My chicken-sitting ended yesterday, I really enjoyed looking after them, they’re all such characters. During my 10 days of fostering, we must have got almost 100 eggs! We gave a few away and ate loads of omelettes, French toast and plenty of fried/boiled/poached eggs.
Last week, I made a delicious all-yolk layer cake and, as promised, this week it’s an all whites one. It’s Rose Levy Beranbaum’s white velvet cake. Sometimes with this type of recipe, what you’re trying to achieve is a cake as white as pure, fresh snow. If that’s the case, you can make a few minor adjustments to the original cake recipe below.
Instead of using vanilla extract, use white caster sugar that has been stored in an airtight jar along with a split vanilla pod for a few weeks so that the flavour infuses. Some people swear by the use of shortening such as Stork which gives less colour than butter. Other people who care more about the taste than the colour say that butter is far superior.
Have a look at the pair of YouTube videos below the recipe where Rose herself shows us how it’s done!
Click here to pin the recipe for later!
- 4½ large egg whites
- 240ml/8½ fl oz milk
- 2¼tsp vanilla extract
- 300g/10½oz bleached cake flour*, sifted
- 300g/10½oz caster sugar
- 1tbsp + 1tsp baking powder
- ¼tsp salt
- 170g/6oz butter, softened
- 275ml/9¾ fl oz whipping cream
- 225g/8oz mascarpone
- 125g/4½oz icing sugar
- Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Grease two 23cm x 4cm (9-in x 1½-in) cake tins, line the bottoms with parchment paper, then grease again and flour
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly combine the egg whites, ¼ of the milk and vanilla extract
- In a large mixing bowl combine all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for 30 seconds to blend
- Add the butter and remaining ¾ of the milk. Mix on a low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened
- Increase to medium speed (high speed if using a hand mixer) and beat for 1½ minutes to aerate and develop the cake's structure
- Scrape down the sides
- Gradually add the egg mixture in 3 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition to incorporate the ingredients and strengthen the structure
- Scrape down the sides again
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with a spatula. The pans should be about half full
- Bake for 25-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the centre comes away clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the centre. The cakes should start to shrink from the sides of the pans only after removal from the oven
- Allow the cakes cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes
- Loosen the sides with a small metal spatula and invert onto two other greased wire racks. To prevent splitting, flip over again so that the tops face up. Allow to cool completely before frosting
- With an electric mixer on medium speed, whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks form (be careful not to overbeat, or the cream will become grainy)
- In another bowl, whisk together the mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth
- Gently fold the whipped cream into mascarpone mixture until completely incorporated
- Use immediately to frost the top of one cake
- Place the other cake on top of the first and frost the top & sides
- *If like me you're based in the UK and find it hard to find bleached cake flour in the shops, have a look at Kate Coldrick's meticulous method to make your own version
part II
Cakes & Bakes: Yellow layer cake with buttercream icing
Our neighbours have gone on holiday this week and have asked me to look after their chickens again. They have about twice as many chickens as they did last time… so that means twice as many eggs every day.
I’ve been looking into recipes where you use lots of just yolks and just whites – as I don’t like to waste half the eggs. I found a couple of recipes by Rose Levy Beranbaum that fit the bill. I’ll be attempting her favourite yellow layer cake this week.
I decided to make the yolks-only cake first as I discovered, on my online travels, that egg whites can be easily and successfully frozen for use at a later date. Yolks take a little more effort. The yellow layer cake I made today – as you’ve probably deduced – uses just egg yolks.
It also uses bleached cake flour, something you don’t tend to find in supermarkets here in the UK. I took a lengthy detour on the website of Rose’s Devon-based friend, Kate Coldrick, who shows you in great detail how to make your own substitute.
I followed both Rose’s and Kate’s instructions almost to the letter, hoping that I’d produce a cake like never before.
The sponge was light & airy and the texture was crumbly. I teamed it with a vanilla buttercream icing which complements, not overpowers the flavour.
Stay tuned next week Thursday for my egg white recipe! Click here to pin the recipe to Pinterest for later!
- 4 large egg yolks
- 160g/5½oz sour cream
- 1½tsp vanilla extract
- 200g/7oz bleached cake flour*
- ½tsp baking powder
- ½tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- ¼tsp salt
- 170g/6oz butter, softened
- 250g/9oz butter, softened
- ½tsp vanilla extract
- 300g/10½oz icing sugar
- 1tbsp milk
- Grease a 23cm/9-inch spring-form cake tin then line it with parchment paper
- 20 minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 175ºC/350°F/Gas mark 4
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl, lightly combine the yolks, about ¼ of the sour cream and the vanilla
- In a stand mixer bowl, with paddle attachment, combine the cake flour, caster sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt
- Mix on a low speed for 30 seconds to blend
- Add the butter and the remaining sour cream and mix on a low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened
- Increase to medium speed, or high speed if using a hand held mixer and beat for 1 minute to aerate and develop the structure
- Scrape down the sides
- Gradually add the egg mixture in 2 batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition until fully incorporated
- Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the surface. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes away clean and it springs back when pressed lightly in the centre
- Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes
- Loosen the sides of the cake with a small metal spatula, and remove the sides of the spring-form tin
- Invert the cake onto a wire rack and flip it again onto a second rack it so that the top faces up
- Allow to cool completely before slicing in half horizontally and icing the middle and top
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and vanilla essence
- Blend in the icing sugar, a quarter at a time, beating well after each addition
- Beat in the milk and continue mixing until light and fluffy
- Keep the icing covered until ready to use
- *If like me you're based in the UK and find it hard to find bleached cake flour in the shops, have a look at Kate Coldrick's meticulous method to make your own version
Cakes & Bakes: Lemon curd
For someone who claims to hate lemons, I sure cook a lot of lemon-based Cakes & Bakes recipes!
This week, I needed one lemon for something or other but saw one of those string bags of lemons in the supermarket for a whole 25p – cheaper than buying it singly.
I ended up with half a dozen lemons in the fruit bowl that needed using up. More drizzle cake? Cookies? Sorbet? Meringue?
I’ll let you in on a secret. Even though I generally can’t bear the taste or smell of lemon, I LOVE lemon curd – I don’t know why! Lemon curd on hot, buttered toast is divine – and it’s a doddle to make.
I found a really simple recipe in my favourite celebrity chef, Delia Smith’s Cookery Course Part Two. I scaled up her recipe which made enough to fill two 400ml Mason jars. As well as being good on breakfast toast, you can use it in a sponge sandwich like I did here, lemon curd tarts or lemon roulade.
Don’t worry if your mixture looks like it’s curdling when it begins to cook. Once the temperature is low, you keep stirring and the butter begins to melt – it will all be fine!
Lemon curd
Ingredients
- 300 g/10½oz caster sugar
- 4 large lemons finely grated zest and juice
- 8 large eggs
- 200 g/7oz butter
Instructions
- Put the grated lemon zest and sugar into a large bowl
- In a large measuring jug, whisk the lemon juice together with the eggs
- Pour the lemon juice & egg mixture over the zest & sugar mixture
- Add the butter cut into small cubes and put the bowl over a pan of just simmering water
- Stir frequently until thickened - about 30 minutes
- Decant into sterilised jars before screwing the lids down tightly
Cakes & Bakes: Sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream
A Victoria sandwich is a quintessentially British cake and this sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream is a little twist on that. It follows the Delia Smith all-in-one sponge recipe that I use as the base of many of my sponge cakes.
I spread a few large dollops of the wild raspberry jelly I made in the summer between the layers and used a mascarpone/fromage frais mix instead of whipped cream. I like that little bit of acidity it gives to counter the sweetness of the jelly. This is a lovely cake to have for afternoon tea!
Sponge cake with raspberry and mascarpone cream
Ingredients
- For the sponge
- 8 oz/220g self raising flour sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 8 oz/220g caster sugar
- 8 oz/220g butter or margarine at room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 4-6 drops vanilla essence
- For the filling
- 8 tbs raspberry jam or jelly
- 250 g mascarpone
- 200 g fromage frais
- 1 tbs castar sugar
- 3 drops vanilla essence
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC325ºF/Gas mark 3
- Lightly grease two 20cm/8" loose-based cake tins
- Into a large mixing bowl, sift the flour and baking powder, holding the sieve high to give the flour a good airing. Then simply add all the other ingredients to the bowl, and whisk - preferably with an electric hand whisk - until thoroughly combined
- If the mixture doesn’t drop off a wooden spoon easily when tapped on the side of the bowl, add 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls of tap-warm water and whisk again
- Add equal amounts of the mixture to the 2 prepared tins, level off and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes
- When cooked leave in the tins for only about 30 seconds, then loosen their edges by sliding a palette knife all round and turning them out onto a wire cooling rack
- For the filling, combine the mascarpone and fromage frais in a bowl; a balloon whisk will amalgamate them more quickly
- Stir in the sugar and vanilla extract
- Spread 4 tablespoons of jam/jelly over one of the sponge sandwiched, do the same with the other Spread the cream mixture over one of the sandwiches then put the other one, jam side down, on top
- Press down carefully to sandwich everything together and finish off with a light dusting of icing or caster sugar
