The chiffon twins

It's not often that a fabric is named after a food, but it's not all that uncommon for a food to be named after a fabric. Thus, we have lace cookies, fruit leather, French silk pie, satin frosting, and red velvet cake.

But of all the foods named after fabrics, the ones with chiffon in their names, namely chiffon cake and chiffon pie, are perhaps the most significant because each has a story and a unique individual behind it.

Chiffon is usually defined as a sheer, gossamer-like fabric that is light and airy. Similarly, chiffon cakes and pies are light and airy — ethereal, if you will. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of light and airy desserts, preferring instead heavy, solid concoctions, but after some recent experiments in the kitchen, I no longer dismiss out of hand recipes with the term chiffon in their titles. I've found that both chiffon cake and chiffon pie, while not in the same league as, say, cheesecake, can be delicious and satisfying.

Though there may have been a few less well known precursors, chiffon cake is the slightly newer creation, invented in 1927 by the appropriately named Harry Baker, a former insurance salesman. Hailed by Betty Crocker's parent company as "the biggest kitchen news in 100 years" when they bought the recipe from Baker, who had developed it after some 400 tries and kept it secret for 20 years, chiffon cake is light like angel food cake but rich like butter cake.

Baking them on hot plates in his spare bedroom, Baker ultimately peddled his creation to the famed Brown Derby restaurant in Los Angeles where it became the signature dessert. The secret ingredient in all of this was vegetable oil, a hitherto unprecedented constituent of cakes.

A Peach Chiffon Pie, one of many flavors of this light and airy dessert invented by the so-called Pie King of California, Monroe Strause and dubbed Chiffon Pie by his mother.Tom Harte

Chiffon pie, with its characteristic filling made light and fluffy with beaten egg whites or whipped cream, was likewise invented by a man intent on shaking up the dessert world. He was Monroe Strause, proclaimed the Pie King of California. The author of a 339 page pie cookbook with an entire chapter on "Taking the Cuss Out of Custard Pie," he, in the words of his publisher, "reduced pie baking to an exact science and measures each ingredient with the care of a pharmacist." No wonder he called himself a "pie engineer," even referring to his recipes as formulas.

Already in the pie business as a teenager when he joined his uncle's wholesale shop, he became alarmed at the growing popularity of cakes and sought to make pies, especially cream pies, less humble and more competitive. His new pie was his answer and when he first gave his mother a taste, she provided his invention its name, announcing that it tasted like chiffon.

The word "chiffon" has its origins in the French word for rags, but thanks to Harry Baker and Monroe Strause the term is now synonymous with culinary riches.

Double Chiffon Delight

Can't decide between cake or pie? How about a dessert with vanilla chiffon cake on the bottom and chocolate chiffon pie on the top? This concoction is the result of combining elements of recipes from the Baking Bites blog and from Jacques Torres.

• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 9 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs, separated
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 5 tablespoons cold water
• 1/2 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 quart cream
• 14 ounces melted bittersweet chocolate

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add egg yolks, oil, water, and vanilla. Beat egg whites until foamy, add cream of tartar, and beat until stiff peaks form. Beat egg yolk mixture until smooth. Fold one-fourth of egg whites into yolk mixture, then fold in remainder in two parts. Pour batter into a 9-inch cake pan lined on the bottom with parchment paper and bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes until golden brown and cake tests clean. Invert pan and cool completely. Place cooled cake in the bottom of a springform pan. Whip cream to soft peaks and add one-third of melted chocolate, folding gently. Fold in remaining chocolate, taking care not to overmix. Spread chocolate mixture on top of cake and chill until set.