My Ultimate White Chiffon Cake

I finished the cake project in an acceptable manner. Putting it on a cake plate for presentation would have made it look as tall as I had pictured it. It was four 8” layers of what I wound up calling Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake!!

In all of my experimenting I learned a few things I probably could have found out otherwise, but it’s good to experiment. Here’s a list of things I discovered:

• A cake comes out very tough if you forget the water.
• Density increases with the use of milk and decreases with the use of water.
• Density increases with the use of butter and decreases with the use of oil (chiffon).
• Mayonnaise can be added to any recipe to increase moistness.
• Superfine sugar makes for a more delicate crumb.

I filled it with a fresh strawberry filling and frosted it with a buttercream icing as requested. The decoration matched the invitations. I was going for minimalist…

Recipe for Carolyn's Ultimate Chiffon Velvet Butter Cake
7 egg whites (7 1/8 oz)
1 cup water
1 TB vanilla
3 cups cake flour (10.5 oz)
1 1/2 cups superfine sugar (10.5 oz)
1 TB + 1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
6 TB oil
6 TB butter
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Set a rack at the middle level of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add oil and mayo. Wisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Add water and vanilla extract. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to butter mixture then add half the vanilla mixture. Continue to alternate beginning and ending with flour mixture. Scrape bowl and beater often. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until peaks form. Fold into the batter. Pour batter into prepared pan(s) and smooth top with a metal spatula. Bake cake(s) about 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center emerges clean. Cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a rack, remove paper and let cool completely.

Strawberry Filling
Ingredients
1 cup coarsely chopped hulled strawberries + 2 cups slices or chopped strawberries
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ tsp gelatin
1/2 cup water

Directions
Bring all ingredients to a boil in a heavy small sauce pan. stirring constantly and crushing berries slightly with back of spoon.
Boil 2 minutes to thicken, stirring constantly (mixture will be slightly chunky).
Pour into bowl and cool completely.

Slice fresh strawberries and place on cake layer. Spoon filling over top. It is important to make a dam with buttercream around the outside of each layer to keep the filling from leaking out.

I needed a frosting that tasted good and was able to crust over a bit so that it can be smoothed. I read online about the Viva method using Viva paper towels and your hand to smooth. Wilton teaches a similar technique using parchment and a fondant smoother.

Buttercream Dream Icing (From Repressed Pastry Chef)
Ingredients
1 stick salted butter - room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter - room temperature
1 cup shortening
1 tablespoon Clear Vanilla extract
22 oz confectioner's sugar (powdered sugar, 10x)
4 tablespoons very cold milk
1 tsp meringue powder

Directions
Cream the butter and shortening in the bowl of an electric or stand mixer. Add the clear vanilla extract and combine well. Begin adding in the sugar and mixing thoroughly after each addition. After all of the sugar has been added and mixed thoroughly, begin adding the very cold milk... one tablespoon at a time, combining very well after each addition (mixer on medium-high to high speed) until you reach the desired consistency.