This banana cake is light and moist- everything you want in a celebration layer cake. Other banana cakes end up having a mouth feel similar to banana bread which is fine for a snacking cake... or a loaf of banana bread, but when I think about how a layer cake is served and eaten I'm going to want the lightest textures possible since we're eating a whole stack of them! 

Chiffon is a type of enriched sponge cake made with whipped egg whites. This is what gives it its light and airy texture. If you have an electric mixer with a whip attachment, you can make this cake! 

Banana Chiffon Cake 

yield: 2 6" rounds (double recipe for 2 standard 8 or 9" cakes)

130g all purpose flour

125g sugar

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

50g oil

50g yolks

50g water

1 tsp vanilla

112g mashed banana, very ripe

120g egg whites (clean, no yolk remnants!)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325° and line cake pans with parchment paper. Make sure to leave the sides of the pan ungreased. This helps the sponge cake climb the pan while baking and stay up while cooling.

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. Combine the oil, yolks, water, vanilla and mashed banana in a separate bowl.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk until just combined and homogenous. Set aside while whipping the egg whites.

In a very clean dry mixer bowl, whip the egg whites on medium high speed until they hold a stiff peak. If you take the whip off the mixer and the meringue holds a peak when you wave the whip around it’s good to go.

Gently fold all the meringue into the banana batter using a rubber or silicone spatula. Pour the mix into your cake pans evenly and bake until golden brown on top and springs back when poked. About 30 minutes (longer if double recipe.)

Cool the cakes upside down on a cooling rack or plate. Once the cake is completely cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan and they should fall right out.

I enjoyed this cake with a vanilla creme diplomat filling (like a pastry cream lightened with whipped cream) with sliced bananas between each layer and a classic vanilla Swiss buttercream, but however you build it, this cake will shine like the star it truly is! ENJOY.