Around here we are calling this Debbie’s White Chocolate Chiffon Cake. An early Bakepedia fan, Debbie, contacted us with a request for a moist white chocolate cake. Not satisfied with current renditions, we headed to the Test Kitchen and voila, a new cake was born!
Chiffon cakes are based on oil, which gives them a very moist, soft and springy texture that is retained for several days. Because they aren’t butter-based, however, they often lack that backbone of flavor. Enter the virtues of high-quality white chocolate, which contains cocoa butter. This cake combines the sought-after qualities of an oil-based cake with the rich mouthfeel and flavor of white chocolate, which is melted and added to the batter. To further bolster the white chocolate flavor, you can fold shavings into the batter as an optional addition. The result is a moist, slightly sweet “yellow” cake. It can be used as a base for a birthday cake or large celebration cake, filled and frosted with buttercream or baked in a ring shape and served unadorned, perhaps with fresh fruit.
- 4 ounces white chocolate, such as El Rey Icoa, divided
- 2 ¼ cups sifted cake flour
- 1⅔ cups sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- ½ cup flavorless oil, such as canola
- 6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
- Position rack in the center of your oven. Preheat to 325°F. Have ready two 9-inch springform pans or one 10-inch angel food cake pan with removable bottom. Leave them ungreased.
- Finely chop and melt 3 ounces of chocolate and allow to cool slightly. Grate remaining 1 ounce of chocolate on large holes of a box grater and set aside. Meanwhile, whisk together the sifted flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined in a medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat the milk, oil, egg yolks and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and combined. Stir in the dry mixture by hand until a few streaks of flour remain, then add melted chocolate and finish stirring and folding mixture until it is completely smooth and combined.
- Beat the egg whites in a clean, grease-free bowl with clean beaters until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat just until stiff peaks form, but no longer. Fold about ⅓ of the whipped egg whites into the main batter to lighten, then add the remaining egg whites in two more batches along with the remaining 1 ounce of grated chocolate. Take care to retain the air in the batter created by the whipped egg whites.
- Divide batter in ungreased 9-inch springform pans or into a large tube pan, leveling the top with a small offset spatula if necessary. Bake the springform pans for about 30 to 35 minutes or until center springs back when gently pressed and a toothpick just tests clean. The tube pan will take about 50 to 60 minutes, using same visual cues. Cool springform pans on racks; cool tube pan upside down on feet (if pan has them) or invert on the neck of a sturdy bottle. Unmold from pans when completely cooled. Cake(s) may be filled and frosted right away or served as is. Wrap in plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Dede! Thank you so much for naming this “Debbie’s” I am so honoured!!
Like I said – don’t know what I did before I “found” you!!
Debbie, my pleasure. We hope you and your family enjoy the recipe! – Dede
WOW! (yes I am shouting). This cake is …….. delectable, I made it on the weekend and have to say it is one of the nicest cakes I have made. The batter is lovely and quick to get together an into the oven. There is a hard part to this cake however, it is the temptation to say no to another slice! Thanks again Dede!!
We are thrilled you and your family enjoyed it and thank you for letting us know! If you bake and have any pictures, we would be happy to share on our facebook page.
Im going to make a wedding cake this coming october i want to use your italian meringue buttercream but can youtell me, do I have to keep the finished cake in the refrigerator until it is needed (like overnight) or not necessary. Pls help! much appreciated.
In general we do refrigerate IMBC covered cakes overnight. The exceptions have been when there are truly no refrigeration options, but in those instances the cake(s) were kept in a very cool air-conditioned room. This is not optimal, but we have done it successfully. We do not recommend leaving them out at room temperature for health reasons and also because when you go to move the cake, soft buttercream is too susceptible to being smeared. Depending on the size of the tiers you can get creative with coolers and ice or even large clean cardboard boxes and dry ice. Sourcing dry ice seems to get harder and harder, so plan way ahead! Let us know if you have any other questions and we would love to see pictures of your creation.
Can you please give the receipe in grams?
Hi Linda. We do intend to address this at some point. You could use an on-line calculator but here is the issue…we measure by volume in the Test Kitchen since that is how most of our users bake. We will be pausing at some point to weigh our cups of flour, for instance, because they might not be exactly the same as you will find from another existing table/calculator. We cannot guarantee recipe success using a generic online calculator but it is the best place to start.