Women’s Whim – Traditional Hungarian Cake
Traditional Hungarian Dessert
I baked a gluten free version of traditional Women’s Whim (Nöi Szeszély in Hungarian). Some Hungarians will be outraged, because gluten free version is not traditional. Maybe they are right, but it is healthy and delicious. And my version is a great option for people with gluten intolerance or allergy to enjoy this really nice cake. I follow the traditional method, make 3 layers. Batter, jam and whisked egg whites are built up to each other. I recommend it to everyone. You will see that it is very delicious beyond any discussion.
Women’s Whim is a traditional Hungarian cake. I learned it from my grandmother, she made it many times. It was the part of Sunday’s lunch. These days it has become a bit of a forgotten cake with no reasons. It is pretty and very delicious. I don’t know why it is called Women’s Whim. I could not find the story of it and I did not ask my grandma when I was little girl. Tell me please, if you know that, I would appreciate your feedback.
The Whisked Egg Whites is The Secret of This Cake
We need stiff peaks for making of this cake. A stiff peak will be firm and stand straight up without bending at the tip. This means also the foam will not fall down when you turned the bowl upside down.
Pay close attention to these tips:
1. Use fresh eggs. Fresh egg whites will whip up quicker and be more stable than whites from older eggs.
2. It is easiest to whip up egg whites when they are at room temperature.
3. Be very careful when you separate the eggs. Any yolk makes difficult or impossible to whisk. The foam will be not fluffy enough.
4. Use absolutely clean whisker and bowl. Any fat and oil obstruct to make a perfect foam, too.
5. Never remove this cake from the oven immediately after the baking, because the foam will collapse. Switch off the oven and leave the cake in the owen for 20 more minutes.
6. Let the cake cool before slicing and use a very sharp knife.
It is possible your egg whites will be not perfect for the first time, but never give up. Believe me, it worth to try again.
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Women’s Whim – Traditional Hungarian Cake
Equipment
- Electric whisker
Ingredients
For the batter
- 6 eggs medium
- 6 tbsp coconut flour
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- ½ lemon juice
- 1 pinch salt
- 240 gram apricot jam paleo
For the egg whites foam
- 6 egg whites
- 80 gram xylithol or erythritol powder
- 4 tbsp almond flakes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 °C and line a 23 cm x 23 cm cake tin with parchment paper.
- Make the batter. Separate egg whites from yolks.
- Whisk egg whites with 1 pinch of salt by hand or electric whisker in a very clean bowl, until it gets firm, i.e. consistency is similar to whipped cream and is thick and glossy.
- Whisk egg yolks, honey and 1 pinch of salt with whisker until it is foamy, its volume is doubled, and its color is light yellow.
- Add whisked egg whites and baking soda to egg yolks mixture and mix very carefully. Do not break the egg whites!
- Add coconut flour to the mixture spoon by spoon and mix it very gently.
- Pour lemon juice and lemon zest into the batter and mix it carefully.
- Pour the batter into the lined cake tin and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove the batter from the oven, smear it thinly with apricot jam.
- Meanwhile make the egg whites foam. Whisk the egg whites with electric whisker. We need stiff peaks for making of this cake. Add xylitol (or erythritol) powder to the mixture spoon by spoon and mix it very gently. A stiff peak will be firm and stand straight up without bending at the tip.
- Cover the batter with the whisked egg whites and sprinkle with almond flakes.
- Put it back to the oven and bake for 10 more minutes, until the egg foam gets a golden color. Do not remove from the oven immediately, because the foam will collapse. Switch off the oven and leave the cake there for 20 more minutes.
- Wait until it cools down, then slice with a very sharp knife and serve. Enjoy!