Mom's Basic Chiffon Cake

With the chiffon cake, you basically have two parts - the egg yolk mixture and the egg white mixture (meringue). Mix the two and bake.

A few things to remember:

• Used chilled eggs, instead of room-temperature ones. This results in a very smooth meringue without the need for cream of tartar.
• Best to use a proper chiffon cake pan. Do not grease the pan, or the the mixture won't stick to the sides and can't rise as high.
• For the same reason, do not use non-stick pans.
• Let the chiffon cake rest upside down. This helps the cake maintain its height, instead of deflating.

Now, on to the ingredients.
For the egg yolk mixture:

• 3 egg yolks
• ⅓ cup sugar
• ¼ cup cooking oil (vegetable or canola)
• 5 tablespoons water
• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• a few drops of vanilla

Whisk the 3 egg yolks together with the sugar until creamy pale yellow color. Slowly add the cooking oil. Then the water. Add in the sifted cake flour and baking powder. Keep whisking until thoroughly mixed.

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• ¼ cup sugar

Whisk the egg whites using a hand mixer using medium speed until opaque and bubbly. Slowly add in the sugar. Mix using high speed until stiff peak is formed when whisk is lifted.

Next, fold in a third of the meringue with the egg yolk mixture and mix. Then the next third, then the last third.

Pour mixture into the chiffon pan. Bake at 350ºF for 40 - 45 minutes until ready.