Blood Orange Chiffon Cake
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
- 6 egg whites, at room temperature (make sure there is no yolk in the whites)
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
-
90g/3.2ozs. caster or superfine sugar
-
6 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 75g/2.7ozs. caster or superfine sugar
- 75ml/2.7flozs oil (flavourless like grapeseed or rice bran)
- 75ml/2.7flozs blood orange juice
- Finely grated zest of 2 blood oranges
- 120g/4ozs. cake flour*
-
Pinch of salt
-
3 tablespoons blood orange juice
- 1.5 cups icing sugar, sifted
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 170C/340F and have a 23cm/9inch chiffon cake tin ready (must not be a non stick tin). It's important that the whisk and bowl are very clean.
Step 2 - Whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until you get soft peaks. Add the 90g/3.2ozs of sugar in a stream and whisk until firm peaks form. Scoop out and set aside in another bowl. Using the same bowl (mainly because I can't be bothered washing it) whisk the egg yolks and second lot of sugar for 3 minutes. Add the oil and whisk until combined. Then add the juice and zest and whisk until smooth.
Step 3 - Fold in the flour until combined and add in a third of the egg whites incorporating the whites well and then adding the remainder of whites in two lots. Spoon into the baking tin leaving about 2cm or 3/4 an inch gap from the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Cool completely in the tin.
Step 4 - Use a palette knife gently ease the cake from the tin. Place on a serving plate. Mix the icing sugar and juice together-start with 2 tablespoons of juice and make it thick enough to drip. Top with blood orange slices and cherry blossoms-I oven dried some just to preserve them (see this post on how to oven dry oranges).