Orange chiffon cake with chocolate icing and candied oranges

We could not miss the cake that Virginia, author of Sweet&Sour, prepares for us today in our recipe book: the chiffon cake is a cake that, like good fashion, returns to the charge with great force! It is prepared in the Angel Food Cake mold , so take note because you already have another "must recipe" for your list!

You may wonder.... What is a Chiffon Cake? If it looks the same as an Angel Cake .... How are they alike? How is it different? A Chiffon Cake is a tall and spectacular round cake that, like the Angel Cake, has a central hole, and that, like this one, is baked in the same mold , without greasing. It was created in 1920 by a Californian, Henry Baker, who ended up selling the recipe to General Mills in 1940 and which became very popular in the 1950s. Since then, interest has declined until today, when it has returned to Become fashionable.

Despite their outward appearance, they have nothing to do with Angel Cake, except that they are baked in the same pan without greasing . Both incorporate flour and sugar in their preparation, but... The Chiffon Cake recipe is prepared with whole eggs and fat is added in the form of vegetable oil, which gives it that juicy and light texture and keeps it in good condition for a long time. time. In addition, to prepare the Chiffon Cake, raising agent is used. The Angel Cake is prepared without any carbonating agent or fat, and only egg whites are used in its preparation.

The Chiffon Cake is a very fluffy, light and soft cake , but with more body than the Angel cake, although surprisingly more delicate to handle once baked.
Specifically, this recipe that I bring you today reminds me of the pastries of my childhood... Do you remember the "Bonis", "buccaneers"...? Well, it's a bit that texture and flavor.

Chiffon cake is not usually covered, except with a little icing sugar, but in this case, and with those memories on the palate, I wanted to cover it with a divine chocolate glaze and some candied oranges, which give it a festive touch. An all-round success.

Let's go with the recipe:

INGREDIENTS (for a 25 cm Angel Cake mold )

For the Chiffon Cake:

• 6 "L" Eggs + 1 Extra Egg White, at room temperature
• 225gr of Pastry Flour
• 300gr of superfine sugar or Caster Sugar*
• 1 Tbsp (spoon) Baking Raising Agent
• 1/2 Tsp (teaspoon) of common salt
• 2 Tbsp (scoops) of Orange Zest
• 120ml Sunflower Oil
• 180ml of Orange Juice
• 1 Tsp (teaspoon) of Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 Tsp (teaspoon) of Cream of Tartar**

For the Chocolate Glaze:

• 200gr of 70% quality Chocolate.
• 200gr of Double Cream or cream 35% mg
• 3 tablespoons of Liquid Glucose or Golden Syrup***

For the candied oranges:

• 1 orange
• 200g of sugar
• 100g of water

* Superfine Sugar or Caster Sugar is nothing more than ground sugar without reaching the point of the glass. If you can't find it, you can do it at home with any kitchen robot or with the coffee grinder.
**Cremor Tártaro is available in confectionery stores or, as a last resort, in pharmacies.
***Liquid Glucose or Golden Syrup is available in confectionery stores.

PREPARATION:

We start with the candied oranges:

Wash the orange well and cut it into slices with a sharp knife .
To remove the bitterness, we boil them with water that we will discard once they reach a boil. We will rinse them under running tap water, being very careful not to damage the shape.
We put the water and sugar to cook in a medium saucepan , and when the sugar has dissolved we add the orange slices. Let cook over low heat until we see that they are done. It can take us about 1 1/2 hours. Let stand in the syrup for at least 2 hours. Lists.

De Buyer copper saucepan

You can store them with this syrup in a glass jar , or if we want them to dry, we remove the slices on a wire rack and let the sugar harden. We store between baking paper, in a tin box, in a cool place. Or we even freeze wrapped in plastic wrap.

Let's go now with the Chiffon Cake:

We separate whites and yolks when the eggs are cold. It is easier and we leave covered at room temperature for 1 hour or so.
When our yolks and whites are at room temperature, we preheat the oven to 170ºC, heat up and down
In a medium bowl , in my case in the metal bowl of the Kitchen Aid and provided with the shovel accessory, mix the flour, 250 gr. sugar, raising agent, salt and orange zest.
Make a hole in the center and pour in the egg yolks, oil, orange juice and vanilla extract. Mix with the paddle at low speed for 1 minute, until you get an orange cream without lumps. If we do it manually, we mix it with the help of a silicone spatula.
In the glass bowl of the Kitchen Aid provided with the balloon accessory, or in a large bowl with the rod mixer, we mount the egg whites. First we froth them lightly, add the cream of tartar and beat on medium high speed until soft peaks begin to form. Now with the engine running we are adding the 50 gr. remaining sugar little by little and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.

Kitchen Aid robot with glass bowl , and Le Creuset silicone spatula

For preparations of this type, I like to have an extra bowl for my Kitchen Aid, because that saves me having to take out the mixture from the previous one and clean it in the middle of the preparation. I have the glass bowl that, in addition to being useful, is the most beautiful.

Once our two preparations are ready, we pour the beaten egg whites three times over the mixture of flour and yolks. We mix with enveloping movements, with the help of a silicone spatula, trying not to get our whites down.

Pour the mixture onto our "ungreased" Angel Cake mold and bake for 55-60 minutes, or until inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake comes out dry.

Nordic Ware Angel Food Cake Pan

Remove from the oven and place the cake upside down, on the legs that the Angel Cake mold has, so that it cools without losing volume during this process. Let cool completely in this position. Once cold, we pass a knife or a metal spatula around the contour and remove from the mold. We do the same to detach it from the lid.

Let's go now with the chocolate glaze:

In a saucepan with a thick bottom, I like to use Buyer's copper saucepan , mix all the ingredients and bring to medium heat, stirring well until everything has dissolved and we obtain a thick cream. Remove from heat and reserve.

Note that this glaze hardens with the warm. Of course, do not pour it too hot, as it will tend to spread; Also not too thick or it won't spread easily and will be more opaque.

We cover the cake with the chocolate glaze and with the candied oranges and serve with more chocolate glaze nearby.

Tips:

• This cake keeps very well at room temperature for up to 3 days, and 10 days in the fridge. In fact I forgot to place the bell and it stayed in contact with the air all night, and surprisingly it was juicy not the following.
• Just as there are cakes that are lukewarm, this cake is best enjoyed at room temperature or cold.

To enjoy.
Virginia