Ingredients
- Four large eggs, fresh from the fridge
- 283g of white chocolate
- Two lemons, for juice and zest
Method
I began by preheating the oven to 160C and preparing a seven-inch round springform pan with grease and parchment paper.
The first step in the cake-making process was to separate the egg whites from the yolks. I placed the egg whites into a large mixing bowl and stored them in the fridge for later use.
Next, it was time to melt the chocolate in a large mixing bowl. Jennifer suggests using chocolate chips, but I found they took a bit longer to melt, so a bar of chocolate might be a better option.
You can melt the chocolate either in the microwave or over the hob using the double boiler method.
To melt the chocolate in a microwave (the method I opted for), pop the chocolate into a microwave-safe dish. Blast it on full power for one minute.
Give the chocolate a good stir with a spatula, then zap it again for another 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is fully melted and silky smooth.
If there are still lumps, continue to heat in 30-second bursts. In my case, using a 900-watt microwave, it took a total of two minutes and 30 seconds.
Next, allow the chocolate to cool slightly until it’s still molten and warm but not too hot to handle. At this stage, I whisked in the egg yolks, stirring with a spatula until they were completely blended into the mixture.
Then it was time to retrieve the egg whites from the fridge and whip them up until stiff peaks formed. I used a handheld whisk on its highest setting for this task, which took no more than three minutes.
The following step involved adding the whipped egg whites to the yellow mixture in three separate portions, folding in one-third at a time. I used a spatula to gently incorporate it into the yellow mixture until no traces of egg white remained.
The mixture should appear extremely light and airy. I concluded by gently mixing in the lemon juice and zest until just combined.
The final step was to pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for roughly 40 minutes. The top of the cake should be lightly browned, and it should feel like a thin, hard shell encasing your cake.
I allowed the cake to cool completely overnight in the tin before taking it out and giving it a dusting of icing sugar. Expect the cake to rise significantly at first, but it will settle down as it cools off.
It’s often mentioned that the cake develops a “firmer crumb” if left to rest overnight; however, my experience was that it retained a “custard-like” consistency into the next day. Regardless, this lemony treat boasted a delightful tangy taste and maintained its structure impressively, especially given that it’s made without any flour.