Vintage gold cake is a delicious egg yolk cake that is made not with butter, but egg yolks! It is a light and simple to make cake and a great way to use yolks left from meringues or angel food cakes giving it the namesake gold color.
Have you ever needed to use a ton egg whites for a nice angel food cake, forgotten torte or pavlova recipe and wondered what the heck you were going to do with all of those yolks? I mean there is only so much lemon curd one person can make and eat. It is delicious, but…
Though I suppose there is always custard too. Hmm, now this egg yolk situation isn’t sounding so bad. Forget I said anything about that.
Remember when I was telling you how terrible it is to be left with a ton of egg yolks after baking something that uses a lot of whites?
That is the exact reason this vintage gold cake was born. It is a nice rich pound cake style cake but without the pound of butter.
Instead it uses those egg yolks! If you don’t find yourself with a dozen egg yolks at once, don’t worry yourself.
You can freeze a few at a time when you have extras until you have the dozen. Then just defrost them and you will be ready to go!
I just love recipes like this. The kind that are born out of the necessity of using all of what you have and not wanting to waste precious food.
Especially since this recipe was created to use the rest of the eggs used to make an angel food cake.
I can just imagine some grandma baking a fluffy angel food cake with her farm fresh eggs then looking at those egg yolks and thinking,
I bet I can do something with those! That grandma had probably collected those eggs herself and was not going to let a bit go to waste.
Luckily I have an almost never ending supply of farm fresh eggs, but I was still not going to let a bit go to waste! Actually the process from there is not all that different from making the angel food cake.
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Whipping the yolks and sugar doesn’t result in a white cloud like the whites, but you will be amazed at the texture change as you go. It gets thick and the color definitely changes too.
Between the air whipped in at this stage and the baking powder, the result is still a really springy cake.
The timing couldn’t have been better either since I am working on desserts for my brother’s wedding. (I think I finally have the cake and frosting recipes picked! Hooray!)
With all of the trial runs on homemade white cake and Italian meringue buttercream, I have been using a ton of egg whites. This gold cake is a fun change of pace and a great way to use the yolks.
Back to the cake! Most gold cakes are flavored with lemon, probably because the golden color reminds folks of lemon. Vanilla would be good as well.
But I could not wait to use some of the orange flavoring I had just acquired, so I went with orange! Of course I mixed orange and vanilla in the glaze as well for that creamsicle flavor we love so much!
I wouldn’t change a thing! The orange flavor was perfect for this cake and the glaze took it to the next level. I served it up with some cream cheese whipped cream and fresh raspberries for a stunning dessert.
So grab a raspberry mimosa and a nice slice of this gold cake and call this brunch dish a win! This cake would also be a great dessert course for a spring or summer dinner.
A dollop of whipped cream and a pile of whatever fresh berries you have would make it showstopper no matter the time of day!
I’m making a gold cake today, how do I store the egg whites for later use?
Egg whites can be store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For longer storage, freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. No special preparation is needed to freeze the whites.
What flavorings can I add to this egg yolk cake?
Use any flavors of extracts you like. We used orange in this cake, but lemon, vanilla and almond would be great too. Using a mix of those flavorings makes a nice bakery style flavor as well.
Vintage Gold Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 12 egg yolks
- 3 cups all purpose flour
- 2½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons orange extract or emulsion
- 1 cup cold milk
Glaze
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tablespoons milk or cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract or emulsion
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a large Bundt pan
- Start beating the egg yolks until they begin to thicken.12 egg yolks
- Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.3 cups all purpose flour, 2½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
- Once the egg yolks are thick and aerated, start adding the sugar a little at a time. Beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and orange flavorings.2 cups granulated sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 2 teaspoons orange extract or emulsion
- Stir in the flour mixture until just combined and then the milk until the batter is uniform.1 cup cold milk
- Spread in prepared pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick tests clean.
- Cool for 15 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Dust with powdered sugar or mix together glaze ingredients and drizzle over cake.1½ cups powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk or cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon orange extract or emulsion
- Serve with cream cheese whipped cream and berries if desired.
Notes
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Hi the cake sounds delicious I was wondering if I could bake that like into cake rounds like seven or eight inch
I haven’t tried it, but I can’t see why not. It would be like baking a sponge cake. You’ll have to let me know how it goes!
I have 12 egg yolks left over from making an angel food cake, and I was wondering if you know how I can keep them to make this cake later? Thank you.
It depends how long you want to store them. If you are using them soon, you can put them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For longer storage, beat them together with some of the sugar and freeze that mixture. Just mark on the storage container how much sugar you added to the egg yolks so you know not to add that when you are making the recipe. Freezing the yolks on their own changes their consistency, but freezing them with sugar will make them usable for the recipe later. They will keep that way for several months.
It says 1 cup of milk in the cake… but that’s not in the directions. Is there milk in the cake??
The milk is added in step five, just after the flour. I hope you enjoy the cake!
I honestly love how the cake looks it is just wonderful. here is my foolish question but I really don't know! so,using only the yolks in cake does it smell and taste eggy!?? It is not something I totally not want to just curious to listen how cake turns out with only yolks
Ha! I love that question, and I would say no. It reminds me a lot of a angel food cake, which is surprising considering it's all yolks instead of all whites. But the flavor is mild and the texture is springy. I hope you give it a try and let me know what you think!
Ingredient list says baking powder and instructions say baking soda. Which is it?
It is baking powder. I hope you enjoy the cake!
I am completely intrigued by this cake! I will be trying this one 🙂
I hope you love it!
Great tip about freezing the yolks until you have enough. Thanks Carlee.
That way you don't have the opposite problem of needing all the yolks and not the whites! 😉
Hi Carlee, what a nice way to use up those egg yolks. I usually give them to the dogs as a treat, but OoooOOoo this vcake looks tempting. It's going to take a while to collect 12 yolks, but it's certainly doable.
xx
It's worth the wait, though don't tell the dogs it's my fault they don't get their treats!
I like Fritata's for brunch with my husband,
Mmm! I have a fun frittata coming later in the week too.
Looks so decadent, you'd never know there is no butter!! Mmmm looks so yummy!!
It's sooo good! Thank you!