Let's Bake a Delightful Portuguese-Style Egg White Cake

Bored of the same old recipes? Let's try something new today. We invite you into the kitchen to make a delightful Portuguese-style egg white cake that you can easily make yourself.

Today we're introducing a Portuguese dessert that may have been created to use up leftover egg whites in the kitchen: molotof, also called egg white custard (some call it egg white pudding). It's baked rather like a flan but at a higher heat to help the egg whites puff up, and served with caramel and chilled vanilla sauce to balance the sweetness. We guarantee you'll be hooked. If you have leftover egg whites and don't know what to do with them, try this Portuguese-style egg white cake. It's delicious, stylish and unique. Ready? Let's start cooking.

Ingredients

For the Egg White Cake

• 120 g egg whites
• 65 g sugar
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce
• Unsalted butter, for greasing the mould
• Toasted hazelnuts, for sprinkling
• Equipment: 7-inch diameter pudding mould

For the Caramel Sauce

• 200 g sugar
• 6 tbsp water

For the Caramel Custard Sauce

• 3 egg yolks
• 20 g sugar
• 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 2 tbsp caramel sauce

Method

1. Make the caramel sauce: put the sugar and 3 tablespoons of water in a pot over medium heat and wait until the sugar caramelises. Add the remaining water, stir to combine, turn off the heat and pour into a cup. Leave to cool completely.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter the inside of the pudding mould well.
3. Whisk the egg whites with the sugar until almost stiff peaks, then gradually add 1/4 cup of caramel sauce and whisk to combine. Spoon the meringue into the buttered mould and smooth the top. Place in a baking tray and pour hot water around the mould to about 1 cm deep. Bake for about 15 minutes, then turn off the oven, open the door slightly to let the steam escape, and leave in the oven for another 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the caramel custard sauce: whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale. Heat the whipping cream and caramel sauce together in a pot. When hot, turn off the heat, pour the cream into the yolks and stir well, then return to the pot and cook until thickened. Turn off the heat and strain through a sieve so the sauce is smooth, then refrigerate in the main compartment.
5. To serve, turn the egg white cake out of the mould onto a plate and drizzle the top with the remaining caramel (skip this if you don't like it too sweet). Sprinkle with hazelnuts, cut into pieces and serve warm with the caramel custard sauce. Or decorate however you like.

So what do you think of this Portuguese-style egg white cake? We're sure it will delight you.