I’ve made this cake a couple of times now, and each time I’ve been impressed. The biggest reasons being that it stays moist and fresh tasting for days and it tastes good. Surprisingly good — I mean, it doesn’t look like much, and reading the list of ingredients, it doesn’t sound so exciting. But the almond flavour is strong without being over powering, and the brown butter flavour adds a deep richness. Yum.

Not only does it taste good, it also goes so nicely with fresh fruit in the summer. I’ve also made it with the caramel and roasted pears that the original recipe recommends, and loved it with that too, which makes this a very versatile all-seasons cake.

Another reason why you should like this cake? It uses up 9 (!) egg whites — and as someone who always uses up way more yolks than whites, this is a very good thing.

Oh! and don’t let the multiple steps and seemingly convoluted process intimidate you — when you follow the instructions through, it’s actually a pretty easy cake to make.

The Recipe

Originally found in Fine Cooking magazine
Makes one 10-inch cake

1 cup / 250mL whole almonds
10 tbsp / 150mL unsalted butter
3/4 cup / 185mL sugar
1 cup / 250mL cake flour
2 tsp / 10mL baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbsp / 30mL dark rum
1 tsp / 5mL vanilla extract
1/4 cup / 60mL full-fat sour cream
9 egg whites
3/4 cup / 185mL sugar
1/4 cup / 60mL sliced almonds

How-To

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F) / 180 degrees (C). Grease a 10 inch springform pan and line bottom with parchment paper.

Spread the whole almonds on a baking sheet and roast in oven until toasted, approximately 7-8 minutes. The almonds will be fragrant and not too brown. Shake the pan every couple of minutes to ensure you don’t over cook the nuts and that they toast evenly. Allow to cool.

In a small saucepan on medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook until you see brown flecks on the bottom — this will take 7-8 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Scrape all the brown flecks from the saucepan and set aside to cool.

Pulse the whole almonds with the first amount of sugar in a food processor until finely ground. Pour into a second medium-sized mixing bowl and mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Stir to combine.

Add the rum, vanilla and sour cream into the butter and stir to combine well.

In a third bowl, that is very well cleaned of any oil or grease and is very dry, beat the egg whites. Begin with your mixer’s slowest speed, and slowly increase the speed after they start to foam, until you’ve reached medium-high speed. Once the egg whites barely hold a shape, slowly add the second amount of sugar. Continue beating at medium-high speed until the egg whites hold soft peaks.

Spoon a large dallop of the egg white mixture into the butter mixture and combine well.

Carefully fold half of the almond mixture into the rest of the egg whites, then fold in half of the butter mixture. Again, fold in the remaining almond mixture and finish by folding in the last of the butter mixture.

Pour the batter into the springform pan, make the top pretty and even, and decorate the top with the sliced almonds.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The cake will be risen and a deep golden colour. The top will spring back when pressed lightly.

Allow to cool until warm to touch (20-30 minutes), then run a knife around the outside of the pan. Remove the outside ring of the pan, then flip the cake onto a rack. Remove the bottom of the pan and the parchment paper, then gently flip to right-side-up onto your serving pate.

Shown above with fresh cherries and dusted with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Ever thought of having a whipped chocolate bar in cookie form? This would be the recipe for you. These are light, with a meringue-like exterior and a chewy interior — it’s like the best of both worlds. As a bonus, they use (up) 2(!) egg-whites.

I’ll say no more and cut right to the chase:

The Recipe

a variation on the recipe for Chocolate Souffle Cookies from Fine Cooking
makes approximately 3 dozen (36) cookies

6 oz. / 170g chopped chocolate
1/4 tsp. / 1mL ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. / 1mL ground cayenne pepper
2 large egg whites at room temperature
1/8 tsp. / 0.5mL cream of tartar
1/2 tsp. / 1mL vanilla extract
1/4 cup / 60mL sugar

How-To

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F) / 180 degrees (C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Melt the chocolate, remove from heat, then add the cinnamon and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

Beat the egg whites and cream of tartar until they form soft peaks. Slowly add the vanilla and sugar (if possible, do so with the beaters running). Continue to beat until the mixture can form stiff peaks, but do not beat so long that they look dry.

Carefully pour in the chocolate, then fold the mixture with a spatula to combine. Try your best to not let the mixture deflate — so do not stir or over mix.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets leaving approximately 1 inch / 2cm between cookies. The cookies will not spread, but do need to allow the heat circulate. Bake for 10 minutes or less. The cookies are done when they are still moist inside and have a firm exterior. If they are over baked, will seem hollow inside. Transfer to racks and let them cool.

Enjoy!

Notes

These cookies are best eaten sooner rather than later. If they need to be kept a little longer (more than a day or so) keep them in the fridge and they’ll keep much better.

I seem to have an opposite problem from many other people — I have a large collection of unused egg-whites building up in my freezer. So many recipes I love use an extra egg yolk here or there and I can’t bear to just throw the left over white out (that would be my thrifty grandmother’s influence.) As a result, my freezer gets filled with small containers marked ‘1 egg white’ or ‘2 egg white’. I’m now at a point where I acknowledge that they must get used or we’ll start to drown (figuratively, of course.)

Why is this an issue at all? Mostly because no one in this house really likes most egg-white based dishes (I should qualify that: no humans here like most egg-white based dishes –maybe the cat does, but I haven’t checked.) Meringues? Meh. Too crunchy-crumbly. Now whenever I find a recipe that does look appealling, I bookmark it for when I feel the need to empty the freezer of its stash. (I’m also adding a category at right for easy access.)

If you’re like me and use a lot of egg-yolks, here are some tips for dealing with the whites:

• freeze them one or two to a container, and mark the container with the number inside — I’ve seen suggestions of freezing each in an ice cube tray then storing in a labeled bag which also sounds like a good idea
• add the date to the container as well so you have a reference of how long it’s been in the freezer — it’s safe to assume it’s better to consume them sooner rather than later
• defrost in the refrigerator over night
• use only in recipes where they will be cooked thoroughly

Right now I’m playing around with some soufflé cookies and some macarons. Maybe I’ll find a cake to add to the list too — this is an on-going problem for me, so I see no end in sight ;-)

If you’ve got any suggestions for recipes that could be added to the list of egg-white-using-but-not-necessarily-a-meringue recipes, leave a comment — I’d love to hear it & find something else to help use up the bzillion egg-whites now in my freezer!