: In a large mixing bowl, beat together all frosting ingredients until smooth. Frost cake all around and serve.
Jenny Ricardo says
I would love to bake this cake. But you didn’t type in the Oven Temperature.
Jacqueline says
Hi Jenny! I am out of town but going home tomorrow. I will look up the temperature in my book. So sorry!
Jacqueline says
Hi Jenny, So sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Cake is baked at 325, I have edited it accordingly. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Rhonda says
For the frosting, it mentions 1egg yoke, but does not mention cooking. Don’t egg yokes have to be cooked?
Jacqueline says
Hi Rhonda, you probably eat raw egg yolks and don’t even realize it! Caesar dressing and mayo all contained uncooked egg yolks. As long as you are getting quality eggs, you should be okay (I don’t pretend to make any health claims though!). I tend to buy organic cage-free eggs, I think they just taste better (and in theory it makes sense because the chickens are probably healthier). I do know that you can buy pasteurized eggs if you are concerned.