Triple Lemon Chiffon Cake

Sweet and good.

That’s a perfect description for this cake and for my most delightful mother-in-law.

We surprised her with a little birthday celebration over the weekend, and three layers of lemony goodness was part of the festivities.

If you’ve never made a chiffon cake, give it a try. It is so light and airy. You don’t grease the pans so that the batter can ‘climb’ up the pan as it bakes. Delicious, especially when some homemade lemon curd is sandwiched in between the layers. I adapted the recipe a bit and used all of the lemon curd, not just 1/4 cup in between each layer as the original recipe suggests. Skimping on the filling just seemed all wrong!

As for the whipped cream frosting, I was a bit skeptical. I almost went with a lemon buttercream instead, but decided to maintain the integrity of the original recipe…at least most of it. I knew whipped cream would pair up nicely with the chiffon cake, but it’s a bit finicky. If you over beat then it’s just going to be lumpy and on its way to butter. Under beat and it will just drip off of the cake. I decided to vary from the recipe just a little and stabilize my whipping cream. (See the end of the post for more about that.) That way, as long as I didn’t overbeat, my whipping cream would hold its shape for sure.

The whiteness of the cake was bugging me so I garnished the top with some candied lemon peel. That was a first, but surprisingly easy.

Bottom line, this was a lemony success.

I made the cake and lemon curd the day before, which made assembly, frosting and decorating much easier on the day of the party. See? Cake making doesn’t have to be a day long project. If you break it up into two days it’s actually much easier!

TRIPLE LEMON CHIFFON CAKE

adapted from: SKY HIGH – IRRESISTIBLE TRIPLE LAYER CAKES

printer friendly recipe

For the Cake:

8 eggs, separated
1/4 cup walnut oil**
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon of lemon zest
1/3 cup water

2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 and 1/2 cups of sugar
1 and 3/4 cups of cake flour*
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt

*1 cup of cake flour is equal to 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons of corn starch

**almond oil, hazelnut oil, or canola oil will work also

Preheat the oven to 350. Line the bottoms of three 9-inch pans with parchment paper but do not butter or grease the pans.

In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla and water.In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar on medium speed until light and frothy. Slowly add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.

Sift the flour, remaining sugar, baking soda , and salt into a large bowl. Whisk gently to combine.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour in the egg yolk mixture and mix to create

a smooth paste. Add one-fourth of the egg whites and fold in to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining egg whites and divide the batter among the three pans.

Bake for about 16 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Transfer to wire racks to cool in the pans. Once cool run a knife around the cake to in order to un-mold the cakes. Carefully pull off the parchment paper from the bottoms of the cakes.

To assemble the cake, place one layer on a cake stand. Top with half of the prepared lemon curd and spread it evenly. Repeat with the remaining layers. Frost the top of the cake and the sides with the lemon cream frosting and garnish with candied lemon peel (if you decide to make some!).

Rich Lemon Curd:

makes about 1 cup

3 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 4 lemons)
grated zest of three lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature

Whisk together the whole eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice , and lemon zest together in a medium bowl. Transfer to a small non-reactive saucepan. Gently heat the mixture, whisking until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Make sure not to boil the mixture.

Pour the mixture through a sieve into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the butter and cover the curd with plastic making sure the plastic touches the curd. This should prevent a skin from forming on the curd. Refrigerate until cold. Then remove 3 tablespoons of curd and set it aside for the icing.

Lemon Cream Frosting:

makes 3 1/4 cups

1 and 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons of sugar
3 tablespoon of lemon curd

Whip the cream, vanilla and sugar in a large chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Fold in the lemon curd, forming a stiff frosting.

***For stabilized whipping cream:

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin

1/4 cup cold water

Combine gelatin with water in a small saucepan. Lat stand until thick. Over low heat, stir constantly until just dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. It should still be liquid. Add it into slightly thick whipping cream with the mixer on low. Increase the speed and beat cream until thick.

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