This chiffon is my basic go-to cake recipe for pillowy cakes. I use it for layer cakes, cupcakes, rolls...
Now that it's full steam ahead cherry season, there are 3 desserts I make during this time of year : a clafoutis, a panna cotta, and this cherry chiffon. Unfortunately, this year, we had a frost in mid-April in France, known as "the worst frost of the century" and our cherry tree had just been pruned, so we have no fruit this year. But on a normal year, it's full-on cherry bakes and desserts with basketfulls from our one tree.
Here's the recipe, I basically used the chowhound.com recipe, but there are similar versions throughout the web, I found their version straight-forward, not too sweet, soft and honestly, perfect :
3 eggs, separated
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons of water
1 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
Cherry filling (or use ready-made, or cherry preserves) :
200 g of cherries (about 1 cup), pitted and chopped
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Simmer for about 30 minutes in low heat. Allow to cool.
Preheat oven 350° F / 180° C. Coat pan with butter, then dust with flour (or use wax paper). Separate eggs into 2 bowls. Beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. Add 2 tablespoons of the sugar and continue mixing for another 2 minutes until thickened. In the other bowl, mix egg yolks, sugar, oil, water, vanilla, almond extract, then add dry ingredients. Add about 2-3 heaping tablespoons of egg whites to smoothen the cream, then fold the yolk mixture into the egg whites bowl with a spatula. Do not overmix, just make sure you get an even light yellow color.
Pour batter into pan in 3 equal layers: 1 pour of batter, spoon cherry filling on top, 1 pour of batter, spoon cherry filling on top, 1 pour of batter for the top layer. Swirl slightly with a knife. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the center is cooked. Allow to cool.
To decorate, I made a whipped cream made of 1 part whipping cream and 1/3 part sugar with a 1/3 part mascarpone, dusted the sides of the cake, then topped with whipped cream, cherries and edible flowers. Perfect for tea-time or my favorite, breakfast.
Enjoy, everyone.
