Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Ingredients

Cake

• 5 egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 (18.25 ounce) box plain chocolate fudge or devil's food cake mix*
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crushed Peppermint Buttercream

• 8 tablespoons butter (room temperature)
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 1/2 cup crushed peppermint candy

Instructions

1. Place oven rack in center of oven and heat to 325 degrees F. Set aside an ungreased 10-inch tube pan.

Cake

1. Place egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium mixing bowl. Beat with electric beaters on high speed until stiff peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Place cake mix, water, oil, egg yolks and vanilla extract in a large mixer bowl, and with same beaters (no need to clean them), blend on low speed for 1 minute. Stop and scrape down bowl. Increase speed to medium and beat 2 minutes, scraping down bowl.
3. Turn the egg whites out on top of the batter and fold in with a rubber spatula until batter is light but well combined.
4. Pour batter into the ungreased pan, smoothing top.
5. Bake for 60 to 65 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly pressed.
6. Remove cake and turn it upside down over the neck of a glass bottle. Cool for 1 hour.
7. Remove pan from bottle and run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert onto a rack. Then invert again onto a serving platter so that it's right side up.

Crushed Peppermint Buttercream

1. Place butter, peppermint extract and 1 cup powdered sugar in a large mixing bowl. Blend with electric beaters on low speed for 30 seconds.
2. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar alternately with milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, blending on low speed. Add another tablespoon of milk if frosting seems too stiff.
3. Increase mixer to medium speed and beat frosting 1 minute or until light and fluffy.
4. Fold in crushed peppermint candy. Spread over the top and sides of the cake with smooth strokes.
5. Let cake rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve. (Cake also looks great without frosting; dust with sifted powdered sugar.)

Notes

* 18.25 ounce boxes of cake mix have been replaced by 16.5 ounce and 15.25 ounce boxes. To compensate for the volume loss in a 16 ounce box, whisk 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour into the dry cake mix before proceeding with the recipe. To compensate for the volume loss in a 15.25 ounce box, add 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon baking powder.

Attribution

Posted by Annette at Recipe Goldmine 11/8/2001 6:00 pm.