Egg white cake with mascarpone
Have you got a bunch of egg whites sloshing around after dutifully making hollandaise sauce or creme anglaise? Or is it just us that ends up with an accumulation of whites from time to time? Given the price of eggs, we don’t like to waste any part of a single one, but we don’t always want to bake meringue or pavlova, either. Which are the obvious solutions for leftover whites. But sometimes we whip up this fluffy, airy cake – it’s a bit like a sponge. And, like sponge, it begs for a lavish, creamy filling to make it more interesting and quite like this heart-stopping mascarpone number, cut with drizzles of passionfruit pulp for a zingy injection of tropical flavour. But you could settle for whipped cream and a handful or two of sliced strawberries or some other berries if you like those better.
MAKES 1 x 20xm CAKE
6 large egg whites
240g caster sugar
150g (1 cup) plain flour
3 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp baking powder
100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
passionfruit pulp, for drizzling
Filling
250g mascarpone
3/4 cup pouring cream
Preheat the oven to 180˚C. Lightly grease and flour 2 x 20cm cake tins.
Whisk the egg whites with 2 tablespoons of the sugar until soft peaks form. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, cornflour and baking powder, then stir in the remaining sugar. Using a large, metal spoon, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg white mixture, then fold in the butter and vanilla. Divide the mixture between the tins, then bake for about 18 minutes or until a cake tester withdraws clean. Cool the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
For the filling, combine the mascarpone and cream in a bowl then using electric beaters, whisk until firm peaks form, taking care not to over-whisk. Spread half the filling over one of the cakes, drizzle with passionfruit pulp, then spread the remaining filling over the top. Drizzle with passionfruit pulp, then serve. The cake is best served fresh.
