88/365: National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day

Paula Deen must hate today’s food holiday. Not because we celebrate a cake…but because that cake is made without butter. Gasp! What a travesty! Happy National Lemon Chiffon Cake Day.

A chiffon cake is very light and airy and is made with eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and – instead of butter – vegetable oil. This is considered a “foam ” cake, similar to angel food, and gets it’s fluffy texture from beating egg whites until they’re stiff. Traditionally you’ll want to use a baseball bat, but if one isn’t available, a mixer will suffice. Since no butter means no flavor less flavor less rich flavor, chiffon cakes are typically served with flavorful sauces, such as chocolate or fruit filling. Hence, lemons.

California insurance agent-turned-caterer Harry Baker invented the chiffon cake in 1927. You might say he traded in policies for pastries. Deductibles for delectables. Commissions for…well, you get the picture. The point is, Baker became a baker. A smart one, too: he took regular ol’ sponge cake and added cooking oil to turn it into chiffon. And because he was running a successful catering company, he kept his recipe secret for twenty years, until finally selling it to General Mills. In 1948, a pamphlet was released by Betty Crocker, containing 14 different chiffon cake recipes. It became popular seemingly overnight, and soon became synonymous with weddings. Which means, many chiffon cakes over the years have ended up smeared across the faces of brides and grooms. Oh, the inhumanity.

We tried to take the easy way out today, searching high and low for a lemon chiffon cake in a couple of different grocery stores, but had no luck. We could have bought a cake from the local bakery, but $18 was a bit steep, so Tara decided to make one herself. It turned out fantastic! Tall and fluffy and lemony.

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