Strawberry Basil White Chocolate Chiffon Cake
My Strawberry Basil White Chocolate Chiffon Cake pays homage to two pillars of my childhood: my favourite packet-mix birthday cake—the Angel Food cake—and my mother’s version of a strawberry shortcake. We ate seasonally when I was a kid in Canada in the 1970s. Summer meant an abundance of locally grown strawberries and these were often transformed into Mom’s shortcake. She used packaged mini sponge cakes, which were essentially just a vehicle for the syrupy goodness of the macerated fresh strawberries. While she was happy to take a shortcut with the cake, my Mom absolutely drew the line at aerosol whipped cream. Ours was always freshly whipped and piled impossibly high onto the fruit-soaked sponges. For this recipe chiffon wins out over fond memories. I’ve chosen a vanilla chiffon over an angel food cake. While my memories of Funfetti birthday cakes are fond, adult Sandra simply won’t allow me to bake a cake where sugar is the primary ingredient.
Equipment
- Digital kitchen scales
- Stand mixer with whisk attachment
- Immersion blender
- Food processor (or blender)
- 2 x 8-inch (20cm) standard cake pans (not non-stick)
- 2 x 10-inch (25cm) pans (to act as a bain-marie)
- Palette knife (offset and straight)
- Cake scraper
- Cake turntable (optional)
- Large piping bags
- 1cm round piping tip
Ingredients
Vanilla chiffon sponge:
- 270 g cake flour
- 95 g caster sugar (A)
- 180 g caster sugar (B)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 200 g egg yolks (approx. 12 large eggs)
- 175 g egg whites
- 145 g grapeseed oil
- 1 vanilla bean (seeds only or 2 teaspoons vanilla essence)
- 140 ml just-boiled water
- 1 ¼ teaspoons cream of tartar
Strawberry basil gel:
- 250 g strawberry puree (processed from 500g frozen strawberries)
- 105 g water
- 55 g fresh lemon juice (approx. 2 lemons)
- 85 g caster sugar
- 8 g agar-agar powder
- 8 g sweet basil leaves (approx. 2 small bunches)
- 250 g fresh strawberries (finely chopped for filling)
Whipped white chocolate ganache:
- 360 g white chocolate (minimum 23% cocoa solids)
- 30 g glucose syrup
- 6 g gelatine sheets
- 255 g pure cream (A - minimum 35% fat content)
- 780 g pure cream (B)
- 3 vanilla pods
- 250 g fresh strawberries
Instructions
Prepare the whipped ganache (day before):
- Bloom the gelatine in a bowl of ice water for 5 minutes.
- Weigh the white chocolate into a large bowl and microwave in 15-second bursts until softened.
- Heat cream (A) in the microwave until very hot but not boiling.
- Squeeze the water from the gelatine and add it to the warm chocolate.
- Pour the hot cream (A) over the chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes.
- Use an immersion blender to emulsify until smooth and glossy.
- Add the cold cream (B) and scrape in the seeds from 3 vanilla pods. Blend again until homogeneous.
- Press plastic wrap onto the surface and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
Prepare the strawberry basil gel (day before):
- Mix the sugar and agar-agar together in a small bowl.
- Combine 105g water, 55g lemon juice, and 250g sieved strawberry puree in a medium pot.
- Heat the mixture to 45°C, then stir in the sugar and agar mixture.
- Bring to a full boil (85°-95°C) and hold at a boil for 90 seconds while stirring.
- Pour into a shallow dish and leave on the bench to cool, then refrigerate until set.
Bake the chiffon cakes:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C fan forced.
- Line the base of two 8-inch cake pans with baking paper. Do not grease the sides.
- Separate the eggs into yolks and whites.
- In a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whisk the yolks, grapeseed oil, and vanilla seeds while gradually drizzling in 140ml of just-boiled water. Whisk on high for 6–8 minutes until tripled in volume. Gently place in a second bowl if you only have one stand mixer bowl.
- Clean your mixer bowl and whisk thoroughly.
- Keep the kettle boiled for the bain-maire below.
- Using the whisk attachment again, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Gradually add caster sugar (B) one teaspoon at a time over 10 minutes until firm peaks form and no grittiness remains.
- Add one-third of the meringue into the yolk base, whisk vigorously with a balloon whisk until well combined.
- Whisk in the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, sugar A, baking powder, salt) in two batches until just incorporated.
- Gently fold in the remaining two-thirds of meringue using a large metal spoon.
- Divide the batter equally between the lined 8-inch pans. Run a metal skewer through the batter to remove large air bubbles.
- Fill the larger pans with 3cm of boiling water to create a bain-marie. Place the 8-inch pans inside 10-inch pans.
- Place pans in oven and immediately turn the heat down to 155°C fan forced. Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden and a cake tester comes out clean. To avoid deflating the cakes, do not open the oven before 35 minutes.
- Immediately drop the pans from 15cm onto a kitchen towel, then invert onto a rack to cool completely. If they do not come free, run the back of a paring knife around the edge of the cake and try again. Carefully remove the baking paper.
- Once cooled, chill the cakes well before assembling the layers.
Assemble the cake:
- Blitz the set strawberry-agar block with 8g fresh basil leaves until it forms a smooth paste.
- Fold the 250g of chopped fresh strawberries into the gel and transfer to a tipless large piping bag.
- Whip the chilled ganache on medium-high speed until thick, matte, and just past firm peaks. Transfer one-third to a piping bag with a 1cm tip.
- Slice each chiffon cake in half to create four layers.
- Secure the first layer on a cake board or serving plate cut side up with a thin layer of ganache. Pipe a thick dam of ganache around the edge of the cake. Fill the centre with the strawberry basil gel.
- Repeat for the second and third layers.
- Top with the final layer, trimmed side down.
- Apply a thin crumb coat of ganache and chill for 30 minutes.
- Frost with the remaining ganache and top with fresh strawberries.
- Chill well before slicing to serve.
Just before you cook with abandon…
Get organised: I’m an adherent to the French cooking principle of mise en place—everything in its place. Having your ingredients and equipment ready before you start isn’t just for professional kitchens; it’s how you keep home baking calm and consistent. Measuring, prepping and setting everything out before the first step really does put the “easy” into any recipe.
Note on height: Please note that the four-layer cake depicted in the photos was created using the full depth of 4 chiffon cakes rather than slicing 2 in half. Slicing 2 cakes will provide 4 standard layers, each approximately 2cm high.
The rub test: When making the meringue, don't rely on your eyes alone. Rub a small amount between your thumb and forefinger; if you feel even one grain of sugar, keep whipping. A stable chiffon depends entirely on the sugar being fully dissolved.
Agar-agar hydration: Agar-agar is a diva. It will not set unless it hits a full boil of at least 85°C. If your gel remains liquid after cooling, it didn't get hot enough. You can boil it again but it will taste less like fresh strawberries.
Can I freeze this cake? While the chiffon sponge layers freeze beautifully, the strawberry gel will split and weep if frozen. Assemble the cake on the day you wish to serve it for the best results. Leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 2-3 days.