Flaherty Wines

I’m the only female in our household, other than various assorted pets. I don’t normally have a lot of girly girl energy, yet when I recently celebrated my birthday, I wanted a pink cake. I’ve been thinking about this cake for months, but my boys weren’t interested. They want chocolate, or maybe spearmint (green, of course), but absolutely nothing pink. Despite their initial aversion, the cake was a huge success: Ben proclaimed this the best frosting ever. I wonder if he’ll want a pink cake for his birthday next month….

The cake is a basic chiffon cake, with crushed candy canes in the batter. These dissolve during the cooking, leaving flecks of pink and a light note of peppermint. The pink frosting provides a satisfyingly rich peppermint accent.

Peppermint chiffon cake

2  1/4 cups sifted flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 egg yolks
1  3/4 cups sugar (divided)
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 egg whites
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup crushed candy canes 

For the frosting:
2  8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature 
500 grams (1 pound) powdered sugar (or to taste)
 1  1/2 tsp peppermint extract
red food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350F. Have ready an ungreased tube pan with a removable bottom. (Note that that’s ungreased. The cake has to stick to the sides of the pan when you invert it.)

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt, then set aside. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, 1  1/2 cups of the sugar, water, oil, and vanilla; set aside. Next, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar with an electric mixer on high until they form soft peaks. Add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar about a tablespoon at a time and continue beating until the egg whites form very stiff peaks. (I used to do this by hand before I got my KitchenAide this year. The whites were never as stiff, but the cakes always came out just fine.)

Add the flour to the egg/water/oil mixture and combine quickly but thoroughly. Fold in the crushed candy canes. Add a large spoonful of the egg whites to the batter (using not more than a quarter of the meringue), and fold it in to lighten the batter. Pour in the rest of the meringue and gently but thoroughly fold the whites into the batter. Pour the batter into the tube pan and bake for 60 to 70 minutes, until the top is nicely golden. Don’t worry if the top gets too dark—it’s actually the bottom, so you can slice it off with a serrated knife if necessary before turning the cake onto a plate. An underdone cake, however, will fall out of the pan when inverted.

On removing the cake from the oven, immediately (and gently) invert the pan onto a wine bottle and let it hang for about two hours, until completely cool. Turn it back upright and use a knife to loosen the sides and middle of the cake, then push the bottom of the pan up out of the mold and turn the cake out onto a plate. Use a serrated knife to slice the cake in half, and remove the top half to a plate. Frost the bottom layer, then return the top layer to the cake and frost the top and sides. Note that a serrated knife works best for slicing this cake.

To make the frosting: Beat the cream cheese until smooth (this is easiest with an electric mixer, using the whisk attachment). Add the butter and beat until blended. Add the powdered sugar a cup at a time. I used one package in all (500 grams), but taste it as you go along to sweeten to taste. Add the peppermint extract and, finally, the red food coloring (as much as needed to get the desired color).