I have been thinking about this cake for quite a long time already. It was introduced to me some 25 years ago by our cake teacher. After making kueh lapis, we would have lots of egg whites left as the kueh lapis uses a lot of egg yolks.

Instead of throwing them out or making endless egg white omelettes, we make this cake. When we were in the baking class, our teachers decorated it with fresh cream. It was covered with fresh cream and then an African lady’s face was drawn on the cake.

I lost all my recipes recently as my file was missing from the shelf it was always on. I have no clue what happened. As a result, I have to just recall all the recipes I used to have and recreate them one by one after doing some research. This is one of them.

This cake calls for ovalette, a stabilizing agent that is used commercially in sponge cakes. It makes the cake velvety moist and soft. I reckon it is not very healthy. Yet without it, this cake cannot be done at all. I have tried many other ways and means, but it won’t hold up. In the end, I resort to using just 1/3 of the recommended amount, to good success.

So here’s the Fly African cake. Be surprised how wonderful a cake made with egg white can be so flavourful and tasty.

Fly African Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Ingredients A

5 egg whites cold
1 egg yolk cold
1/2 tsp ovalette
100 g self-raising flour
25 g corn flour
100 g caster sugar

Ingredients B

100 g butter burnt brown on the stove
1 Tbsp condensed milk
A pinch of salt

Ingredients C

1/2 tsp butter oil essence
1 Tbsp Coffee powder dissolved in a Tbsp of hot water
2 Tbsp Cocoa powder dissolved in a Tbsp of hot water

Topping

2 Tbsp slivered or sliced almonds

Instructions

Preheat oven at 180C, line a 6" round cake tin with parchment paper.
Put ingredients A in an electric mixer on a very high speed for 8-10 minutes. The mixture will turn white.
Melt the butter and burn it slightly to golden brown. Dissolve condensed milk and salt in it.
Combine ingredients A and B.
Divide the batter into 2, one for the brown parts (1/3) and one for the white part (2/3).
For the brown part, add the coffee and chocolate pastes.
For the white part, add the butter oil essence.
Put a ladle of the white batter into the middle of the pan.
On it, pour 1/2 ladle of brown batter into the middle of the pan, on top of the white layer.
Repeat this layering, always on top of the last pour, until everything is used up.
Sprinkle almonds on top.
Bake for 45-60 minutes. If you don't want the cake to crack, try lowering the temperature to 150C towards for the last 30 minutes of baking.

Variation

If you want a more mocha-y cake, switch the brown to 2/3 and white to 1/3, and double the coffee and chocolate pastes.

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Long before the coffee pours, bakers have already been doing this to our cakes. I just do this for fun today.

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Too little almonds, my kids say, so I will add a lot more in future. the cake crack more easily with more almonds, but for the sake of a nicer tasting cake… Maybe I will tent it to prevent the surface from drying out.