Eiweiβkuchen – Egg White Cake

I often have egg whites left (my creme anglais is very popular) and this cake gets rid of 5 or 6 in one go. The other satisfying thing about this cake is its versatility: I throw in just about anything (within reason) I find in the pantry, so it tastes differently every time.

Basic recipe:

• 5 – 6 egg whites (ca. 150 g)
• 150 g caster sugar (I’ve not tried honey yet, but if you find out, let me know)
• 100 g butter (melted and cooled a little)
• 180 g flour
• a generous pinch of baking powder
• 150 g dried fruit (to taste)

Some ideas for variations:

• I’m not a fan of wholemeal flour for this one, as it gets a little heavy, instead, I like to replace around one third of the flour with ground hazelnuts or almonds
• I add some flavouring from a list that includes bitter almond essence, cinnamon, grated lemon zest, cardamon, finely chopped crystallised stem ginger, clove,… (not all in the same cake, though)
• a hand full of coarsely chopped nuts or toasted almond flakes gives a nice texture
• the fruit could be just sultanas (I like to use them soaked in rum for a few days)
• a mix of chopped candied peel and sultanas works well, too, especially when using cinnamon and lemon zest
• chopped dried apricots go well with almonds and bitter almond oil in this cake

Method:

• beat the egg whites until very stiff
• keep beating while gradually adding the sugar
• continue to beat until you can cut the mixture with a knife
• add the fruit and nuts (if you use coarse ones) to the mixture
• gently fold in the still runny, somewhat cooled butter
• lastly, fold in the sieved flour/baking powder and ground nuts (if you use them)
• fill the mix into a buttered baking tin
• bake at 170 – 180 °C for around 1 h
• let the cake cool in the tin for 10 min, then turn it out
• If you want to, finish it off with a layer of icing sugar or a light sugar glaze made with lemon juice, rum, Cointreau, depending on what you fancy (and who it is for)
• the cake is not overly sweet, so it can stand a little extra sweetness on the top

The original inspiration for this one comes from ‘Bayerisches Kochbuch’.