Burnt outside and uncooked inside!

I checked my recipes and they all called for baking chiffon cakes at 325F (160C) for 55 to 60 minutes. I would lower the oven temperature to start. In addition, make sure the top of the cake is in the center of the oven, use a shiny pan instead of a dark pan, and check your oven with an oven thermometer. If that fails, post your recipe.

If you bake in 10 inch tube pan it will usually take approximately

50 minutes to get it fully baked. If the recipe contains so much sugar it will likely browns faster. I usually bake chiffon cake at that temperature and it comes out fine. But my total sugar level is just 1-1/2 cups per 2 cup of cake flour( or in baker' percent 120 percent sugar(that includes the sugar added in the egg white meringue and in the batter preparation( with other ingredients. ..One thing also if you add fruit juices to chiffon it tend to brown faster in a normal baking time..The same thing with higher sugar level I usually bake it at 170-175 degrees C for an hour.. The quality of the oven heat is also another factor. Some oven had strong top heat but low bottom heat. then you have to lower the rack or bake it at the lower rack for more even beke..If I encounter such oven and I do not want to move the cake , I just p lace a sheet of aluminum foil on the top of the cake. Do not follow the recipe directlions blindly, much of baking is COMMON SENSE.. If it browns fast in you first bake; then IN your next bake do it at it at lower temperature but in a slightly longer time for and thorough bake. Most cake recipes are just indicative in accuracy meaning that it does not come out absolutely the same as the author had done in his kitchen. Their oven conditions is different from yours. Do not be focused on the idea that chiffon cake should be baked on angel food cake tin. I bake it also in sheets( for jelly rolls) ,layers, ( for tortes and gateaux)and cups with best results. The temperature I use are 220 C, 180-190 C and 195-200 C respectively with good results.. Roy

Hi Vox,

I didn't use a shiny pan, I used a non-stick normal cake pan. Apparently I need to bake chiffon cakes with an angel food cake pan since the inside is very difficult to cook. This is the recipe I followed, it's got a picture as well.

English:

Cake Flour: 115g Baking powder: 1.5 teaspoon Egg york: 5 Sugar: 85g + 50g Vegetable oil: 50g Warm water: 85g cooking oil: trace Egg white: 5 lemon juice: 0.5 teaspoon

Mine only 1/2 of the size in height compare to the picture! Probably because of the inside still uncooked :(

I can't find any shops near me that sell angel food cake pans, oh well... :(

Priss

> In English:

Foam type cakes need to cling to the sides of the pan to rise properly. Therefore, you shouldn't use a non-stick pan or grease your pan when making foam cakes like chiffon or angel food. You also should use a tube pan to get even baking. If you don't have a tube pan, you can improvise by putting an clean empty metal can (label removed) or metal drinking glass in the center of a deep conventional pan.

Here is a recipe that works well for me

sifted cake flour 225g (2.25 cups or 8 oz) sugar 300g (1.5 cups or 10.5 oz) set aside 2 tablespoons baking soda 0.5 teaspoons (2.5g) salt 0.5 teaspoons (3.5g) vegetable oil 108g ( 0.5 cups) egg yolk 130g ( 0.5 cups or 4.5oz) egg whites 300g (1.25 cups or 10.5 oz) water 156g (2/3 cup or 5.5 oz) fresh lemon juice 30g (2 tablespoons or 1 oz) grated lemon zest 1 tablespoon (6g) vanilla 1 teaspoon (4g) cream of tartar 1.25 teaspoons (4g)

Preheat oven to 325F (160C)

Combine flour, sugar (reserve 2 tablespoons for later), soda, and salt in a large bowl and mix well. Make a well in the center and add the oil, yolks, water, lemon juice, zest, and vanilla. Beat 1 minute or until smooth.

In another bowl, beat eggs whites and cream of tarter until soft peaks are formed. Gradually beat in the two tablespoons of reserved sugar until stiff peaks are formed.

Add about 1/4 of the beaten whites to the batter and mix well. FOLD in the remaining whites until just blended.

Pour into a 10 inch UNGREASED tube pan. Bake for about 55 minutes or until a cake test comes out clean when inserted into the center of the cake.

Remove cake from oven and invert over a wine bottle. Let cake cool upside down before releasing it from the pan.

Hi Vox,

Fantastic! I will try your recipe! I can't find any tube pan neither! Guess I need to use metal cans instead! Think my mistake was using a dark non-stick cake pan and greased it :P

Priss

Thanks Roy, great advice :) I have only started baking cakes couple of weeks ago so bear with me! It's great fun, need a lot of genie pigs thou. ;)

Priss

There are tons of Internet sites where you can buy cookware as well.

Good luck, Meriah...

I do not think its uncooked...If the cake did not shrink much and the inside is already done then its cooked. Anyway the recipe just aroused my interest but unfortunately I cannot read chinese so I cannot anaylze the procedure that maybe one of the reason for such failure. The description as noted on the length is just short. If you are not used to baking such cakes you may get mistakes in getting it done just as what the author expects his readers... Anyway just have a look at my comments how you can improve this recipe. Now you said that you were baking it in an alternative pan . I looked at the recipe and checked the ingredient ratios. It is at typical Chinese chiffon cake. And it's a very stable one. The sugar level is just average but the salt is absent. I think there is something wrong with your oven as at that sugar level the resulting cake color will be just normal. You should try to bake it a lower temperature if that is the case.

Indeed the baking time and temperature is right for that sugar level, besides the cake batter is lesser than what I expected previously to be more( as what I always do if I bake the same cake at home in normal 10 inch tube pan). You do not need to use warm water unless you are making the cake during winter time or if your eggs are chilled. Here is my comment for the procedure. Stepwise

1) If you plan to use warm water it is good if you first combine the egg yolk and vegetable oil and blend it until uniform;then add flavor.If the mixture feels warm Set aside to allow the mixture to cool to room temperature( if you are using a very warm water and the other ingredients are at room temperature. This is to prevent increased loss of baking powder performance if you mix the dry ingredients simultaneously. 2) Then sift the flour baking powder , and 85 gram sugar. Add also ¼ tsp of salt. 3) Combine these materials together until uniform. 4) Whip whites with lemon juice until soft peak, add the remaining sugar gradually while beating until medium peak;(i.e stiff peak but not dry). 5) Take a small part of the egg white and beat into the flour mixture ( to lighten up it a bit). The purpose is that you will have approximately the same consistency between the well beaten meringue( egg whites and sugar) and the batter. As without that incoporation of portion of the whites the batter is heavier in density than the meringue. 6) Then gradually fold in the lightened batter into the rest of the meringue until incorporated. The resulting mixture must not look thin but thick. 7) Pour it into an ungreased cake pan 2/3-3/4 full depending upon the pan thickness. As you are not using an angel cake tin. Then do the baking on any available cake tin. Be sure to line the bottom with parchment. For example 8 x 1-1/2inch layer tins (20 x 3.8cm) that is about slightly more than half of the pan depth or almost 2/3; for deeper tins fill ¾ of the pan thickness. Bake the cake if its in thinner pans for around 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees C and for deeper cakes of the same diameter at 170-175 degrees C for 40-45 minutes. If you happen to obtain the 10 inch angel cake tin then increase the recipe by multiplying the quantities by 2. and bake the cake for around an hour at the same temperature as the one indicated for deeper cakes. Good Luck! Roy

I tried it again with metal cans! Lower the heat, increased baking time to 10-15mins. Came out perfect!!!! :D

Priss