Even in sunny California we get winter. The air has started getting cold in the morning, and in my backyard most of the leaves are down. There are no more tomatoes or eggplants, but the rosemary and jasmine never stop growing and are now as green as they get.
My backyard has two different kinds of rosemary. They are so vigorous that I need to trim them constantly, otherwise my entire tiny backyard would be buried under rosemary.
Winter means more baking to enjoy, particularly now during the holidays. It makes the house warm and smell sweet. Where I grew up, winter was much colder than here (except for time in Hawaii), so it was a big joy when I was home from school. My sisters were busy baking all kinds of sweets, and I was very busy eating everything just out of the oven.
This Savoie Cake is my oldest sister’s favorite. It is very light, because no butter is used. The main ingredients are fresh eggs and sugar, a relatively small amount of flour, and vanilla.
Normally we served it with just a dusting of confectioners’ sugar, but occasionally with some fruit jam or compote as well. It is perfect for afternoon tea, but I enjoy it anytime.
I am an amateur baker, so I love easy recipes like this one, which has always come out great. I often add lemon or orange zest, and I cannot resist adding a small amount of rum or a liqueur or brandy (e.g., kirsch, Grand Marnier, Calvados) – it makes the entire house smell so good and puts you in a holiday mood instantly!
- 6 large eggs, separated, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) white sugar, plus extra for dusting the pan
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 ¼ cups (170 g) all-purpose flour or cake flour
- ¼ cup honey (optional)
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest and juice of a half lemon (optional)
- Confectioners’ sugar for dusting the cake
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a Bundt or other tube pan with a capacity of 8 cups (2 qt.). Dust with flour and sugar and tap out the excess.
- Put the egg whites in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or a large bowl, with a hand mixer. Put the yolks in a large bowl. Add the sugar to the yolks and immediately start beating with a whisk. Beat until the mixture is pale and so thick that when you lift the whisk (or beaters), it falls back on itself in a slowly dissolving ribbon. Beat in the vanilla.
- Add the salt to the egg whites and whip until they hold firm, glossy peaks. Scoop about 2 tablespoons of the whites, put them on top of the yolks, and using a flexible spatula stir them in to thin the yolks a little (you may add 2 tablespoons of water also if you wish). Pour the flour over the yolks and fold it in. The mixture, which will be thick, should be well blended. Add another 2 tablespoons or so of whites and once again stir them in to lighten the mixture. Finally, scrape all the remaining whites into the bowl and gently fold them in with the spatula. It’s better to have a few streaks of whites in the batter than to overmix, which would deflate the whites.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and place the pan onto a baking sheet. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, or until a bamboo skewer inserted deep into the center of it comes out dry. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake sit for 5 minutes, then use a table knife to pry the cake away from the sides of the pan if necessary. Turn the cake over onto a rack and cool.
- Just before serving, dust the cake with confectioners’ sugar.
- This cake when plain is so good with a cup of tea or coffee. It’s also good to serve with fruit compote, jam, etc. Store-bought jam is often too sweet, so I like to make jam at home. It is super easy: Place about 8 ounces (220 g) fruit (e.g., fresh or frozen berries) and ½ cup (110 g) granulated sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium-low heat about 20 minutes or until the liquid is mostly evaporated and the fruit is thickened. I often add a couple tablespoons of rum or a liqueur such as kirsch (cherry), Chambord (raspberry), Grand Marnier (orange), Calvados (apple), etc. depending on the fruit used in the compote or jam.
