Description
This light and airy cake is delicous no matter how you serve it. Serve it with fresh fruit, a dollop of whipped cream, fresh fruit compote, or simply a dusting of powdered sugar. It’s perfect either way you serve it. For the perfect cake, make sure you read my tips above the recipe!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 cup cake flour
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 2/3 cups room temperature egg whites (12 to 13 large egg whites
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cream of tartar
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Sift the flour and powdered sugar into a bowl and set aside.
- Prepare the bowl: Note…it is extremely important to make sure your bowl and whisk or beaters and any rubber spatula you might decide to use, are totally free of any type of oil, butter or greasy substance of any kind. Even the smallest trace of fat will interfere with the egg white’s ability to trap and hold air. The egg whites act as the leavener in this cake, so they need to have lots of air, and the more air the more volume. A stainless steel bowl is the perfect type bowl for beating the egg whites. A glass bowl is more slippery, but it will work also. I used a glass bowl in this recipe. Beat the egg whites: Beat the egg whites on medium low speed until they start to look foamy/frothy. Add the cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks are just beginning to form. With the mixer still running, slowly add the granulated sugar in a slow steady stream, until all of the sugar has been added. Immediately add the vanilla and salt. Continue to beat egg whites until they form soft peaks. This doesn’t take long, especially with a stand mixer, so make sure you don’t overmix. When you lift the whisk attachment or beaters from the egg whites, they should form soft peaks that fall over in a droopy manner. Note: If you beat longer, they will become stiff peaks that stand upright on their own. We want soft peaks here. Read my tips above this recipe to see why we want soft peaks.
- Fold the dry mixture in: Remove the whisk attachment. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the flour/sugar mixture over the beaten egg whites at a time. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the dry mixture into the egg whites. To fold, cut through the center of the egg whites with the spatula and drag the spatula across the bottom and up the side of the bowl nearest you. Lift the mixture up with the spatula, gently flip it over and onto itself, allowing it to fall back into the bowl. Remember, you aren’t mixing but folding here. Repeat until all of the flour/sugar mixture has been folded in
- Transfer the cake batter to a 2 piece 10-inch metal tube pan. Using a knife, cut through the batter to remove any air bubbles. Smooth the surface with an offset spatula.
- Bake the cake in the lowest oven position (I remove the top rack), until the cake is golden brown on top and bounces back when you press on the top with your finger, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Immediately invert the pan onto a heat proof funnel or glass bottle that is filed with something to weigh it down. Don’t use an empty bottle. Allow the cake to hang on the funnel or botle until it is completely cool. This step is important for allowing the cake to fully expand. Note: If your cake pan has feet, you can simply turn it upside down. If your pan doesn’t have feet, use the funnel or bottle for cooling. It will take about 1 1/2 hours for the cake to completely cool.
- Once the cake has cooled, run a long metal spatula or sharp knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Lift the cake, tube and all, from the pan. Use a sharp knife to loosen the bottom and center of the cake from the tube pan. Invert the cake onto a plate or serving dish. Cover the cake with plastic wrap or place in a cake container until ready to serve.
- To serve, use a serrated knife and cut with a slow sawing motion for neat looking cuts of cake. Serve this delicious cake with fresh fruit, a fresh fruit compote, whipped cream, or simply a dusting of powdered sugar. It’s delicious any way you serve it.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also wrap and freeze individual pieces of this cake. It freezes beautifully.