Daffodil Cake

Daffodil cake is named for its bright white and sunny yellow interior, reminiscent of the perennial flowers that mark the coming of spring. This cake is cloud-like, essentially a combination of angel food cake and a rich sponge cake. Where angel food cakes would generally have you discard all the egg yolks, this Depression-era cake uses half of them to make a sunny yellow stripe. Instead of the often-used cake flour (which is finer, lighter, and bleached), all-purpose flour is used here as it’s more commonly found in the pantry. The addition of cornstarch and the nearly excessive sifting encourage the lightening of the batter that you’d otherwise get by using cake flour.

A few tips before you begin: Make sure your angel food cake pan or tube pan is uncoated (do not use a nonstick or coated pan) as it ensures this style of cake rises properly. If your cake pan doesn’t have a removable bottom, you may encounter some difficulty unmolding it; to combat this, line the bottom with a ring of parchment paper (but don’t grease it!). If after cooling the cake completely and running an offset spatula around both the outer and inner edges of the pan you’re still encountering difficulty unmolding, transfer the cake to the freezer for about one hour—this should shrink the cake just a bit and encourage it to pop out. 

Cold eggs will separate more easily, so separate your eggs in advance and hold them at room temp for at least one hour before you intend to bake—keep them covered since egg yolks can develop a little bit of a skin. 

If you have a stand mixer and a hand mixer, now is a great time to employ the use of both. Please note that it’s really easy to overwhip egg whites when making a delicate meringue, so it’s better to take things a little softer to a medium-stiff peak as continued folding is an extension of the mixing process. 

Once you’re ready to incorporate the flour into the delicate meringue base, try to use your whisk like a spatula, making wide sweeping, folding motions to avoid overmixing. The whisk cuts through your batter, incorporating the flour at more points than with a spatula.