This classic 7 egg chiffon cake recipe is a fluffy, light as air cake that my Mom has been making since the 80's! See my notes for her lemon and her poppyseed version.
Preheat your oven to 325 °F and get out a 10 inch angel food cake pan.
In a medium sized bowl sift together the dry ingredients. Form a well in the middle.
Place the egg yolks, water, oil and vanilla into the well. Do not mix yet.
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar until very stiff. Set aside.
Now you can beat the egg yolks mixture into the dry ingredients until smooth.
Slowly pour the egg yolk mixture over the beaten egg whites and fold in gently, do not stir!
Pour into the ungreased angel food cake pan. Bake for 45 minutes, then turn up the temperature to 350°F for another 10-15 minutes to finish. The cake is done when a cake tester or toothpick inserted unto the center comes out clean.
Remove and turn the cake pan upside down to cool. Cool completely upside down, then remove and serve.
Notes
For Poppyseed : soak 1/2 cup of poppyseeds in one cup of water for 2 hours. Omit the 3/4 cup of water in the recipe and mix in the watery poppyseeds instead. All other instructions are the same.
Lemon : Replace the vanilla flavoring with lemon and add in 1-2 tablespoons of grated lemon rind. All other instructions are the same.