lime chiffon cake
Lime chiffon cake drizzled with lime glaze makes the perfect dessert!
Chiffon cakes are the perfect marriage between a rich classic pound cake and airy angel food cake – simultaneously rich, light, and utterly scrumptious. This breezy lime chiffon cake happens to be lusciously golden and perfumed with lime zest and juice, a fine bridge between late spring and early summer when topped with spoonfuls of juicy berries.
I adore this cake and I have a feeling you will too. Bake it to share with someone you love who could use a dose of sweet, tangy, and simple cake.
How to Make Chiffon Cake
Chiffon cake is golden and fluffy, made with oil (for this recipe, I use melted coconut oil) and enriched with eggs. Traditional chiffon cake recipes include dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and meringue that is folded into the batter.
Baked in a tube pan, the high and straight sides of the pan give chiffon cake structure to rise as it bakes. Once the cake is baked, invert the tube pan and let the cake cool completely (about 90 minutes) before loosening it from the pan with a thin knife and inverting onto a serving platter.

Lime Chiffon Cake
- Yield: 12 servings
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 1/3 cups cake flour (see note below)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 5 egg yolks, at room temperature
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled
- 3 Tbsp lime zest (zest of 4 limes)
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 egg whites, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
Glaze
- 2/3 cup powdered sugar, sifted
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 tsp lime zest
- 2 tsp lime juice
- 2 Tbsp milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line the bottom of a 10-inch tube pan with parchment (do not grease). Whisk together cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, water, coconut oil, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Add to flour mixture and fold in just until combined.
- Combine egg whites and cream of tartar in large mixer bowl fitted with wire whip attachment. Whip for 1 minute on medium-low until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high and whip for 3 to 4 minutes, until stiff peaks form. Use a clean rubber spatula to gently fold egg whites into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan, smooth top with spatula, and gently tap pan once to remove air bubbles.
- Bake for 54 to 55 minutes, or until top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert pan and let cake cool completely, about 90 minutes. Once the cake has cooled, run a thin knife around the edge to loosen and invert onto a serving platter.
- For the glaze, whisk together powdered sugar, salt, lime zest, lime juice, and milk in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake and let set before serving. Store leftovers at room temperature up to 2 days.
Notes
To make your own cake flour: place 2 tablespoons cornstarch in an empty 1-cup measure, then top up with flour. Sift the mixture several times to evenly distribute the cornstarch.
Adapted from The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook.
Nutrition
- Calories: 295
- Carbohydrates: 43
Keywords: Lime, Citrus, Chiffon Cake, Cake
More easy cake recipes you’ll love:
Citrus Olive Oil Bundt Cake
Citrus Champagne Bundt Cake
Meyer Lemon Earl Grey Tea Cake
Love the new look, Laura! And this cake … just beautiful. Love chiffon cake 🙂
Beautiful! There is something eloquent & posh about a timeless chiffon cake.
Love the new design, too. 🙂
Gorgeous photography!
Your new site is gorgeous, as is the cake – lime is such a great citrus and so under-used!
I’m SO excited to see your new site! Congratulations! Love the mobile site too, and after seeing some photos, I had to come to my computer… drooling while I check out pages and index! Really nice and easy to navigate, Laura! LOVE IT!!! Now I have to pin your latest delicious desserts to my collections. 😉
Thank you, Nami! You are so sweet! 🙂
I adore the redesign, Laura! What a lovely, clean, & fresh look. And the larger photos are stunning! <3
This cake looks delicious…so fluffy and flavorful.
Thank you, Abby! xo
Beautiful cake, beautiful photos, love everything about this!
What a mighty fine dessert! Pairing the lime infused chiffon cake with sweet berries is sublime!
Congrats on a great re-design! Cannot wait to try this cake — perfect for brunch. Thanks for another yummy recipe. 🙂
What a lovely new site and and equally lovely cake! Congratulations on the redesign.. Love the about page and how beautifully laid out everything is!
I love how light the new site looks! I’m probably overanalyzing, but the light/fluffy cake seems to fit perfect with the unveiling!
Laura, love the fresh new look of your blog… beautiful! And as for this cake, well I adore it xox
Wow! I love the fresh fruit on top and lime is such a great and underused flavor in dessert 🙂
What a perfect springtime cake! Love the double dose of lime—so yummy!
What a beautiful cake–your pictures make me feel like I can reach into the screen and grab a slice.
Love the new look, Laura. The layout is gorgeous and showcases your delicious creations so perfectly!
Congratulations on the new site, Laura! You must be giddy with excitement! Love it. And the cake is an expression of summer. So fresh and vibrant. Gorgeous.
That’s not a cake, it’s a work of art. Food art. love it to bits.
LOVE the new site, lady! It’s gorgeous, just like this cake!
Laura, I love your new blog design. . it’s gorgeous and so clean! love! and this cake!!! that lime zest glaze is beautiful!!!!
Love the new look and this cake is just gorgeous!!
The site looks wonderful. 🙂 So do your cake. Its looking soft and flavourful.
Wow, Laura! Your new site design is great! I love how your photos jump right off the page. And this cake looks like the perfect way to showcase spring berries.
I just looked at all your photos of your ragdoll baby! So cute! I wanted to get a ragdoll but John said they’re too big – so what do we have? 2 Siberian boys who are huge! LOL! No wonder you always have cute cat photos on Pinterest. Our brothers are called Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn.
Thank you, Susan! I just love her to pieces :). She’ll be 7 months next week and weighs about 8 pounds. Her mom is 9 pounds and her dad is 17 pounds, so I’m curious to see how big she will get! If you ever decide to get a ragdoll, I’d be happy to put you in touch with the breeder (she’s in San Diego).
Love your new look Laura, it’s so clean, fresh and beautiful! And this cake looks amazing, it seems like chiffon cake is almost a lost art.
Love the new design, so elegant!
Yay you’re back and looking fab Laura! So nice to see a pic of you too! 😀
That lime zest really makes the cake pop! So preeeeeetty!!
Laura, you are SLAYING me with this beaut of a cake! I am such a sucker for lime in any dessert and could basically inhale this whole darn thing 🙂
Laura!! Sorry for the lack in comments, I have been away, BUT oh my gosh! The new site is just so pretty! I love the simpleness, it’s so perfect! As is the cake! The colors, textures and flavors are spot on! 🙂