Chiffon cake is a light, airy cake related to sponge cake, made with vegetable oil instead of butter and lightened with whipped egg whites folded into the batter. It was created around 1927 by Harry Baker, a Los Angeles insurance salesman who sold the recipe to General Mills in 1947; its public release via a Betty Crocker pamphlet in 1948 helped popularize it in American home baking. It's typically baked in an ungreased tube pan so the delicate batter can cling to the sides and rise, with common flavor variations including lemon, orange, vanilla, chocolate, and coconut.