Take a load off and relax with a slice of refreshing, fluffy Lemon Chiffon Cake. Each bite is filled with a citrus lemon flavor, topped with a light homemade lemon glaze that is great for a spring and summer treat. We’ve taken a box cake mix and transformed it with the secret ingredient for chiffon cakes – eggs!
You might be thinking that this is just another bundt cake recipe…wrong. Chiffon cake is all about texture. Look at all those air pockets and fluffy texture!! The secret is using a lot of eggs (including beating the egg whites) and oil instead of butter. This combination gives sponge and chiffon cakes an airy feel.
Today I am going to make it easy for you because we are going to use a box cake mix to get a jump start on this special recipe. I am also adding some buttermilk to keep it moist, but rich in flavor. Using a cake mix can be fast and convenient, it can also make experimenting in the kitchen a little more achievable for beginner bakers. We make plenty of cakes and cupcakes from scratch, but I really do love a cake mix hack here and there.
Some of my go to cake mix recipes include my family favorite Kahlua cake, 2-ingredient pumpkin donuts, and our 7 Up cake.
If you enjoy lemon desserts, be sure to try some of my favorites: Lemon Cheesecake or these lemon cream cheese cookie bars. Our layered lemon sponge cake is similar to this recipe, but made from scratch and is even lighter, like an angel food cake.
Jump to:
Differences between Chiffon Cakes, Sponge Cake, and Angel Food Cake
While all of these cakes are similar there are a couple of differences that set them apart even though many may use these terms interchangeably.
Sponge Cake: These cakes are usually yeast-free and rely on eggs as the leavening agent to make them rise when baking. Since they don’t contain yeast, these are often gluten-free. Sponge cakes also lack butter and oil and are perfect for making multiple layers.
Chiffon Cake: Technically chiffon is a type of sponge cake, but they do contain a decent amount of oil. The fluffiness comes from using the egg yolks and whites but is still yeast-free (in most cases) and doesn’t require baking powder or soda.
Angel Food Cake: The biggest difference with this cake is that usually only egg whites are used. It’s also much drier than a chiffon cake.
🍋Ingredients:
FOR THE CAKE:
- Lemon cake mix – we will also add lemon flavor with fresh lemon and lemon essential oil
- Vegetable oil – canola oil can be substituted
- Buttermilk – thick and tangy goodness
- Zest of one lemon – vest from a fresh lemons adds that extra lemon taste
- Eggs – we use a whole lot of eggs to make this special airy cake – 7 eggs!
- Cream of tartar – to help hold the egg whites
FOR THE GLAZE:
- Powdered sugar – sweetness in the glaze
- Lemon oil – this adds that extra lemon flavor for the glaze
- Heavy cream – you can substitute in milk or even water for the lemon glaze, though cream will give you the thickest and creamiest glaze.
For a complete list of ingredients and their measurements, please refer to the printable recipe card 📋 at the bottom of the post.
Substitutions and Variations
- If you also fancy an orange flavor, you can substitute all the lemon ingredients for its orange counterparts
- I have tried this with both Meyer lemons or regular lemons and both are extremely tasty
- A white boxed cake mix would also be great if you can’t find a lemon cake mix
- If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, stir 2 teaspoons of lemon juice into ¾ cup of whole milk and let sit for 5 minutes
🔪 Instructions:
PREP: Summarize prep instructions here, if applicable.
Step 1: With a hand mixer on medium speed beat together the cake mix, buttermilk, oil, lemon zest, and egg yolks.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar in a medium bowl using an electric mixer for about 5 minutes or until stiff peaks form.
Step 3: Fold the beaten egg whites into the cake batter using a rubber spatula.
Step 4: Pour the batter into an UNGREASED tube pan (angel food cake pan or bundt pan). I use a 10-inch pan.
Step 5: Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake with a few crumbs on it.
Step 6: Once the cake comes out of the oven, invert it over a wire rack to cool. This sounds peculiar, but the cake will not fall from the pan (be sure your pan is ungreased!). This prevents the cake from falling. You can also place the hole in the cake pan over a heavy bottle. Your pan may have little “feet” and it can also stand on those once turned upside down – do you see the three metal tabs on the cake pan in Step 5? Those are the feet.
Step 7: When the cake has completely cooled, loosen it from the pan and turn it out onto a serving platter. Whisk together the glaze ingredients and drizzle over the cake.
GARNISH/SLICE/SERVE: Serve this alone, YES it’s that good. Or on a serving plate, you can add some fresh fruit and fresh berries!
Pro Tip to avoid a Flattened Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe:
- Do not grease the pan. Leaving it as is allows the batter to cling to the tube and sides keeping it tall and fluffy.
- Be sure to cool upside down. If your pan doesn’t have “feet” you can place it on a wine bottle to cool.
- Clean attachments. Make sure your whisk attachment or beaters are clean and free of oil. If they are oily at all, it will cause deflated peaks on the egg whites.
- Use Room Temperature eggs. Room temp egg whites will hold more volume when beaten than cold egg whites.
- Don’t over whisk. You want your egg white peaks to be stiff, they should form peaks when you lift the whisk attachment out of them. If you overmix, the egg whites may start to separate and you will not achieve the proper texture in the cake.
Recipe FAQs
No, you can substitute the lemon oil for fresh lemon juice or lemon extract. Lemon oil is just a little more potent.
Yes! Once the cake has cooled completely, place it on a baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then wrap it in a layer of parchment paper or plastic wrap, followed by aluminum foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. You can freeze it whole or wrap and freeze individual slices.
You can keep this cake in a covered airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.
More Cakes to Try this Season
If you try this easy Lemon Chiffon Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Lemon Chiffon Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 1 box lemon cake mix
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- ¾ cup buttermilk
- Zest of one lemon 1-2 teaspoons
- 7 large eggs separated, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar
For the Glaze:
- ¾ cup powdered sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon lemon oil
- 3 tablespoons cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cake mix, oil, buttermilk, lemon zest, and egg yolks.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or a large mixing bowl), whisk the egg whites and cream of tartar until soft peaks form (about 5 minutes).
- Use a spatula to fold the egg whites (½ at a time) into the batter.
- Pour batter into a 10-inch tube pan. Do not grease the pan, as the batter needs to cling to the pan in order to climb and stay fluffy.
- Bake approximately 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs, and the cake springs back when pressed gently.
- Cool UPSIDE DOWN. Most tube pans have little metal “feet” on the top of the pan for standing the cake upside down. Cool completely. The cake will not fall from the pan as long as you do not grease the pan.
- Loosen the sides and center of the cake from the pan. Turn the cake out onto a serving platter.
- Whisk together the powdered sugar, lemon oil, and cream until a smooth glaze forms. Drizzle the glaze over the cake and spread it a bit over the top and sides. Let the glaze drizzle down over the sides as well.
Notes
- Do not grease the pan. Leaving it as is allows the batter to cling to the tube and sides keeping it tall and fluffy.
- Be sure to cool upside down. If your pan doesn’t have “feet” you can place it on a wine bottle to cool.
- Clean attachments. Make sure your whisk attachment or beaters are clean and free of oil. If they are oily at all, it will cause deflated peaks on the egg whites.
- Use Room Temperature eggs. Room temp egg whites will hold more volume when beaten than cold egg whites.
- Don’t over whisk. You want your egg white peaks to be stiff, they should form peaks when you lift the whisk attachment out of them. If you overmix, the egg whites may start to separate and you will not achieve the proper texture in the cake.
Nutrition
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Comments & Reviews
Anne says
I love all the recipes you shared. I wanna try them all. ❤️💖🌹👍
girlinspired says
Thank you so much, Anne!! Let me know what you try!