Date--Spice Chiffon Cake
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours cooling
Yield
Serves 12
Ingredients
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar 1 ⅓ cups cake flour 2 teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon table salt ¾ cup chopped dates 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated¾ cup water ½ cup vegetable oil 1 tablespoon vanilla extract ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Before You Begin
If the egg whites to be whipped are not at room temperature, set them in a pan placed in hot tap water and stir them until they are tepid.
Instructions
- Adjust rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place brown sugar, flour, baking powder, dates, spices, and salt together in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal chopping blade. Process until dates are reduced to 1/8-inch bits and any lumps of brown sugar are pulverized. Empty ingredients into a large bowl (at least 4 quart). Whisk in two whole eggs, five egg yolks (reserve whites), water, oil, and extract until batter is just smooth.
- Pour reserved egg whites into large bowl; beat at medium speed with electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, increase speed to medium-high, then beat whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry, 9 to 10 minutes with hand-held mixer and 5 to 7 minutes in KitchenAid or other standing mixer. With large rubber spatula, fold whites into batter, smearing in any blobs of white that resist blending with flat side of spatula.
- Pour batter into large tube pan (9-inch diameter, 16-cup capacity). Rap pan against countertop five times to rupture any large air pockets. If using two-piece pan, grasp on both sides with your hands while firmly pressing down on the tube with thumbs to keep batter from seeping underneath pan during this rapping process. Wipe off any batter that may have dripped or splashed onto inside walls of pan with paper towel.
- Bake cake until wire cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Immediately turn cake upside down to cool. If pan does not have prongs around rim for elevating cake, invert pan over bottle or funnel, inserted through tube. Let cake hang until completely cold, about 2 hours.
- To unmold, turn pan upright. Run frosting spatula or thin knife around pan's circumference between cake and pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use cake tester to loosen cake from tube. For one-piece pan, bang it on counter several times, then invert over serving plate. For two-piece pan, grasp tube and lift cake out of pan. If glazing the cake, use a fork or a paring knife to gently scrape all the crust off the cake. Loosen cake from pan bottom with spatula or knife, then invert cake onto plate. (Can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature 2 days or refrigerated 4 days.)
Time
1½ hours, plus 2 hours coolingYield
Serves 12Ingredients
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup chopped dates
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated
¾ cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup chopped dates
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated
¾ cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
1 ½ cups packed dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon table salt
¾ cup chopped dates
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated
¾ cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
For an improved chiffon cake recipe that was light but rich, with deep flavor, we made some adjustments to the original chiffon cake recipe, which tended to collapse or explode because the structure base of this cake—flour and eggs—is so sensitive. Rather than whipping all of the egg whites for this cake, we mixed some unbeaten egg whites into the dry ingredients along with the yolks, water, and oil. This provided the structure we were seeking to hold the cake together while also giving us the perfect chiffon cake: moist, tender, and flavorful.
Before You Begin
If the egg whites to be whipped are not at room temperature, set them in a pan placed in hot tap water and stir them until they are tepid.
Instructions
- Adjust rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Place brown sugar, flour, baking powder, dates, spices, and salt together in work bowl of food processor fitted with metal chopping blade. Process until dates are reduced to 1/8-inch bits and any lumps of brown sugar are pulverized. Empty ingredients into a large bowl (at least 4 quart). Whisk in two whole eggs, five egg yolks (reserve whites), water, oil, and extract until batter is just smooth.
- Pour reserved egg whites into large bowl; beat at medium speed with electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, increase speed to medium-high, then beat whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry, 9 to 10 minutes with hand-held mixer and 5 to 7 minutes in KitchenAid or other standing mixer. With large rubber spatula, fold whites into batter, smearing in any blobs of white that resist blending with flat side of spatula.
- Pour batter into large tube pan (9-inch diameter, 16-cup capacity). Rap pan against countertop five times to rupture any large air pockets. If using two-piece pan, grasp on both sides with your hands while firmly pressing down on the tube with thumbs to keep batter from seeping underneath pan during this rapping process. Wipe off any batter that may have dripped or splashed onto inside walls of pan with paper towel.
- Bake cake until wire cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Immediately turn cake upside down to cool. If pan does not have prongs around rim for elevating cake, invert pan over bottle or funnel, inserted through tube. Let cake hang until completely cold, about 2 hours.
- To unmold, turn pan upright. Run frosting spatula or thin knife around pan's circumference between cake and pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use cake tester to loosen cake from tube. For one-piece pan, bang it on counter several times, then invert over serving plate. For two-piece pan, grasp tube and lift cake out of pan. If glazing the cake, use a fork or a paring knife to gently scrape all the crust off the cake. Loosen cake from pan bottom with spatula or knife, then invert cake onto plate. (Can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature 2 days or refrigerated 4 days.)
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