What is the reason why chiffon cake is not fluffy enough?

Chiffon cake is a small dessert that is deeply loved by people in daily life. It is a very good choice whether it is used for family gatherings or entertaining. Therefore, many people try to make chiffon cake by themselves. Although its production work is very simple, you only need to prepare the required ingredients and follow the process step by step. However, many people find that the chiffon cake they made is not fluffy enough during the production process. This makes people very troubled and they don’t know what went wrong. In fact, the reason why the chiffon cake is not fluffy enough is mainly due to three reasons: formula problems, raw material quality problems and process control problems, so it is necessary to find out the reasons based on the actual operation situation.

1. Formula problem:

Too much or too little flour will result in a cake that is too soft or too firm. If it is too soft, it will shrink due to insufficient support, resulting in a tight cake. If it is too firm, it will shrink due to excessive pressure or will not be soft.

Too much sugar in the batter will cause the cake to expand greatly during baking and become too puffy, which will cause it to collapse and shrink when it cools.

If too much fat is used, the cake will be too soft, the fat cannot be effectively absorbed, and it will separate and sink, making the cake texture uneven.

Too much chemical leavening agent (baking powder, baking soda, etc.) will result in too much gas in the cake during baking, causing it to expand too much. When it cools down after being taken out of the oven, it will collapse and shrink, reducing its volume and becoming less soft.

Too much water and too much steam during baking will cause the cake to expand excessively, shrink and collapse when cooled, resulting in a tight texture.

2. Raw material quality issues

Poor quality of flour, insufficient protein content, insufficient gluten strength or too much starch added will make the cake's structure unstable, the finished product unable to support itself internally, causing the cake to collapse and shrink, resulting in the cake being firm and not soft.

The eggs are not fresh, have low foaming power, and after baking they do not coagulate as firmly as fresh eggs, resulting in insufficient internal support for the cake.

3. Process control issues

The mold is overfilled, there is too much cake batter, the mold cannot provide sufficient support, the cake does not show up during baking, it is easy to collapse after being baked, and the cake is not soft enough.

Improper baking operation: Although the surface of the cake has solidified, the center is still in a gelatinized state. Moving or vibrating the cake, opening the oven door multiple times, or taking it out for observation and subjecting it to cold air will cause the center of the cake to condense, form lumps and collapse, and the cake texture will shrink instead of being soft.

If the baking temperature is too low, the cake texture will solidify slowly, causing the cake to expand too much during baking. After cooling, the cake will shrink excessively, reducing its volume and making the texture tight.