A question I possibly should have asked first...

[kaitlyn142]

I made a lemon chiffon cake just for fun. I've never made a chiffon cake before, but I can only assume somewhere or other, I messed up. Instead of light, airy, and delicious, it came out with a texture reminiscent of cornbread

Comments

[wldrose]

they both have low gluten content the extra bran in a whole wheat flower would keep the cake from rising as high or the crumb being as fine.

Ash

[quirkee]

Whole wheat flour is denser than cake flour, which is probably the cause of your texture problem.

[misskrisha]

cake flour is lighter and has less gluten than regular (and in your case, whole wheat pastry) flour, and is what helps to give chiffon cake its lighter texture. you can use regular flour in recipes that call for cake flour, but you'd have to augment the ratio. it's not a 1:1 thing when you're subbing one for the other.

[sax601]

Other than the reasons mentioned above, one reason the cake didn't turn out light and airy could be the way you folded the egg whites into the cake batter. Be sure to fold it in very gently and lightly because you don't want to much air to escape. And if too much air escapes, the cake will not rise perfectly.

[madame_manga]

I love chiffon cakes! But they can be a little tricky, it's true...

You already heard about the whole wheat flour; if you only have all-purpose flour around, one decent substitute for cake flour is to put two tablespoons of cornstarch into the bottom of the cup before measuring out one cup of flour. That will give you about the right ratio of starch to gluten for a tender cake.

Your recipe might not emphasize enough, IMO, that the whites have to be whipped VERY stiff indeed for successful chiffon cake. Not just ordinary stiff peaks, but as far as you can go without turning them dry. (If they do go dry, add one more unbeaten egg white and whip a little longer.) They will be somewhat hard to fold in smoothly if they're stiff enough. Use a big rubber spatula, and if you have lumps, gently 'smear' them out as you go. Don't overdo the folding, however. It's better to have some unblended pockets of whites than it is to deflate the whole batch of batter.

Good luck with the next one! :)

[hallwayjulie]

That cake flour sub works wonders - you can also use potato starch if you're not fond of that "cornstarchy" taste.

[kaitlyn142]

Sorry it took so long to reply, but thank you so much for the advice! I'm trying to take my baking from cookies for Christmas to something actually good. My goal is to bake my own wedding cake. :D