Mini lemon chiffon cakes
Chiffon cakes are a type of cake typical of American baking. Normally, they are usually prepared in an aluminum mold with a central hole and which was invented precisely for this type of cake. This is the famous mold to prepare Angel Food cake and you can find it here .
The difference between Angel Food cake and Chiffon cakes is that the former is prepared only with egg whites and Chiffon cakes also incorporate the yolks. They both have in common that they are very airy and light doughs and they have the peculiarity that we should not grease the mold where we bake them and that they should be cooled upside down so that they do not lose volume. For this reason, the Angel Food cake mold has those curious little legs.
In today's recipe I have applied the chiffon cake technique to make individual cupcakes that are perfect for any time of the day. The result has been light, soft bites with an exquisite acid touch.
I used my Kitchen Aid to make them and baked them in the Le Creuset cupcake mold . You can see the latter in the photos. Do you know Le Creuset's Pâtisserie line? Well, I recommend that you take a look at the pastry section because you will surely love it.
Ingredients (for 12 cupcakes)
- 2 eggs, separating the whites from the yolks
- ¼ dessert spoon of cream of tartar
- 90 g sugar
- 75 g pastry flour
- ¼ dessert spoon of salt
- 40 ml arbequina olive oil
- 1 dessert spoon of Royal yeast
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Zest of 1 lemon
For the glaze:
- 125 g sugar
- 50 ml lemon juice
Note: all ingredients should be at room temperature.
Preparation
1. Put the egg whites, cream of tartar and 45 g of sugar in the Kitchen Aid glass. Beat at speed 6 with the whisk until it forms a meringue with peaks. When you have it ready, reserve it in another bowl since we will need to beat the rest of the ingredients in the KA.
2. Sift the flour, 45 g of sugar, Royal yeast and salt. Put them in the Kitchen Aid glass along with the olive oil, the yolks, the juice and the lemon zest. Beat at speed 6 with the whisk until doubled in volume.
3. Add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites to the previous dough and mix with the help of a spatula. Do it with enveloping movements so that it integrates well. Add the remaining egg whites to the dough and mix gently.
4. Spread the dough into the ungreased cupcake mold and bake at 160º for about 15 minutes. You will know that the chiffon cakes are ready if when you press the center with your finger, the cake recovers its original shape.
In addition, they will acquire a beautiful golden color. Take the tray out of the oven and place it face down on some pastry rings so that air can enter through the bottom and the chiffon cakes can cool well. Leave them like this for about 20 minutes.
5. While the chiffon cakes are in the oven, you can prepare the frosting. Put the lemon juice and 100 g of sugar in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves. Let cool for 20 minutes. Just before icing the chiffon cakes, add the remaining 25 g of sugar and stir a little. With this we will get a very nice crunchy point in the glaze.
6. When the chiffon cakes have cooled, unmold them using a small spatula. Put them on a rack and glaze them. Let them dry for at least two hours before tasting them.
