CookEat Recipe
Bouchees Italienne
Small rum-flavoured sponge cakes topped with vanilla meringue domes and a light dusting of icing sugar.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Heat a conventional oven to 350°F. Lightly butter six round tartlet moulds. Choose moulds that will hold all the cake mixture evenly with room for it to rise.
Step 2
Separate four ordinary raw eggs. Put the four yolks in a bowl with the two ounces of sugar and whisk sharply for five minutes, until pale and thick.
Step 3
In a clean, grease-free bowl, beat the same four whites to a stiff froth. Gently fold them into the yolks with the one and a half ounces of sifted flour and the teaspoon of rum, using a skimmer until evenly combined.
Step 4
Divide all the mixture evenly among the six moulds. Bake for about fifteen minutes as a guide, until risen, golden and set, a skewer comes out without wet batter and the centre of each cake reaches at least 74°C.
Step 5
Remove from the oven, let rest for five minutes and carefully unmould the six cakes onto a baking sheet.
Step 6
Raise the oven to 475°F. Separate three more ordinary raw eggs and reserve their yolks for another use. Beat all three whites to a stiff froth in a clean, grease-free bowl, then gently incorporate one tablespoon of icing sugar and four drops of ready-to-use pure vanilla extract.
Step 7
Divide all this topping evenly over the six cakes and shape it into domes. Sprinkle a little additional icing sugar over them. Put the sheet in the hot oven and check after about two minutes, continuing as needed until the domes are lightly golden and set and the centre of each egg-white topping reaches at least 74°C. Check the topping itself, rather than the cake beneath.
Step 8
Transfer to a serving dish lined with a folded napkin and serve promptly. Keep any cakes that must wait refrigerated at 4°C or colder.
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