Our Easter gathering will be a party of two this year. But I know someone who will really enjoy this Orange and Almond Chiffon Cake, especially if I serve it with fresh raspberries and coconut sorbet. A moist chiffon cake combines the lightness of angel food cake with some of the richness of a butter cake. Instead of butter, oil gives the cake its tender crumb. This gluten-free cake is ideal for Easter or Passover.
The original recipe for this cake comes from one of the books I write, On Baking: A Textbook of Baking and Pastry Fundamentals. Because I wanted a more nutritious treat, I replaced the wheat flour with finely ground almond flour. Cornstarch helps mimic the structure in a cake made with wheat flour so I added that too.
If you’ve never made a chiffon cake before, there are a few tricks. Whipped egg whites help leaven the batter. You’ll need a stand or hand-held mixer to get a nice firm egg foam. To make the final batter, you fold the almond flour and eggs yolks into the whipped egg whites. This step is easy but requires some care. First you lighten the almond flour mixture with some of the whipped egg whites. I like to fold in this first portion of egg white using a springy wire whisk. Then you fold in the remaining whites. This step I do with a rubber spatula.
Here’s the finished batter in an angel food cake pan.
The batter bakes in an ungreased tube plan, the kind with the column in the center. The metal column conducts heat into the delicate cake batter helping it bake evenly. In order to cool this fragile creation, you invert the cake over the neck of a slim wine bottle. In so doing, the cake cools before it can collapse onto itself. Or you could invert the cake onto a cooling rack.
Here’s the cake with a slice removed. You can see the nice even crumb. No need to cut with a pronged cake fork, a knife will do.
A simple glaze made with orange juice, zest and powdered sugar gives it a finishing touch. Quality citrus is still plentiful as I write this. Juicy and fragrant Mineola tangelos are what I used in the batter and glaze.
Kitchen Notebook
Be sure to check that the cornstarch you use is gluten-free. Although inherently gluten free, cornstarch may be manufactured on equipment shared with wheat products. In some Jewish households, cornstarch is not permitted in foods during Passover. Use potato starch measure for measure in place of the cornstarch in this recipe.
Ingredients
1 ¾ cups (6 ounces) blanched almond flour
¾ cup (3 ounces) cornstarch or potato starch*, sifted
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
½ cup (4 fluid ounces) vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
½ cup (4 fluid ounces) orange juice
1 Tablespoon grated orange zest, about 2 oranges
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg whites
* To make this cake Kosher for Passover, use potato starch.
3 ounces powdered sugar, sifted
2 Tablespoons orange juice
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
Sliced almonds and dried strawberries, for garnish, optional
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Have an ungreased 10-inch tube or angel food cake pan ready. Find a long-necked wine bottle to use when cooling the cake in Step 7. (If it is empty, fill it with water to keep it from falling over when used.)
- Stir together the almond flour, cornstarch, ¾ cup of the sugar, the baking powder and salt in a medium size bowl.
- In a separate bowl whisk together the oil, egg yolks, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla until well combined. Make sure there are no lumps in the mixture. Fold the almond flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture.
- Beat the egg whites until foamy in the clean, grease-free bowl of a mixer fitted with the whip attachment. Slowly beat in the remaining sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites are stiff but not dry.
- Stir one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it. Fold in the remaining egg whites.
- Pour the batter into the ungreased tube pan. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, approximately 1 hour.
- Immediately invert the pan over the neck of the bottle. Allow the cake to hang upside down until it is completely cool. Loosen the edges of the cake with a long knife and remove the cake from the pan.
- Stir the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl and drizzle over the top of the cooled cake.
Notes
Serve this cake the day it is glazed. It will keep covered for a few days at room temperature but it may lose some of its volume.
