Lemon Yoghurt Cranberries Chiffon Cake

I'm pretty sure few can resist the citrusy smell of lemons. I know I can't. So when I saw those yellow little dears sitting there, beckoning to me, it's hard to say no. I have read reviews on infusing yoghurt in cakes, I wanted to try it out myself. I do not like dense cakes, so I thought I will try it out using a chiffon cake recipe. I think 1 particular thing about chiffon cake besides the common egg white and folding in problem; is that you have to find the balance of the ingredients. As the yoghurt I bought was rather thick, I used the lemon juice to adjust the consistency.

Along the way, I remembered how good it tasted when I mixed yoghurt with cereal and cranberry. So, in goes the cranberries too. Hence, in 1 cake, I infused 3 flavours which I adore. The kitchen smelled lovely during baking. Below is the result of my experiment. I am extremely fortunate to get this right for my 1st attempt.


Here today.. Gone tomorrow.. 1 slice is never enough.. eheheh... *secretly happy with myself*

On the side note; it does get on my nerves when people asked the obvious. When idiot husband got a whiff of the cake when it was in the oven baking, he asked, 'Are you baking something?'. When I took the cake out, invert it to cool, he asked, 'You bake cake ah?'. Even as he sliced the cake to eat, he dared ask, 'You bake one huh?'. For the 1st 2 questions, he only suffered my silence, I refused to entertain any silly questions. It's the 3rd that blew my fuse, 'No! It just suddenly appeared in the kitchen!'. #%^&@?!! Anyways, here's the recipe.

Lemon Yoghurt Cranberries Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
(A)
4 egg yolks
40g castor sugar
1/4 tsp salt
40g corn oil
120g plain yoghurt
2 tbsp lemon juice
80g dried cranberries (I used Craisins, Ocean Spray)
zest of 1 lemon

(B)
120g Cake flour
1/2 tbsp Baking powder

*Sift 2x

(C)
5 egg whites
50g castor sugar
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

Method
1) In a bowl, using hand whisk, whisk yolks and sugar till sugar dissolves.

2) Add oil and salt, whisk and add yoghurt, lemon zest and lemon juice. Stir well.

3) Fold in sifted flour, cranberries and mix well.

4) In another bowl, using an electric mixer, beat till the whites are frothy. Add in Cream of Tartar and beat till soft peaks.

5) Add in sugar gradually and beat till stiff peaks.

6) Fold in 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture using a rubber spatula till incorporated.

7) Pour the mixture to the remaining egg whites and fold in gently till incorporated.

8) Pour the batter into a 21cm chiffon tube pan. Bang the pan on the table to get rid of bubbles.

9) Oil a piece of aluminium foil and cover the pan loosely. Bake at 170 deg.C for 10mins.

10) Turn down the temperature to 160 deg.C and bake for 10mins. Lift up the foil to check the surface of cake, bake for another 10mins.

11) Insert a skewer to check if cake is done. Remove the foil and reduce the temperature to 150 deg.C and bake for a further 5 to 10mins to brown the surface.

12) Remove from the oven and invert the pan. Remove the cake from pan when it's completely cooled.

*Note : For convention oven, preheat and bake at 170 to 180 deg.C for 40 to 45mins.

**Note : Goes very well with a cup of Earl Grey or English Breakfast Tea.

Do give it a try. I promise it won't disappoint. ^_^

Happy baking~ and may you be spared of silly questions.
それじゃ～～