Fluffy Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe! (2024)

This Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe is a soft and light cake recipe 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!

Table of Contents

• Lemon Chiffon Cake Is The Ultimate Spring Dessert!
• What Is Chiffon Cake?
• What Type Of Pan Do You Need?
• Ingredients:
• How To Make Lemon Chiffon Cake:
• Why Separate the Eggs?
• Why Do You Cool This Chiffon Cake Upside Down?
• What Type Of Frosting Do You Use On Chiffon Cake?
• Get the Recipe

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!

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!

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

• Dry Ingredients: Granulated sugar, all purpose flour, baking powder, kosher salt, cream of tartar
• Large eggs separated. You will need to use both the yolks and the whites, but in different ways.
• Wet Ingredients: Water, vegetable oil, vanilla extract
• Lemon Zest

For the Frosting:

• Butter. I use salted at room temperature.
• Powdered sugar
• Lemon zest
• Fresh lemon juice

How To Make Lemon Chiffon Cake:

Whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt. You can easily do this in the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment. You just want to stir them together breaking up any lumps.

Next, in a separate bowl whisk together the egg yolks, water, oil, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add this to the dry mixture in the mixer. With the paddle attachment mix this together on medium-low speed until it’s smooth. Don’t forget the scrape the sides of the bowl as needed so everything gets mixed in evenly.

Then in a separate, clean mixing bowl you are going to mix together the remaining egg whites and the cream of tartar using the whisk attachment to your stand mixer or even an electric hand mixer. Mix this until the whites form stiff peaks. Fold this into the prepared cake batter until combined. I like to use a rubber spatula to do this.

Spread this cake batter into an UN-GREASED tube pan.

Bake the cake on the LOWEST oven rack at 325°F and bake for 50 minutes, until the cake is golden and will spring back when pressed lightly.

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, immediately invert the pan. The trick is to hang it upside down on a wine bottle. This allows the pan to cool without trapping steam underneath, while not allowing the cake to deflate. Let it cool for at least an hour upside down.

When it’s cooled, run a knife around the edges to release it and carefully remove it from the pan.

Frosting this cake is totally optional, but I love lemon buttercream, so I encourage you to try! Otherwise you can simply dust it with powdered sugar and enjoy!

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:

1. 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!
2. 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 and sliced fresh lemons.
• 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!

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