Having cooked an Italian meal which required lots of egg yolks, I was wondering how to put the whites to good use without resorting to meringues. After a bit of research out came this recipe for a simple yet light and tasty cake.

Makes: 1 moderate sized cake (12 – 15 slices)

Time: About 60 – 70 minutes to make and bake the cakes. 20 minutes to make the filling. 15 minutes to assemble

Level: Easy

Need: 2 x 8”/20cm loose bottomed round baking tins. An electric mixer would be useful but not essential if you’re good at whisking by hand and want the exercise. A small crank-handled spatula will be very useful when filling the cake. Likewise, a piping bag fitted with a large plain nozzle.

Ingredients

300g plain flour
2½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
175g unsalted butter or baking spread
350g white caster sugar
5 egg whites
125g sour cream (or quark or crème fraîche)
2 tsp vanilla extract
240ml milk (full fat if you have it)

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C / fan 180°C / 400°F / Gas 6. Grease the tins and line the bottom with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

4. Add the egg whites and beat on high speed until combined. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract, and beat on medium-high speed until combined.

5. Add the dry ingredients and then, with the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour in the milk and beat just until combined. Don’t over mix. Make sure there are no lumps at the bottom of the bowl. The batter will be slightly thick. Pour the batter evenly into the prepared tins.

6. Bake for 27–32 minutes. Test by inserting a cocktail stick. It should come out dry. Leave the cakes in the tins for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

White chocolate buttercream ingredients

100g white chocolate
100g unsalted butter, softened
150g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
100g cream cheese (or mascarpone)

Method

1. Melt the white chocolate in a medium bowl over a bain marie on a low heat. Just before it all melts, take it off the heat and stir until there are no lumps, then set aside. It has to be cool, but still runny when used later.

2. Beat the butter then sieve in the icing sugar. Stir gently at first then add the vanilla extract and whisk more vigorously.

3. Beat in the cream cheese or mascarpone.

4. Stream in the cooled white chocolate, while whisking on a low speed or stirring.

5. Place in the fridge for a while to thicken up before using.

To fill and complete the cake, place one cake on a turntable (or your work surface) and pipe on the thickened and chilled filling. Pipe a ring or “dam” around the outer edge then fill it in and smooth it level before adding the second cake. Dust the top surface with icing sugar before serving. Or you could increase the amount of filling and spread a layer on top. (Actually, the above ingredients will give quite a thick layer, so you could just go for that amount, shared between filling and topping.)

I hope you enjoy this lovely cake. If you want more cake recipes click this link, or have a look at my site for lots of other great recipes, both sweet and savoury. Below are a few that I’d love you to try:

Cherry, Almond & Chocolate Cake