If you happen to’ve ever made an angel meals cake, you’ve most likely been left with a dozen or so egg yolks and located your self questioning what to do with them. Sadly, separated egg yolks solely final for 2 days within the fridge—about half the shelf lifetime of egg whites—so it’s crucial to make use of them up rapidly. Positive, you might whip up a batch of aioli, fruit curd, custard ice cream base, or a bunch of different yolk-heavy recipes. However for my cash, I’d slightly mix these yolks right into a second, brilliant yellow batter that will get swirled into the angel meals meringue, leading to some of the lovely truffles you’ve ever seen.

The extra vibrant sister of basic angel meals cake, daffodil cake is aptly named for its two-toned look that mimics the hue of daffodil flowers. Daffodil cake was purportedly invented by housewives in 1930, and as with many Melancholy-era recipes, it makes intelligent use of components, leaving nothing to waste. It was popularized by numerous cookbooks within the Nineteen Thirties and Nineteen Forties, equivalent to My Higher Properties and Gardens Prepare dinner E-book and Girl’s Dwelling Companion Prepare dinner E-book, and it remained a baking staple effectively into the Nineteen Sixties, exhibiting up in neighborhood books together with 4-H’s Nineteen Sixties-era cookbook, What’s Cooking? In Massachusetts.

Historically made within the springtime throughout the Easter season, daffodil cake calls for 2 batters: a light-weight, brilliant white batter typical of angel meals cake; and a second batter with the richness, shade, fats, and taste from the yolks. By itself, angel meals cake is a structural feat, counting on fatless meringue to defy gravity, making a tall and fluffy cake with an impossibly delicate texture. On this recipe, nevertheless, you’ll gently layer the meringue and the yolk batter, giving it the loft of angel meals cake whereas creating an elegantly marbled yellow-and-white crumb. 

Daffodil cake has a brief ingredient checklist and is straightforward to organize, however following a number of suggestions will guarantee success. First, don’t skip the sifting step—this cake has an extremely gentle batter, and sifting your flour will make all of the distinction within the closing product. Sifting ensures that there aren’t any lumps from the flour, and extra importantly, it aerates the cake batter, serving to to supply a light-weight and fluffy texture. 

Separate your eggs whereas they’re chilly, then allow them to get to room temp.

Photograph & Styling by Joseph De Leo