Mallorcan coca de cuarto

Today I bring you one of those traditional recipes –gluten-free– that never fail: coca de cuarto mallorquina; this sponge cake with only 3 ingredients (eggs, sugar and potato starch) will delight anyone, from the oldest to the youngest in the house. Now, when we need very simple recipes, without many ingredients, and without the missing baking powder, this cloud cake –as I call it– will become your perfect ally.

This “cloud” texture is given by the potato starch. This starch/amylopectin is a natural thickener used almost the same way as corn starch (cornflour), in fact if for some reason you can’t find potato starch, cornflour can serve as a substitute; it won’t be exactly the same, since potato starch gives greater fluffiness but it can be a good alternative until you find the wonderful potato starch. But please, DO NOT CONFUSE this ingredient with instant mashed potato mixes; those are dehydrated potato, etc., not starch, which is logically what we’re looking for.

This traditional Mallorcan cloud cake, if you don’t know it yet, will pleasantly surprise you. It’s incredible the great fluffiness without a gram of baking powder. Of course it needs no accompaniment, but I’ll tell you that on cold days, with a cup of hot chocolate it’s finger-licking good and for hot days there’s nothing like a big scoop of ice cream.

As I mentioned before, if right now it’s impossible for you to find potato starch, don’t worry, we’re in a complicated moment where we have to adapt and not be picky. Use cornflour as a substitute until you can find potato starch, but don’t miss making this wonder.

Now all that’s left is to wait to see your wonderful cocas de cuarto… will you give it a try?

Emile Henry square ceramic cake pan and KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs (whites and yolks separated)

• 135 g powdered sugar

• 125 g potato starch (Santiveri), sifted*

• 1 pinch of salt

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 170º C top and bottom heat with the rack in the middle position. Grease the Emile Henry square pan and place parchment paper on the base, lightly dust the sides and remove the excess. Set aside.

2. In the bowl of the KitchenAid clean, whip the egg whites with the pinch of salt to stiff peaks using the whisk attachment.

3. In another KitchenAid bowl, beat the yolks with the sugar until pale and doubled in size. Add the potato starch and continue beating with the whisk attachment.

4. Fold in the beaten egg whites in 2 additions, mixing with the help of a silicone spatula and using folding motions so the whites don’t deflate. When the mixture is completely homogeneous, pour it into the reserved Emile Henry pan. Bake for about 35–40 minutes until golden.

5. Check that it’s cooked through by inserting a skewer; if it comes out clean it will be perfect. Let cool on a rack.

6. Dust with powdered sugar, cut into portions and enjoy with a good cup of hot chocolate.

Notes:

You can see all KitchenAid models here. Some models, like the Artisan 5KSM175 or the 5KSM185, come with 2 original KitchenAid bowls, which is why the text refers to using the first and the second KitchenAid bowl in the recipe.

Emile Henry square ceramic cake pan, ceramic ramekins, WMF balloon whisk and KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer