ANGEL FOOD CAKE

WITH many recipes for baking and even cooking calling for only egg yolks, you could actually end up with a lot of egg whites on your hands.

For example, if you bake an average-size kueh lapis, you are left with 20 to 25 egg whites.

But there is no reason they should go to waste. If you are not using spare egg whites immediately, you can keep them in a freezer for about a month. Simply take them out to thaw for an hour or two before use.

As for what you can use them for, consider recycling them to make another delicious (and healthier) cake like the Angel Food Cake here.

Angel Food Cake, or Angel Cake as it is also called, is American in origin. It is so named because it is snowy-white and feathery-light in texture. Basically a fat-free sponge cake, its light airy structure is made of egg white whisked with sugar.

Mrs Celeste Chew of Cake My Day, a culinary studio in Grange Road, came up with her version of coating the cake with white chocolate to further enhance the flavour and added strawberries as a decorative touch.

Cake My Day is at 61-A, Grange Road, Block F, Kim Lin Mansions, tel: 6327-1181.

ANGEL FOOD CAKE

INGREDIENTS

250g castor sugar
100g Hong Kong flour (available in NTUC FairPrice and Cold Storage
supermarkets)
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
350g egg white (about 7 eggs)
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
White chocolate cream
50g white chocolate (melted over a hot water bath to avoid a grainy texture)
100g fresh cream
100g icing sugar
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp lime zest (grated lime skin)
For decoration
100g fresh strawberries/raspberries
Mint leaves

METHOD

1. Put castor sugar in a blender or chopper and process till fine. Divide into two parts of 125g each.
2. Sift flour three times and add in half of the processed sugar. Mix well using a spatula.
3. Add a pinch of salt and cream of tartar to egg whites and whisk at high speed.
4. When it turns foamy, add the remaining half (125g) of the processed castor sugar gradually. Whisk till firm and stiff.
5. Fold in flour and sugar into the egg white. Add vanilla essence.
6. Spoon mixture into an ungreased tube pan (which you use for making chiffon cakes) and smoothen the top using a spatula.
7. Bake at 160 deg C for 35 to 40 minutes till springy. Invert cake in pan and cool completely.
8. To decorate the cake, whisk the fresh cream and icing sugar for the white chocolate cream at high speed. Add in lime zest when the cream is beginning to firm. Add lime juice and continue whisking till mixture is stiff. Add in chocolate, mix well and coat all over the cake. Top with strawberries/raspberries and mint leaves.