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I have recently baked a couple of chiffon cakes, overall I'm happy with the bake - the structure and flavor are very good. However I have a recurring issue with large holes in the sponge, see the picture below.

enter image description here

I suspect it is some of the meringue not being fully incorporated into the batter and that large blobs of meringue are causing these holes. I could see there were blobs of meringue, but I was concerned if I kept folding to incorporate them I would knock out air from the meringue so I left them. The meringue was pretty hard, and I found it tough going, the blobs just wouldn't break up.

Do I need to keep folding, or is there a way to break up these blobs? Or is my meringue too hard? If it's the meringue, how do I make it softer? Should I speed up pouring in the sugar and whip the whites less?

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    Personally I like it, from the look. Without the holes, it would look like a synthetic grocery cake. Yours look like a yummy home-made cake. What's the problem with the holes?
    – Jeffrey
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 21:17
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    Unincorporated meringue looks like white patches that taste of meringue - it doesn't make holes. Holes are a result of large bubbles of evaporated water getting trapped.
    – Galastel supports GoFundMonica
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:02
  • @Galastel, that's interesting, what do you think I could do to avoid the holes?
    – GdD
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:16
  • @Jeffrey, the holes are just a bit too big, I don't mind a bit of unevenness but that's pushing it!
    – GdD
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:16
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    I'd try lowering the baking temperature (and extending baking time to compensate). Trouble is, I don't really remember why. (It's nearly 2am here, so my thinking capacity is not at its peak.)
    – Galastel supports GoFundMonica
    Commented Sep 28, 2019 at 22:34

1 Answer 1

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You may want to run a knife gently through the batter to pop any large air bubbles before baking. While not included in all chiffon/angle food cake recipes, directions to remove large air pockets by running a knife through the batter in the pan before baking is not that unusual.

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