Happy (and bubbly and fluffy and delicious) New Year!

Hello from the ice and snow!!

It's been a crazy, crazy week, started with a blizzard, ending with, well, the end of the year! I hope everyone who got nailed like I did is safe and digging out of the snow without too much trouble. One day, I'll regale you all with the harrowing tale of my trip home from work on Monday...once the emotional scars heal ;)

So this week's recipe is for Champagne Chiffon Cake. Ooh! Ahh! I can taste the bubbles!!!

Being that tomorrow is New Years Eve, and my roommate just pointed out that if I post this NOW as opposed to tomorrow, it may give some of you the inspiration to try this delicious recipe for your own New Years celebrations!!

In my quest for the perfect New Years Eve sweet, I stumbled upon this recipe from the brilliant and talented Nicole over at Baking Bites. I modified the recipe, admittedly by happy accident...I forgot to add  two tablespoons of sugar into the egg whites... oops, what can I say, I'm a novice. But, in my defense, my army of taste testers didn't seem to miss those two tablespoons a bit!

 So, in keeping with the theme I seem to have going, I have yet another kind of amusing story to go along with my finished, and surprisingly beautiful end result. It began with an adventure to procure the Champagne needed for the recipe ( Left my ID and had to recruit a friend to accompany me to the liquor store) and ending with the realization on the way home that I do not possesses a flour sifter!! ( Make shift sifter? fork holes in a paper cup. I swear, it totally worked.)  So as a result... I am highly considering sub titling this blog "this misadventures of a penniless baker"

(Apologies for the lack of photos in this weeks post as well, but I did manage to get a few decent ones of the final product!)

Champagne Chiffon Cake ( Adapted slightly from bakingbites.com- Thank you!)

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour

1 1/2 cups super fine sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup champagne

5 tbsp vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

7 large egg yolks

7 large egg whites, at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 325

In a large bowl, combine the cake flour, sugar ( reserving two tablespoons for later) baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the champagne ( make sure it's a champagne you enjoy, as you'll definitely taste it when the cake is finished!) vanilla, vegetable oil and the egg yolks. Pour into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. 

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, add in the remaining sugar as it gets foamy and gently fold into the batter little by little until all of the egg white is combined thoroughly into the batter. If you're not me, you'll remember to add those reserved two tablespoons of sugar. just so you know... according to my roommate, it tastes A OKAY if you forget. Like I did.  

Pour the mixture into an ungreased tube pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. I recently purchased a wilton silicone tube pan and LOVE it.  When finished, the cake will spring back when it is gently pressed, and a fork or toothpick comes out clean. 

Here is my end result!!

So there we have it! I am pleased as punch to announce that the cake was a huge hit at work ( I love my co workers and their willingness to try pretty much anything I march in with on any given day!)

Stay tuned for some exciting news about Sugar Town in next week's post! Until then, have a safe, healthy and happy New Year.

Peace love and Sugar,

Jamie

Baking entertainment background noise of the week : Gilmore Girls Season 6- Hater's gonna hate but I loved all 7 seasons ;)