1. Separate the eggs. The whites must go into a spotlessly clean bowl, with no trace of yolk. Eggs straight from the fridge whip best (whites at around 20°C give the greatest volume). A medium speed on the mixer gives a better result than a high one, and considerably more volume.
2. Whisk at medium speed until the whites foam. As air works in, the clear whites turn to coarse bubbles. At that point add the sugar in three or four stages, starting with a quarter of it. Tip it all in at once and whipping will take a very long time; adding it gradually gives the aerated whites more strength.
3. Add another quarter of the sugar and keep whisking at medium speed,
4. Add another quarter of the sugar and keep whisking at medium speed,
5. Add the last quarter of the sugar and keep whisking at medium speed,
By now the whites are getting finer,
firmer, and visibly glossy.
How far to whip the whites:
Different cakes want different stages. The whites firm up gradually into a fine, dense foam; the furthest you should go is stiff peaks. Beyond that they are over-whipped: past their limit they break into cotton-wool lumps, which are very hard to fold into the yolk batter. Worth watching for.
This is about nine-tenths whipped. Switch to a low speed and whisk a little longer to tighten the bubbles.
Note: for a softer crumb, whip the whites less — seven or eight tenths is fine. Much less than that and the batter tends to sink.
For the topping:
Fresh Thai basil leaves, shredded, 3 g, and Cheng Chi fried shallots 10 g, scattered over the tray. Mine is 30 × 42 cm.
For the sponge:
Eggs 8, sugar 170 g, olive oil 75 g, milk 75 g, cake flour 107 g, cornflour 21 g
Salt 0.5 g
Method:
1. Separate the eggs.
2. Mix the milk, oil and a quarter of the sugar and warm over a bain-marie to 60°C, then fold in the sifted cake flour and cornflour. Finally stir in the yolks and set aside.
3. Whisk the whites, adding the sugar in stages, to soft peaks.
4. Fold a little of the meringue into the batter first, then add the rest and fold gently with a spatula until completely even.
5. Line the tray with baking paper, scatter over the fried shallots, pour in the batter and level it. Bake at 170°C top heat and 130°C bottom heat for 20 minutes.
From here, follow the photographs.
Cool on a rack.
Cut the sheet of sponge in half, spread with shallot salad filling and sandwich it together. Cut into small pieces, invert and peel off the paper, and there is your basil and shallot cake.
For the original method, see:
Shallot salad filling
Shallot salad savoury cake