My Mom’s Secret to Fluffy, Stress-Free Chiffon Cake Is a Hack You’ll Never See Coming

For as long as I can remember, a beautifully decorated chiffon cake has adorned our family’s table for every celebration, be it birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, or holidays. My mom would bring out her hand mixer and mixing bowls to create a smooth batter that went into the oven and came out soft, spongy, and springy. While her cakes from those days were nothing short of amazing, there were times when she would accidentally open the oven too soon, resulting in a flattened disc, or the fluctuation in the oven’s temperature would cause the outside to overcook, leaving the middle still raw. 

Chiffon can be a temperamental cake, but my mom solved that once and for all by turning to a surprising hack: her rice cooker. It’s the secret to her fluffy, evenly cooked cakes that have a cloud-like texture every time. She used to use a Tiger rice cooker, which only has one button for cooking rice, meaning she had to time it carefully. She’s since upgraded to a Zojirushi Micome rice cooker — which, shockingly, comes with a cake preset.

Zojirushi NS-TSC10 5.5-Cup Micom Rice Cooker

The first time my mom made a chiffon cake in her rice cooker, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Baking cake in a rice cooker? Blasphemy. But, as it turns out, the rice cooker is an ideal environment for something like a chiffon cake, which requires consistent, even heating to ensure that it rises properly and cooks without any hotspots. 

In years past, it seemed like a mere look at the oven would ruin our chiffon cake, so the Zojirushi rice cooker’s cake preset has been a boon. It alerts you once the cake is done, meaning you don’t have to risk opening the oven too soon and getting a sunken cake. All my mom does is mix her batter as usual, pour it into the rice cooker’s inner pot, close the lid, and press the “cake” button. The machine does the rest from there to cook the best chiffon cake for all our celebrations.

Not to mention, her Zojirushi also cooks fluffy rice for the whole family on a daily basis, even keeping it warm throughout the day for mealtimes. The rice cooker has an impressive seven presets in addition to cake making: white rice, brown rice, quick rice, mixed rice, porridge, sweet rice, and steam. Its nonstick inner pot is easy to clean and releases any sticky residue with some soap and warm water. The retractable power cable is also a plus for keeping countertops neat.

The Zojirushi rice cooker has been a staple in our family’s kitchen for years since it’s built to last. Even after all this time, it still churns out great rice and cakes. You can be on your way to the best chiffon cakes, too: Just grab your own Zojirushi.

Shop More Rice Cookers at Amazon

KitchenAid Grain and Rice Cooker

Cuckoo 6-Cup Rice Cooker

Zojirushi NS-ZCC10 5.5-Cup Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker

Aroma 4-Cup Digital Rice Cooker

Hamilton Beach Digital 8-Cup Programmable Rice Cooker