This easy cake is made with just 3 simple ingredients. It doesn’t contain any butter, oil or milk and doesn’t even need baking powder or baking soda. The cake comes out very light and airy and has a delicate sweet crackly surface. It is great for dessert or afternoon tea.
Yes, this cake really is just 3 ingredients. And none of those ingredients are cake mix or an ingredient that contains several ingredients. The cake comes is simple, delicate, and delicious.
INGREDIENTS
- Eggs
- Sugar
- All-Purpose Flour
Eggs: There is no substitute for eggs in this recipe. The eggs are the key to creating the cake structure and letting the cake rise since there is no leavening agent. The eggs do not need to be separated for this recipe and you don’t need to create a meringue. Instead, the eggs are beaten vigorously with the sugar until the mixture becomes very thick.
Sugar: This recipe is made with granulated white sugar though you may be able to substitute with other granular sugars. I’ve made a similar cake using brown sugar.
MAKING 3 INGREDIENT CAKE
There are only really two main steps in making this simple cake.
First, the eggs and sugar are beaten together with an electric mixer for about eight minutes. During this time, the mixture will turn from frothy to thick and creamy. You will also notice the egg mixture change color from yellow to a very pale (almost white) yellow.
Then you gently fold in the flour. I recommend using a mesh strainer to add in the flour. While the recipe doesn’t require you to use sifted flour, you don’t want overmix your batter. Flour tends to clump up and if you just add in the flour as is, you might mix too hard to get all of the flour incorporated, which can cause too much of the air to deflate from the egg mixture. Running the flour through a mesh strainer or a flour sifter will let the flour fall in more gently and make it much easier to quickly incorporate the flour. If you don’t own a strainer or sifter, you can also sprinkle the flour in with your hands, breaking up any flour clumps between your fingers.
CAKE TEXTURE
The inside of the cake is very light and airy. It’s similar to a sponge cake though not as soft and squishy. The surface of the cake is a delicate shell that breaks as you slice open the cake, creating sweet crackly pieces. You do have to cut very carefully to avoid the shell cracking in too many pieces.
The cake can be served with a dusting of powdered sugar. You can also decorate and serve it with fresh fruit like strawberries.
INGREDIENTS
- 3 large eggs brought to room temperature
- 1 cup (195 g) granulated white sugar
- 1 cup (128 g) all purpose flour
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease the interior of an 8 inch springform pan and then line it with parchment paper. (I used a round parchment paper for the bottom and then cut two strips to line the sides.)
- In a large mixing bowl, add eggs and sugar. Beat on highest speed with wire whisk for about 8 minutes or until mixture becomes very thick and turns a very pale (almost white) yellow. This can be done with a hand mixer or stand mixer. I used a stand mixer.
- Use a mesh strainer or flour sifter to sift in 1/3 of the flour. If you do not have a mesh strainer or sifter, you can use your hands to sprinkle the flour in. The goal is to break up the flour clumps when the flour is added so that it is easy to fold the flour into the egg mixture without deflating too much air from the egg mixture. Use a spatula to fold the flour into the egg mixture. Repeat with another 1/3 of the flour and then the final 1/3.
- Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. The surface of the cake should be light brown and be a solid shell/crust over the cake. A toothpick inserted should come out clean (be careful when inserting the toothpick as you don’t want to break the shell too much. It is very delicate and will crack easily).
- Let cake cool completely before removing. Decorate with powdered sugar and/or fresh fruit like strawberries.