To find the answers to both of my questions, I turned to the ever useful site, Joy of Baking.
What is Chiffon Cake?
Joy of Baking states that chiffon cake is:
Chiffon cakes use lots of eggs, but so do angel food cakes.A moist and tender, light and airy cake that has the richness of a butter cake but the springy texture of a sponge cake. Similar to a butter cake in preparation and formula (although oil is used instead of butter), it relies on the whipped egg whites for its leavening, along with baking powder... The dry ingredients are mixed together and then the oil, egg yolks, water, and flavoring are beaten in. The egg whites are first beaten separately until stiff, but not dry, and then folded in to the batter.
How are Chiffon Cakes Different From Angel Food Cakes?
Joy of Baking tells us that angel food cake "has no egg yolks, fat, or artificial leavener so it relies totally on stiffly beaten egg whites for leavening. Its sole ingredients are egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar, flour, salt and flavoring (such as extracts). Angel Food Cake has the highest sugar content of all the sponge cakes and this added sugar is needed to support and stabilize the whipped egg whites. "
In short: Chiffon cakes have fat and angel food cakes don't.
Which is better? That's a personal preference. I like my fat.
I've noticed that a few of the Sprinkles! recipes that have been posted online are mostly chiffon cakes. Thanks for posting about the differences.
ReplyDeleteI love Chiffon cake! I baked one with my rice cooker once. It's the latest craze to bake goods inside rice cookers in Japan. It works!
ReplyDeleteLina - Neat! If I had a rice cooker, I'd give it a try.
ReplyDeleteKeesha - No problem. Glad it was helpful!
Oh great post !!! Very direct, to-the-point and helpful. I've been wondering how they differ for a while. Thanks for this post :D So how was your experiment
ReplyDeleteIt depends on your preference on cakes. My kitchen is still undergoing maintenance but once it's done, I'll be baking some of these goodies.
ReplyDelete