Two-Egg Cake with Seven-Minute Frosting
Submitted by Chez
Two-egg layer cake with seven-minute frosting: a classic butter-and-milk yellow cake paired with the legendary cloud-like boiled egg-white frosting. Retro Americana baking at its finest.
YIELD
1 cakePREP
25 minCOOK
35 minREADY
1 hrsThis is 1950s American home baking distilled to its essence: a simple two-egg butter cake baked in layers and slathered with seven-minute frosting, the airy, marshmallow-like cooked meringue icing that defined mid-century celebration cakes.
The cake itself is the basic white-cake template every American home baker once knew by heart. Butter and sugar creamed until fluffy, eggs added one at a time, flour and milk added alternately to prevent the batter from breaking. Vanilla finishes it. It’s uncomplicated and reliable and absolutely not impressive-looking, but the frosting makes up for it.
Seven-minute frosting is kitchen magic. Egg white, sugar, water, corn syrup, and salt beat together over a double boiler of boiling water for seven minutes, transforming into a glossy, fluffy cloud that holds its shape like soft-serve ice cream. A splash of vanilla finishes it, and it spreads beautifully, picks up swoops and peaks, and sets with a slightly crisp skin over soft interior.
Serve the same day. Seven-minute frosting weeps slightly after 24 hours and loses its ethereal quality.
Pro Tips
- Cream butter and sugar the full 5 minutes on medium-high; this creates the cake’s structure.
- Line pans with paper (parchment rounds) for clean release. Buttered-and-floured pans sometimes stick.
- For the frosting, keep beating without stopping for the full 7 minutes. Pausing deflates the foam.
- Frost only when the cake is completely cool. Warm cake melts the frosting.
Variations
- Tint the frosting with gel food coloring for birthday and party cakes.
- Toast shredded coconut and press onto the frosted cake for a coconut snowball look.
- Fill between layers with lemon curd, raspberry jam, or chocolate ganache.
Ingredients
Directions
Cream butter until smooth.
Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Stir in vanilla. Put batter into two greased 8-inch layer pans lined with paper.
Bake at 375℉ (190℃) F for 20 to 25 minutes.
Frost with Seven-Minute Frosting.
For the frosting, heat water to boiling in the lower part of double boiler.
Water in lower part should surround upper part.
Place water, egg white, syrup, sugar and salt in upper part of Beat the mixture with a rotary egg beater or electric beater, rapidly at first, then steadily and continuously for about 7 minutes. Keep water boiling in lower part of double boiler during the beating. Remove from heat, pour out hot water and fill with cold water, and replace upper part of double boiler. Allow mixture to stand for 5 minutes. Add vanilla and stir.
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