Does chiffon cake need to be fermented? Why does chiffon cake not need to be fermented?

As we all know, there are many types of cakes, and chiffon cake is a very popular one among them. It tastes sweet and delicious, rich in nutrition, and tastes fragrant and soft. It is deeply loved by people. Many people like to eat chiffon cake. So does chiffon cake need to be fermented before baking? Let's take a closer look!

Does the batter of chiffon cake need to ferment for a while before baking?

1. Chiffon cake batter does not need to be fermented, but the fluffy texture is formed by the supporting force formed by beating eggs.

Chiffon cakes do not require fermentation. Instead of using yeast powder, egg whites are beaten with air to form a delicate meringue, which is then mixed with the egg yolk paste to form a smooth and delicate chiffon cake. After being molded, it is placed in a preheated oven and baked. After being taken out of the oven, it is turned upside down and removed from the mold after being completely cooled. This is a basic process for making chiffon cakes. The main difference in making chiffon cakes of different flavors is the addition of different ingredients to the egg yolk paste. The process of beating the meringue is basically the same.

2. The batter of the chiffon cake should not be left for a long time, but needs to be put into the mold and baked immediately to avoid rough texture, bad taste, collapse, and short cake growth caused by defoaming.

The fluffy texture of chiffon cake is supported by the whipping of egg whites. During the baking process, the starch is constantly gelatinized, the protein is stabilized, and the cake is constantly matured, forming a soft and delicate taste. The inside is also uniform with small holes, without particularly large holes. Therefore, from the entire production process of chiffon cake, including the production principle, chiffon cake does not require fermentation at all, and no yeast powder is used.

The principle of chiffon cake

Chiffon cakes do have something in common with steamed buns and steamed cakes. They are all made of flour as the main raw material and are soft pasta that expands after heating. However, they are also very different. Steamed buns and steamed cakes use microbial fermentation to produce gas inside, which then expands after heating.

Chiffon cake is made by beating egg whites, allowing a large amount of air to mix into the egg whites to form a meringue composed of delicate foam. Steamed buns expand by using the carbon dioxide produced by microorganisms, and cakes expand by using the air mixed in the meringue. There is a fundamental difference between the two.

Therefore, the air in cake batter is limited and will not increase over time, but will decrease over time. The answer to this question is very obvious: the batter of chiffon cake does not need to be left standing, because it does not ferment at all. Leaving it standing will reduce the air that has been mixed into the batter with great difficulty (that is, what we call "defoaming"), which will cause the cake to not expand after baking.

The shape and presentation of chiffon cake

Of course, in addition to being made with round/hollow molds, chiffon cakes can also be presented in different shapes, such as cake rolls, cupcakes, and can also be paired with different tops and fillings to make birthday cakes, naked cakes, and even my friend’s recent sea salt milk cap cake is made with a chiffon base and sea salt milk cap cheese paste.

Therefore, chiffon cake can be made into a variety of flavors. It is OK to eat it directly, or it can be used as a base for cakes to present a more extraordinary dessert world. Of course, the bearing capacity of chiffon cake is not as good as that of sponge or heavy oil cake. It is generally not recommended to make a base for complex cakes. For example, fondant cakes and multi-layer cakes are mostly made of sponge cake/heavy oil cake to ensure that they will not collapse and are stable.