Ingredients
(serves 8-10)
110ml vegetable oil
90ml combined lemon, lime and orange juices, the zest of each fruit reserved for the icing
140g egg yolk (from about 7 large eggs) 240g plain flour
15g baking powder
2g fine salt
300g egg white (from about 10 large eggs) 4g cream of tartar
300g sour cream
200g icing sugar
Method
(You will need a 23-24 cm chiffon tin (also known as an angel food cake tin) and one wine bottle to invert the chiffon onto after it’s baked. Inverting the cake while it’s cooling will stop it from shrinking or sinking.)
Preheat the oven to 150°C (fan-forced)
Put the oil, citrus juice and egg yolks into a bowl and whisk until combined. Sift the flour into a separate large bowl, adding the baking powder and salt to the flour. Mix into the egg yolk mix to form a loose batter.
Place the egg whites and the cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.Whisk until soft peaks form, then start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time.Continue whipping until stiff peaks form.
Fold in the whites in three batches using a balloon whisk, or a large spatula. It’s very important that it is mixed enough that you don’t leave any patches of egg white through the cake, but not over-mixed as you will knock all the air out of it.
Using a small bowl, scoop the cake mix out and transfer to the chiffon tin. Fill up the tin to the bottom rivet. Take a cake tester or skewer and move it around the cake batter to remove any air pockets.
Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Take the cake in its tin, turn it onto the bottle and let it cool. Once the cake is at room temperature, use a long knife to cut out the cake from the tin.
Whip the sour cream and citrus zest in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Start adding the icing sugar and keep whipping until it turns into a thick icing. Spread icing over the top of the cake, then slice and serve.
