Spago's Chocolate Chiffon Cake

This cake tastes great. It takes a fair amount of work, but it took great honors from the person who's birthday it was made for. (I made this as a part of the German Chocolate Cake recipe also posted by this chef). Ok, my problem was this. I wanted to make a 2 layer cake for the German Chocolate Cake version, so I doubled this recipe. I thought something might be wrong when I poured the mix into the cake pans (large restaurant size pans)...there was so much... Sure enough there was soon cake all over my oven -- another lesson learned, always put them on jelly roll pans with parchement. I'm not really a baker so I don't know if this was a problem with my doubling, but I could easily have made a 3 layer cake with the amount of cake that was left on the oven floor. Still I'll make this again, and I know because I know I'll be asked to. [Editor's Note: recipe edited as a result of this review 1/2/03]

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The moistest chocolate cake I have ever made.

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Its alot of work. It wasn't fully cooked at 30 mins. At 45 minutes it was done and looked great but as it cooled it more than sunk in the middle. It looked so deflated and the texture was tough.

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I have made this cake as the base for my German Chocolate cake the last three thanksgivings. My family can't get enough of it.

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This cake is excellent.Amazingly light and fluffy, yet moist! I used 3/4 cup oil. I used an ungreased 9 inch tube pan, and had good results. Nice and dark. I increased the cooking time to 40 minutes. Make sure you start out with the eggs at room temperature. Egg whites must not be contaminated by yolk. Unmistakably chiffon!

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I won't rate a recipe lower than four stars - I mostly refuse to comment. I'm sure someone might like it; maybe just not me...I tend to be very picky! But this cake was a little on the difficult side for me as well so hence the 4 stars. Although now that I've tried it several times, I think I'm getting the hang of it. However, I followed the directions exactly and had slightly different results both times. I also had a problem with the cake falling and even seeming to be a little on the 'done' side. I took it out of the oven at exactly 30 mins. Next time I may check it at 20 - 25 (I was afraid of causing it to fall - now that I know it does anyway, I won't worry so much about that part.) I did only use 1/2 cup of vegetable oil and followed the directions exactly. I was surprised that with the extra batter that it didn't make enough for an extra layer, but it didn't, so I had to go through the process again (my fault). It was a very good match with the German Chocolate cake filling and ganache which I rated seperately, but lists this cake as the base recipe. Although it ended up being a time-consuming venture for me the end result was yummy. The texture was nice, a little dry, but moist enough with the addition of the Coconut Pecan filling and it was a pretty rich dark color. -Not the typical lighter swiss chocolate color of most German Chocolate cakes which was a nice change(yum). Thank you.

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SO chocolatey and light. While in the oven, the cake rose really high, but it shrank upon cooling. Still, the height was decent enough. Had leftover batter to make about 6 cupcakes. I used a 9" pan, greased and lined, and the cake came off easy. My youngest daughter who is not much of a cake eater could not get enough. To me, that makes this a winner of a cake. Thank you for posting.

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Great tasting cake, I read all the reviews before attempting and followed instructions, I made it in a bundt tin and had problems getting it out in one piece, I think it was too soft for the pan. I also got 6 cupcakes out of the batter. The cake (and the cupcakes) shrank. It wasnt the prettiest of cakes but it was yummy...ended up serving with vanilla ice cream and cream.

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Made this cake twice and on both occasions the cake was a success. I followed the directions exactly. It was moist and rose to a good height. My family loved it.

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I had to laugh today when I made this. After reading all the reviews, I fully expected it to fall in the middle. I used my last six eggs, and when I attempted to beat the whites, they just would not stiffen, they wouldn't even fluff. There must have been something on the beater or in the container I had them in. Anyway, in disgust, I threw the liquid eggs whites that would not fluff into the entire batter and just whipped the whole thing for a minute or two and threw it in the bundt pan anyway. It rose like the lightest, fluffiest chiffon cake you've ever seen! Made me laugh. I was so off guard, I had no frosting for it prepared and my husband came home for lunch early and cut into it unfrosted. He loved it. My son came home and did the same.

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I was very impressed with the cake, but very disappointed that as for a chiffon cake, it didn't rise enough, and therefore, wasn't light enough. How would you make it lighter?

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The flavor and texture of this cake are excellent. I loved how this produced such a moist, yet light finished product. I did have a problem with the cake sinking in the middle. It could have been that I slightly underbaked, or that I overfilled the pans. I don't know what the caused the issue, but I was disappointed in the appearance of the cake. However, I will try this recipe again in hopes of achieving a perfect cake...when I do, I will update the review.

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Very moist but with a great texture. This was a huge hit for my future FIL's birthday. Everyone was very impressed and it was beautiful as well. Definitely the best chocolate cake I've ever made.

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