A chiffon cake is a very light cake made with vegetable oil, eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, and flavorings.

Its aeration properties rely on both the quality of the meringue and the chemical leaveners such as baking powder.

Chiffon cake can be baked in a tube pan or layered with fillings and icings.

The recipe is credited to Harry Baker (1883–1974), a Californian insurance salesman turned caterer.

Baker kept the recipe secret for 20 years until he sold it to General Mills, which spread the recipe through marketing materials in the 1940s and 1950s under the name "chiffon cake", and a set of 14 recipes and variations was released to the public in a Betty Crocker pamphlet published in 1948.