Egg Whites Cake

"Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake."

~ Unknown

On Easter Sunday it was my duty to make the desserts for the family get-together.  I made lemon mousse and  a double size key lime pie, both of which called for many egg yolks, resulting a glut of leftover egg whites.   

Now, previously if I had leftover egg whites I would feed a couple to the dogs and huck the rest.  These days I'm trying very hard not to waste anything, so I was determined to use them up.  Now, I've heard people freeze egg whites, but I was skeptical, so I stumbled upon this post by David Lebovitz on ways to use up extra egg whites.  His post led me to this Estonian recipe for munavalgekook (egg white cake) which I adapted for my use and was surprised at how easy and DELICIOUS it was.

So easy and it has a nice moist crumb.  Perfect for a dollop of lemon mousse and some fresh strawberries.

Angel food cake is great, but a pain to make, and I wasn't in the mood after making two other desserts.  This cake whipped up easily and complimented the others nicely.  I'll make it again to have with berries or sliced peaches and whipped cream.  It makes great tea and coffee cake too.  A new go-to recipe for the archives, and no more wasted egg whites.

Egg Whites Cake (adapted from recipe posted on nami-nami)

6 large egg whites

1 1/3 cups sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 stick of butter (1/2 cup) melted

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk the egg whites with vanilla and 2 tablespoons of sugar until thick and pale and very foamy. Mix the rest of the sugar with flour, cornstarch, salt and baking powder, then sift into the egg mixture and fold in gently.
Finally fold in cool melted butter.
Pour the batter into a buttered bundt-form and bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. Test for doneness with a wooden toothpick.
Cool slightly before turning out of the cake tin.