Cakes revisited

Chiffon Cake
I'm happy to repost my Chiffon Cake recipe from an earlier post- June 14,2008 under the Title "Pineapple-Strawberry Chiffon Cake". (Thanks Katherine for asking-I'm delighted to do it.) This is what it looked like then:





This is the vanilla pudding-pineapple cream icing which you slather on to the cake. This hides all the knife nicks that can't be hidden when you just put on a light lemon glaze as in the last photo.* From here you can go crazy and pile on any fresh fruit and rename it accordingly. I sometimes add some dark chocolate bits or drizzle chocolate onto it to add a different touch.





Leaving it plain or by adding a simple glaze of icing sugar, lemon rind and juice plus enough hot water to make a thin glaze, gives you many options such as adding strawberries or blueberries etc served with ice cream. I really like the lemon flavor served with the lemon cream. It's my latest favorite.

Recipe:
Chiffon Cake
(adapted from my tattered old Robin Hood cookbook of bygone years)

1-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
6 egg yolks
3/4 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons grated orange or lemon rind (optional)
6 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F
Beat egg whites in a large mixing bowl-add cream of tartar and beat until peaks form
Mix dry ingredients together-make a hollow and add oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla and rind. Mix with beater until smooth.
Fold flour mixture gently into the egg whites using a sturdy rubber spatula.
Pour into ungreased 10"x4" tube pan.
Bake for 55 minutes, then increase temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 10-15 minutes. Cake is done if top springs back when touched lightrly.
Turn pan upside down resting tube pan on a narrow necked bottle. (I use an old tabasco bottle and then brace it against my toaster oven and a teapot which I have next to the oven.) Let cake stand until cold before removing from pan.
Frost and decorate according to the occasion!

Frosting pictured:
Whip 500ml whipping cream
Add about 2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding
Add 1 tin crushed pineapple - drain most of the juice
Split cake in half horizontally and put a layer of whip cream filling on the bottom half
Add sugared strawberries
Place other layer on top - press down gently
Cover cake with cream mixture working carefully from top to bottom all the way around
filling in the center whole
Decorate with kiwi slices and strawberries
Chocolate squizzles all over the cake also make a great addition.

An orange or lemon glaze made with icing sugar also is wonderful. Here is the cake I served the other day with only a lemon glaze. Serve lemon cream on the side. (See October 22 entry for lemon cream recipe.)

*This post should have appeared one slot earlier but I got bogged down with my computer and so here it is now.