"Vozdushnoe" is a light cake for tea at home.
These airy cakes are perfect for both a home tea party and a festive table. They're a delicious and beautiful dessert that's incredibly easy to make. They come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors. To ensure a truly light and tender airy cake, you must strictly follow all the recipe instructions, which we're happy to share with you, revealing all the secrets and subtleties.
Ingredients
Speaking of ingredients for cakes, it's worth noting that meringue is a somewhat finicky substance, so the ingredients for such cakes must be high-quality and fresh. More precisely, an ingredient, as meringue is made simply from sugar and egg whites. And that's the egg whites we're talking about. Specifically, chicken eggs. There are no special requirements for them, except for one thing: they must be fresh.
So, in order to prepare an airy cake, we will need:
- Egg whites – 90 grams (approximately 4-5 eggs);
- Sugar – 200 grams;
- Vanilla sugar – 1 teaspoon.
Let's get started. And the first secret of our recipe: remember, under no circumstances should any yolk get into the whites. Not a drop. We've separated the whites. Place them in a mixer bowl or just a bowl and begin whisking. Beat for about five minutes on high speed. The whites should form a white, fluffy, and dense foam.
Then, gradually add sugar to the egg white foam. Whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved. If you want your meringue to have a vanilla flavor, add vanilla sugar along with the sugar.
After beating repeatedly, your egg whites and sugar should form a very dense and thick mass. It should be stable: if you scoop it up with a spoon and then turn it over, it shouldn't spread or fall—that is, it should hold its shape completely.
Next, take a baking sheet and line it with parchment paper or foil. Carefully place the resulting meringue cream into a pastry bag and pipe peaks. The exact tip you use is a personal choice, depending on the size and shape of your desired cakes.
Now a few words about oven temperature. And this is the second subtlety of the recipe. Let it be known that the meringue shouldn't even be baked in the oven; rather, it should be dried. Therefore, the temperature shouldn't exceed 100 degrees Celsius. We keep our meringues in the oven for about an hour. Vary the time depending on the size: longer for larger ones, shorter for smaller ones.
We remove the finished meringues from the oven, lay them out on a flat surface, and let them cool. While they're cooling, let's prepare the second, delicious and important ingredient for our cakes. Our dessert will be ready to serve very soon.
Cream
For a delicate cream we will need the following products:
- Butter – 120 grams;
- Chicken egg – 1 piece;
- Milk – 70 ml;
- Sugar – 100 grams;
- Vanilla sugar - packet;
- Food coloring – optional.
Pour the milk into a container large enough to whisk comfortably. Add the egg and beat well, even using a mixer. Next, strain the mixture into a heatproof bowl or small saucepan. Add the sugar, stir, and set over very low heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and then simmer. It shouldn't take long—5-7 minutes. This is enough time for the syrup to thicken. Then remove it from the heat and set it somewhere where it will cool quickly.
Beat the butter thoroughly with the vanilla sugar. Then add the cooled syrup, one spoon at a time, and beat until smooth. The result is a soft cream. Next, we can make the cream more playful: divide it into several portions and add different food coloring to each.
Next, we form the "Air" meringue cake with cream: using a pastry bag, pipe cream onto the bottom of one meringue, then attach the second one on top. Keep in mind that these cakes are very fragile and easily broken, so do this very carefully.
That's it: this exquisite dessert is ready. No need to wait for it to soak. Enjoy it right away. We wish you success with this recipe and bon appétit!
