Chef Darian's Pumpkin Chiffon Cake
| This is a great cake for the holidays, but change the Maple Icing to White Chocolate Cream Cheese and it will be a hit at any party! Pumpkin Chiffon Cake with Maple Icing! Have all ingredients at room temperature, 68 to 70 degrees. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Have ready 1 ungreased 10 inch angle food cake pan (with removable bottom) or 1 bundt pan (nonstick would work best), or 2 nine inch layer cake pans with parchment in the bottom – ungreased. Sift together twice in a large bowl: 2 ¼ cups Cake flour 1 ¼ cups Granulated sugar 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Salt 1 ½ teaspoon Cinnamon ¾ teaspoon Ginger ½ teaspoon Grated nutmeg ¼ teaspoon Ground clove In another bowl, beat on high speed until smooth: 5 large Egg yolks 15 ounces Canned Pumpkin Puree – not pumpkin pie mix ½ cup Vegetable oil (not strong flavored oil) 1 teaspoon Vanilla Combine pumpkin mixture with the flour mixture, stirring by hand until just combined. In another large bowl, beat on medium speed until soft peaks form: 8 large Egg whites– If beaten too dry add another egg white ½ teaspoon Cream of Tartar Gradually add, beating on high speed: ¼ cup Granulated sugar Beat until the peaks are stiff, but not dry. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture, and then fold in the remaining egg whites. At this time you may add: ¾ cup Finely chopped pecans Scrape the batter into a prepared cake pan(s). Spread evenly in the pan. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, aprox. 55 minutes. Cool upside down for at least 1 ½ hours. To unmold, turn pan right side up and using a sharp thin knife cut around the edge of the pan and invert over cake plate. If using as a two layer cake, you may use the Maple Icing to fill the cake. Serve with vanilla ice- cream! Maple Icing 2 cups Powdered sugar 1 Tablespoon Unsalted butter, softened ½ teaspoon Vanilla ¼ teaspoon Salt 3 to 4 Tablespoons Milk, dry sherry, rum or coffee Gradually add, beating until spreadable: ½ to 1/3 cups Pure maple syrup – not Log Cabin Pancake Syrup! To store, cover the surface of the icing with a sheet of plastic wrap. This keeps for up to 3 days at room temperature or up to 3 weeks refrigerated. You may even freeze up to 6 months. |
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