This Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe is soft and light with incredible lemon flavor! I topped it with a sweet lemon buttercream frosting to make the perfect Spring dessert!
If you love lemon cake, make sure to try my Lemonade Cake too!
Lemon Chiffon Cake Is The Ultimate Spring Dessert!
Spring is here, Easter is right around the corner, and pretty pastels are front and center. So I thought it was time for me to share my Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe with you all! I feel like chiffon cake pairs perfectly with light citrus flavors, so you can even make this a lime, orange, or grapefruit chiffon cake too!
What Is Chiffon Cake?
Chiffon Cake is an airy, light cake made with vegetable (or canola) oil. The egg whites are whipped separately and folded into the batter creating volume and giving it the airy texture.
It’s different than an angel food cake because while you whip the egg whites separately, you still use the yolks!
I Partnered With Bob’s Red Mill On This Lemon Chiffon Cake!
I’ve teamed up with Bob’s Red Mill now for 3 years on recipes. I LOVE this company you guys. They have products for all your baking needs while also catering to those in your family who might have food allergies. They have whole grain, gluten free, paleo, vegan, organic, and stone-ground. Here are a few of the recipes that I have made in partnership with them:
- Banana Graham Muffins
- Thai Quinoa Crunch Salad
- Chocolate Chip Shortbread
- Honey Wheat Muffins
- Million Dollar Pound Cake
- Greek Quinoa Salad
In this Chiffon Cake I used Bob’s Unbleached All-Purpose Flour which is premium baking flour freshly milled from certified organic, hard red wheat.
What Type Of Pan Do You Need?
You will need a tube pan, also known as an angel food cake pan. This type of pan will have a tube in the center, like a bundt pan, BUT the sides are straight, and the bottom separates from the sides.
This is the pan I have and use!
Why Separate the Eggs?
To get that light, airy texture you need to whip the egg whites separately. Once they have been whipped until they reach stiff peaks you can fold this into the batter and it creates volume and a lightness to the batter.
Why Do You Cool This Chiffon Cake Upside Down?
I recommend the trick of placing the pan upside down on a wine bottle to cool. This serves two purposes:
- Cooling the cake upside down prevents the cake from collapsing. Chiffon cake is light and airy and you don’t want it to deflate or collapse. Cooling it this way lets gravity assist in this!
- And cooling it in the air on a wine bottle prevents condensation from building up as it cools upside down. If it wasn’t elevated, steam would get trapped under the pan causing the cake to get soggy on top!
What Type Of Frosting Do You Use On Chiffon Cake?
I love this cake paired with a simple lemon buttercream, but if buttercream isn’t your thing, here are a few other ideas:
- Skip the frosting and dust the cake with powdered sugar
- Serve with a dollop of whipped cream
- A Glaze icing drizzled on top would be delicious. Just combine 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar with a little lemon zest and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix until smooth and drizzle on top!
Lemon Chiffon Cake
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Prep Time: 20 minutes -
Cook Time: 50 minutes
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Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
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Yield: serves 10 1x
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Category: Cake
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Method: Oven
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Cuisine: Dessert
Prep Time:
Yield:
Category:
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PinDescription:
This Lemon Chiffon Cake is light, sweet and topped with creamy lemon buttercream frosting!
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 7 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest (approximately 3 large lemons)
- 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Cake: Preheat oven to 325°F. Arrange the oven so you can bake the cake on the lowest rack. Set aside a a 10- inch tube pan (Angel Food Cake pan).
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- In a small bowl whisk together the egg yolks, water, oil, vanilla, and lemon zest. When combined, add this into the bowl with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until combined and smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Place the egg whites in a separate large mixing bowl with the cream of tartar. With the whisk attachment or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed until stiff peaks form.
- Fold the egg whites into the batter using a rubber spatula until combined. Spoon the batter into the un-greased tube pan.
- Place the pan on the lowest rack and bake for 50 minutes, or until golden and set. Cake will spring back when pressed lightly.
- When the cake is done, immediately invert the pan. I like to place the pan on a wine bottle upside-down. This allows the pan to cool without trapping steam underneath, while not allowing the cake to deflate.
- Allow the cake to cool for at least an hour.
- When cooled, run a butter knife around the sides of the cake to release it from the pan. Gently lift the cake out. Run the knife under the cake to release it from the bottom cake pan. Place the cake on a platter.
- Frosting: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment mix together the butter, powdered sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Turn the mixer up to medium speed and beat for 1-2 minutes until creamy, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary,
- Spread the frosting on top of the cake.
Notes:
Store airtight for up to 3 days.
Keywords:: cookies and cups, chiffon cake, lemon cake, cake recipe, buttercream, lemon frosting, lemon buttercream
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Hi! I’m Shelly and I’m an addict. Of the buttercream sort. I started this site a few years ago as a way to justify my sugary, buttery obsession with desserts. It has worked out well for me so far, because as it turns out you guys all love sugary, buttery desserts too! It feels good to know you're not alone, doesn’t it?
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I made this cake for the very 1st time and WOW it was amazing!!! A friend requested a lemon chiffon cake for his birthday and boy did this recipe was a hit. Everyone seconds and even those who did not care for lemon commented on how amazing the cake tasted!! This recipe will be made again and again and again!!
★★★★★
Thanks so much for the review!! Glad you liked it!!
Hello I am ten. I decided to make this for my family. My parents are divorced and I had to be at my mom’s house so this cake is frostingless. It’s cooling right now. Can’t wait to try. That’s for the recipe. Next time will try to add frosting.
Hope you like it!!
Made this today. The cake is light and airy. The lemon frosting is amazing! Wish I had doubled it now to frost the whole thing! Next time!
★★★★★
So glad you liked it!!
Yes! I loved it!!! Thank you so much. The results were really pleasing. My family loved the cake!!! I plan on using this website for many more recipes.
★★★★★
This cake turned out beautifully!! It’s for my daughter in law’s birthday so will be trying it tonight! I doubled the icing and did the whole cake though, not just the top. Quite lovely! I actually gave this recipe stars but it showed 4. It’s definitely a 5 star recipe! Thankyou!
★★★★★
Can i ask how you set the oven heat from? Bottom only, upper only, or both from top and bottom?
My oven heats top and bottom 🙂
Made this cake for Easter dessert. Outstanding! The only things I did differently were to add lemon extract in the cake batter instead of vanilla, and I doubled the frosting recipe and frosted the entire outside (except the inside middle). This recipe is a keeper.
★★★★★
So glad you liked it!!
I noticed you didn’t say anything about greasing and flouring the pan
does mean it can be omitted.
Yes 🙂 No greasing the pan otherwise it won’t hold in when inverted!
Can I substitute oil for butter? And water for milk?
Butter instead of oil would completely change the texture. It would still be good, but it wouldn’t be as light. Also there is water in the recipe so no substitution necessary!
Hi Shelly, I don’t have a tube pan, can I use a different one and if so, what size please
★★★★★
My best bet would be lining or greasing only the bottom of a bundt or round pan. That way the sides will hold while it’s inverted, but you will still be able to get it out of the bottom! You will need a 10-16 cup bundt pan, as the cake doubles in volume as it bakes. Hope this helps!
Yes it does, many thanks xx
★★★★★
Would you post a picture of how you invert it on a wine bottle? I’m having a hard time picturing it in my mind.
Hi! I have a picture within the post of the pan on the bottle, in the collage of pictures 🙂 Let me know if that helps!
My husband loves orange cake with a chocolate fudge frosting. Could I substitute orange for lemon?
Absolutely!!
I love lemon and this cake looks divine! Do you think I could use Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free AP flour? If so, would the amount be the same?
Hi Cindy! I do a lot of gluten-free baking, and cakes like this are one of the better ones to use gluten-free flour for since they do not depend on the gluten in the flour for structure and rise as much as other recipes do. I just made one myself and it turned out well. Use the same amount of gluten free flour but add extra baking powder and salt, and also sift in two tablespoons of cornstarch to make it more like cake flour. It’s important to add an acid to help the rise as well so use lemon… Read more »