Lemon Chiffon & Rhubarb Fool Cake

It’s rhubarb season and that means it’s time for new rhubarb recipes!

I’ve been intrigued lately with the idea of a rhubarb fool serving as a frosting for a light as air chiffon cake (I’ve been on a bit of a light and fluffy cake kick, as of late).

A fool is an old fashioned dessert that combines whipped cream with sweetened fruit, all swirled together. You can use any fruit to create a fool and rhubarb is just perfect for this as it’s tart flavor is sweetened up to make the perfect foil for all of that thick, rich cream. The color rhubarb turns when cooked (red rhubarb only, green will not turn pink!) is so gorgeous when swirled amongst all of that white.

Other pretty rhubarb treats include this Rhubarb Infusion and this Rhubarb upside down cake!

Chiffon cake is a very light, airy cake that is leavened mostly with whipped egg whites. It’s different from an angel food cake in that it has the egg yolks added into the batter where angel food has no egg yolks at all.

I use cake flour for an extra tender crumb, but you can  use all purpose flour, if you desire.

Take care to carefully fold your batter so that you do not overdevelop the gluten in the flour, or deflate the egg whites. Those two things are key in turning out a light, airy cake.

I added a bit of lemon zest to the cake to give it a lemon scent, more than a powerful flavor. If you would like a more strongly flavored cake in the lemon department, feel free to add 1 teaspoon of lemon extract.

This cake will sit on top of the cream easier if you make sure that the fool is very well chilled before assembling the cake. Chilling it for several hours before cutting will help, as well.

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Lemon Chiffon & Rhubarb Fool Cake

 

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Author: Kayley McCabe

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: Serves 12

Ingredients

• FOR THE CAKE:
• 7 large Eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Juice
• 1½ cups Sugar, divided
• 2 cups Cake Flour
• 2½ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ¾ teaspoons Salt
• ½ cup Vegetable Oil
• ¾ cup Whole Milk
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• zest of 1 Lemon
• FOR THE FOOL:
• 4 cups (1 quart) Heavy Whipping Cream
• 6 medium-sized Rhubarb Stalks, sliced
• ⅔ cup Sugar, divided
• 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 1 teaspoon Rosewater

Instructions

1. FOR THE CAKE:
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
3. Line the bottoms two 8" round baking pans (preferably 3" high - if your pans are only 2" high use 9" round pans) with parchment paper. Do not grease.
4. Place the egg whites and lemon juice in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until foamy. Slowly beat in the ½ cup of sugar, then turn the speed up to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
5. Set aside.
6. Place the remaining 1 cup of sugar in a mixing bowl and whisk in the flour, baking powder, and salt.
7. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, milk, oil, vanilla, and lemon zest until combined.
8. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk together until just combined.
9. Gently add the stiff egg whites to the mixture and very gently fold together until combined, scraping the bottom to make sure the batter and eggs are fully mixed together.
10. Divide the batter between the two prepared baking pans.
11. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes. Increase the heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes.
12. Remove and let cool upside down (cakes should not fall out as the sides are not greased).
13. Once cool, run a sharp knife around the sides of each cake and remove from pan. Peel away the parchment paper on the bottoms of the cakes.
14. Place one cake layer on a serving dish, top with half of the chilled rhubarb fool, top with the remaining cake layer, then spoon the remaining rhubarb fool on top. Garnish with fruit tree blossoms. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
15. FOR THE FOOL:
16. Place the rhubarb, ½ cup of the sugar, and lemon juice in a saucepan.
17. Set aside.
18. Place the cream and remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl. Beat on high speed with an electric mixer until the cream forms stiff peaks. Place in the fridge while you make a rhubarb compote.
19. Place the pan of rhubarb over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the rhubarb breaks down and the sugar dissolves. Once the rhubarb has broken down into a slightly lumpy, pink sauce, remove from heat and stir in the rosewater. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
20. Once the sauce is chilled, spoon it into the bowl of cream and gently fold in until the rhubarb is swirled thru the cream.
21. Use to fill the chiffon cake layers.

3.2.2925

Cake recipe adapted slightly from King Arthur Flour