Plumcake with Leftover Egg Whites

The egg white plumcake is an excellent idea to use up leftover egg whites from other preparations. Let’s see how to make a simple and tasty one, and then I’ll suggest a small “Italianization” of the recipe to give it an extra touch.

Ingredients

• 150 g of egg whites (about 5 medium egg whites)
• 150 g of sugar
• 100 g of cooled melted butter (or seed oil for a lighter version)
• 200 g of type 00 flour
• 1 sachet of baking powder
• Grated zest of 1 lemon (or orange)
• A pinch of salt
• Flavoring of choice: vanilla, almond, etc. (optional)
• Nuts, chocolate chips or candied fruit to enrich (optional)

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 170 °C and line a plumcake mold with parchment paper or butter and flour it.
2. Whip the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they are very firm.
3. Add the sugar a little at a time, continuing to whip, until you obtain a swollen and foamy mixture.
4. Gently fold in the cooled melted butter, being careful not to deflate the mixture.
5. Add the grated zest of lemon or orange and the chosen flavoring.
6. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then gradually add them to the mixture, stirring with a spatula with movements from the bottom up so as not to deflate the mixture.
7. If you want to enrich the plumcake, you can add nuts, chocolate chips or candied fruit, stirring gently to distribute the ingredients evenly.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared mold and bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center of the plumcake comes out clean.
9. Let the plumcake cool in the mold for a few minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely.

Italian Variants: To “Italianize” the plumcake you could add limoncello or another Italian liqueur for flavoring. Also, you could incorporate into the batter finely chopped toasted almonds or typical Italian fruit such as cubes of pear or apple.

Curiosity

The plumcake, whose name comes from the English “plum cake”, traditionally included the use of plums (plums) or dried fruit. Today the term is used to indicate various types of sweets baked in a plumcake mold, regardless of the presence or absence of plums.