Viennese base / sponge cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 egg(s), separated
• 25 g sugar
• 25 g flour, very well sieved (2 – 3 times)
• 1 pinch of salt
• n. B. Spice(s) (e.g. cocoa, lemon peel, vanilla)

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 20 minutes

Basic recipe for 1 egg

Beat the egg whites with 2/3 sugar and 1 pinch of salt until not very stiff (when you pull the whisk out of the egg whites, the peaks should still fall over, better a little less). Beat the egg yolks, 1/3 sugar, and the spices until creamy. Lightly mix with the egg whites (do not mix until smooth, or the egg whites will collapse again), then lightly stir the flour into the mixture with a wooden spoon or whisk. Do not mix too vigorously, or the mixture will not be fluffy enough. It is not necessary to incorporate the flour completely; the important thing is that no lumps form. You should still be able to see the flour, it’s okay. Pour into a springform pan lined with baking paper (do not grease the pan under any circumstances, or the mixture will collapse) or onto a baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (top/bottom heat) until golden brown (test with a skewer). For a fruit cake, you need 3 eggs, for a sheet cake, 4, for a 26 cm diameter cake, 6, and for a 28 cm diameter cake, 7-8. The quantities are then calculated accordingly. Only the pinch of salt remains 1 pinch. This recipe does not use baking powder; if you make sure the mixture is nice and fluffy, as I described above, it won’t be needed. It’s also important that the flour is thoroughly sifted, as this will further loosen the mixture.