Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Whisky Glaze
A classic cake with a queer heritage.
In his book What is Queer Food?,
regales us with the tale of the aptly-named Harry Baker. Harry left Ohio (read the book to find out why) and settled in Los Angeles. Somewhat of an enigma, Harry became famous for his cakes, selling them to celebrities in the late 1920s and the legendary Brown Derby restaurant. Harry held his cake recipe as close as his private, queer life. In 1947, Harry sold his recipe to General Mills, and the recipe appeared in a 1948 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. The cake rose to prominence in households across America for its fluffy texture, like angel food cake, but with a rich, moist crumb, thanks to some "salad oil" as they used to call it.Last Tuesday, I joined John Birdsall at Women & Children First to chat about his new book. I thought, "We can't talk about food without some sort of food in the room." So I baked my version of a chiffon cake.
I'm not using Harry's original recipe, but my version of one from another queer baker, Richard Sax. Last year, I acquired an autographed, first-edition copy of his 1994 book, Classic Home Desserts, at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks in New York City. Bonnie explained to me that Richard autographed this copy to his editor. In 1995, Richard received a James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He died of AIDS-related lung cancer a few months later. John Birdsall wrote a touching piece about Richard, so I knew I had to bake his version.
This fluffy, chocolaty cake feels like I'm passing down an heirloom recipe from some chosen queer family members. I hope this recipe means as much to you as it does to me.
Chocolate Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Whisky Glaze
Adapted from Richard Sax's Classic Home Desserts
I wanted to honor the original recipe and preserve the essence of Richard's recipe, keeping the ingredients as close to the original as possible. I didn't want to optimize the recipe. Instead of making a single loaf, I doubled his original recipe to make a full-size, tube-pan worth of chiffon. After a few tests, I adjusted the method and baking process to achieve the result I was looking for. I also added the chocolate glaze, because I felt the cake needed a bit of a flourish.
Notes for a Successful Bake
Use an uncoated, ungreased, unlined, removable-bottom 10-inch tube pan. We want the cake to stick to the sides of the pan, and we will cool it upside down.
I've found that this cake works much better with bleached cake flour, but you can use low-protein all-purpose flour.
Use the best-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder you can find—that is the biggest contributor of flavor to this cake.
Wait to combine the flour with the wet ingredients until the meringue is ready. The longer that the flour sits with the liquid ingredients, the more it hydrates, and the more likely it is to develop too much gluten.
After baking, drop the cake with one big thud—this helps prevent excessive shrinking.
Cool the cake upside down until it is completely cool—up to 2 hours. Luckily, you can easily make this cake a day or two ahead of time.
I'm a tender boy, so bouncy, chewy cakes aren't as appealing to me. This recipe makes a fluffy yet tender cake. Sometimes chiffon cakes can be a bit too chewy or bouncy for my taste, but adding the cocoa powder helps this cake melt in your mouth.
Cake
60 g (about 2/3 cup) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
240 g (1 cup) boiling water or hot coffee
1 teaspoon (1 g) instant coffee powder (optional)
3/4 teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt
300 g (1 1/2 cups) granulated sugar, divided
4 large egg yolks (about 70 g), cold
110 g (1/2 cup) neutral-tasting oil, like avocado, sunflower, or grapeseed
230 g (2 cups) bleached cake flour (like Swan's Down)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons (10 g) vanilla extract
8 large (about 260 g) egg whites, cold
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Chocolate and Whisky Glaze
160 g (1 cup) chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
57 g (4 Tablespoons) salted butter
30 g (2 Tablespoons) corn syrup
2 tablespoons Bourbon or rye whisky, or other liquor of choice
Prepare. Heat the oven to 325°F and place the rack in the lower-third position. Get an uncoated (not nonstick), removable-bottom 10-inch tube pan (what I call an "angel food cake pan"). Do not grease or line the pan.
Mix the wet batter. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cocoa, boiling water, and instant coffee. Whisk in 100 g (1/2 cup) of the sugar, oil, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla extract until well combined.
In a separate bowl, sift the cake flour and then whisk it together with the baking powder. (Cake flour tends to clump, so sifting helps.)
Whip the meringue. In a clean mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites, cream of tartar, and 200 g (1 cup) sugar. Mix on low speed for 1 minute to combine, then on medium-low (4 on a KitchenAid) for 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium (speed 6) for 2 minutes, then to medium high (speed 8) until the meringue is shiny and thick for about 1 more minute. Stop when the meringue holds peaks that flop over like the top of an ice cream cone.
Finish the batter. When the meringue is done, whisk the cake flour into the cocoa batter. Add 1/3 of the meringue into the cocoa mixture and whisk until you don't see any streaks of meringue. Add the remaining meringue and gently fold until no streaks or lumps of meringue are visible. Be sure to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Err on the side of under-mixing the batter.
Pour the batter into the ungreased pan. If you see any errant bits of unmixed meringue, simply give them a small stir to incorporate. Bang the pan on the counter once to pop any big bubbles. Swirl a butter knife through the batter to break up any more bubbles.
Bake at 325°F until the cake is puffy, cracked, and springs back when pressed in the thickest part, about 60-65 minutes.
Cool the cake. Remove the cake from the oven and immediately drop it from about 6 inches above the counter. This thump prevents too much sinking. Quickly invert the pan and allow it to cool completely upside down, at least 2 hours. I prefer to set the center of the tube pan on a small jar or bowl instead of the little feet of the pan.
Once the cake is cool, run a spatula or butter knife around the outside edge of the pan and around the inside edge. Remove the outside part of the cake pan. Run a knife or spatula around the bottom of the cake, then invert it onto a wire rack. Carefully turn the cake right-side up onto the rack. Put a piece of parchment paper underneath the wire rack to catch any glaze drips.
Make the glaze. Melt the chocolate, butter, and corn syrup together in the microwave (about 1 minute on high heat) or over a double-boiler. Once melted, whisk in the whiskey. For a thin glaze, pour it over the cooled cake right after mixing, and use a spoon or offset spatula to nudge it around the cake. It won't quite cover the whole thing.
For a thicker glaze that more gently drips down the sides, let the glaze cool for about 10-15 minutes before drizzling over the cake.
Sprinkle with chopped, toasted nuts, flaky salt, or rainbow sprinkles.
Let the glaze set, then slice and serve. (Ideally, with some whipped cream and berries on the side.)
Happy Baking,
Martin
Looks delicious! 👨🏼🍳