The Golden Spice Chiffon Cake is the whole package:  deep, rich spice fragrance and beautiful golden color combine with feather light texture to take your taste buds on a magic carpet ride of flavor.

I’ve been experimenting with light, fluffy cakes lately, primarily different sponge cake recipes.   However I gravitate to the chiffon cake* as the pinnacle of what I’m after.  They are springy and light, but have  real presence on the taste buds.  That’s  because of the small amount of oil in the recipe, and the use of whole eggs.   This is a great cake to adapt using gluten free flour, and is naturally dairy free.   If you’ve never baked a chiffon cake, you’re in for a treat.  While they look delicate, they are pretty forgiving for the novice baker.  I’ll provide key steps to help you along.

The warm, sweet, addictive flavor in this cake is from a combination of several common spices, recipe below.  This Golden Spice Mix is like many chai mixes, with the addition of turmeric and black pepper.  Make this mix before you start your recipe.  It just takes a minute.

You will need an old-school two piece aluminum 10″ tube pan for this recipe.    (Though if you have another pan and have success — leave me a comment!  Love to learn from my readers)  The reason?  This batter needs to cling to the sides of the pan as it bakes to maintain maximum fluffiness.  Some pans have little legs sticking up on the sides of the pan.  This is so that you can cool your cake upside down.  No legs ?  No problem!  Just use a bottle, shown in the photo below.  I’ve also included a video to show how to release the cooled cake from the pan.

Make this cake, then serve with a dollop of soft whipped heavy cream.  You’ll be in Golden Spice Chiffon Cake Heaven!  Enjoy!

Golden Spice Chiffon Cake
(Serves 12)

5 egg yolks
2 ¼ cups (10 oz) cake flour – gluten free flour is OK too!
1 ½ cups (10 1/2 oz) sugar
1 TB baking powder
1 tsp sea salt, fine
½ cup ( 3 1/2 oz) vegetable oil (I use avocado oil, but any neutral flavored oil will work)
¾ cup cold water
2 TB Golden Spice Mixture (recipe below)
7 egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325.  Get out a 10 inch tube pan – do NOT grease the inside of the pan.  You need a two piece aluminum 10″ tube pan for this recipe.  Non-stick pan is not recommended, because this cake needs to stick to the sides of the pan as it bakes.

Sift the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and 2 TB Golden Spice Mixture into a medium mixing bowl.  Add 5 egg yolks, oil, and water. Blend until combined, then set aside.

Using the whisk attachment, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar until combined and foamy.  Gradually increase speed to high. Beat egg whites until very fluffy and will hold a peak.

Pour the flour/sugar/egg yolk mixture onto the beaten egg whites, folding in gently using a rubber spatula.  When the batter is combined, it should look light and fluffy but with no obvious egg white streaks. Take care not to over mix, or you risk deflating the batter.

Pour batter into the tube pan, and place on a low rack in center of the preheated oven.  Bake for 55 minutes at 325, then increase temperature to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes or until the cake is springy when gently touched on top.

Cool this cake upside down, either on its legs or inverted on a bottle.  This is so that the cake remains tall and fluffy when cooled.

When the cake is at room temperature, remove from the tube pan.  (see video, above) Using a thin, long, sharp knife cut around the inside of the pan to release the cake from the sides of the pan.  Lift off the outer ring. Then cut across the top of the pan to release the cake from the top and center tube of the pan.

*Credit to Betty Crocker 1950 Cookbook for the main of this recipe.

Golden Spice Mixture

1 TB ground cinnamon
1 TB ground dried ginger
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp ground dried turmeric

This is a versatile spice mixture, and may be used to spice tea or to make spiced golden milk.  Store the remaining golden spice mixture in a glass jar with tight fitting lid.