All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [40]
Spanish Meringue Cake serves about 12 people.
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YOU’LL NEED
A 9-inch springform pan
The whisk attachment for your mixer
FOR THE CAKE
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups light brown sugar
2¼ cups cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 large egg
3 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, chopped
FOR THE MERINGUE
3 large egg whites (see Tips)
⅛ teaspoon cream of tartar
¾ cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Tips: You’re making meringue, which means you’re whipping the living bejesus out of egg whites. It is crucial to your operations that your eggs be ROOM TEMPERATURE and that your whisk and mixing bowl be clean and perfectly dry.
Notice you need 3 egg yolks for the cake and 3 egg whites for the meringue. So you’ll need to separate 3 eggs. Use 3 bowls and your clean, dry hands (see instructions on page 81) OR a fancy-pants egg separator to do this.
1. Because of the meringue topping, your usual “center a rack” does not apply. You’ll want to position the rack in the lower third of your oven and preheat to 325 degrees F.
TO MAKE THE CAKE
2. Prepare your springform pan. You’ll want to use a springform because it’s easier to “unmold” the cake without messing up the meringue topping.
3. In a small bowl, stir the baking soda into the buttermilk and set aside.
4. In your mixer, using your regular paddle or beaters, cream the butter on medium speed, then gradually add the brown sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, mixing well. This should take 6 to 8 minutes. Don’t forget to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.
6. Return to your fully creamed mixture and add the whole egg. Beat for 1 minute at medium speed. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, at 30-second intervals. Scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat for 1 minute before beating in the vanilla extract.
7. Reduce the mixer speed to low, and add a third of the flour mixture and half of the buttermilk and baking soda combo alternately, mixing until just incorporated. Repeat until all the flour mixture and buttermilk combo are just blended into the batter. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for 10 seconds more.
8. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the surface with the back of a tablespoon. Sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the top and set aside.
TO MAKE THE MERINGUE
9. Replace the paddle with the whisk attachment.
Clean and dry your mixing bowl, OR use an extra bowl that works with your mixer.
10. Beat the egg whites on medium speed until frothy.
NEW TECHNIQUE
BEATING EGG WHITES (AND SOME EGG WHITE TERMINOLOGY)
Frothy means like the head on a nice, tall glass of Guinness beer. This is denser than the “frothy” you get when you blow air through a straw in a glass of milk. The mixture will have bubbles and will be cloudy instead of clear. This is when salt or cream of tartar is added.
The next stage of beaten egg whites, soft peak, is so named because a peak forms when you lift the whisk out of the whites, then gracefully sinks back into the rest of whites. Soft peak stage is denser than “frothy” and it’s the stage when sugar is usually added.
At the firm peak stage, that same “lift the whisk” maneuver leaves behind firm peaks that are well defined and don’t sink back down. All of the egg whites are shiny and moist looking. Stiff peak stage is a step beyond firm peak: the egg whites are very stiff and the meringue has gone beyond shiny to glossy. This stage happens when sugar has been added to the firm peak stage.
Overbeating past this stage will take you to the “flaccid peak” stage, which means it’s time to dry your eyes, mend your heart, get new eggs, and start over.
That’s your little primer on egg whites.
11. Add the cream