Contents
Egg whites, sugar, flour and nothing else — no yolk, no butter, no oil, no chemical leavening. It rises to twice the height of a butter cake of the same weight and it is the only cake in common use that is fat-free by construction. An American invention, tied to the spread of the rotary egg beater and to households with surplus whites from custard-making.
Everything about the method exists to protect a foam that has nothing to fall back on.
What makes it work
- Not a trace of fat, anywhere. Fat destroys an egg white foam. One drop of yolk, a greasy bowl, a plastic bowl that has held butter — any of them and the cake will not rise. Use metal or glass, wiped with vinegar.
- Cream of tartar stabilises the foam. The acid lowers the pH and the protein network holds. Two teaspoons is not a garnish.
- Whip to soft, droopy peaks, not stiff. An over-whipped white cannot stretch further in the oven and the cake tears and collapses.
- Never grease the tin. The batter climbs the bare metal wall. A greased tin gives a cake that slides back down as it bakes — the single most common failure.
- Cool it upside down. Invert the tube pan onto its feet or over a bottle neck the moment it leaves the oven, and leave it hanging for at least two hours. Gravity holds the structure while it sets. Cooled right-side up, it compresses under its own weight.
Ingredients
One 25 cm tube pan. Serves 12.
- 12 egg whites, about 360 g, at room temperature
- 300 g caster sugar, 100 g of it sifted with the flour
- 130 g cake flour
- 8 g cream of tartar
- 3 g fine salt
- 2 tsp vanilla — see Pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp almond extract, optional
Method
Heat the oven to 175 °C / 350 °F. Sift the flour with 100 g of the sugar three times — this is aeration, and it matters.
Whip the whites with the salt until frothy, add the cream of tartar, and whip to soft peaks. Add the remaining 200 g of sugar a tablespoon at a time, whipping until the foam is glossy and holds a peak that curls over at the tip. Whip in the extracts.
Sift a quarter of the flour mixture over and fold gently. Repeat three times.
Spoon into an ungreased tube pan, run a knife through the batter to break large bubbles, and level the top. Bake 35–40 minutes, until deep gold and springy.
Invert immediately and leave hanging two hours. Free it with a thin knife around the edge and the tube.
Notes
- Room-temperature whites whip higher than cold ones. Separate them cold — it is easier — then leave them on the counter 30 minutes.
- Twelve yolks are the by-product. Use them for custard, pastry cream, ice cream, or hollandaise.
- Cut with a serrated knife, sawing. A straight blade compresses it.
- Keeps two days in a covered container, and stales fast because it has no fat to hold moisture.
Elsewhere on the site
Method and theory: Cake recipes · cakes · eggs · flour
Nearby: chiffon cake · genoise · swiss roll