Preheat the oven
to 160'C/325"F/Gas 3. Sift the flours before
measuring, then sift them four times together with
90g of the sugar.
Beat the egg
whites until foamy. Sift over the cream of tartar
and salt and continue to beat until the egg whites
form soft peaks.
Add the remaining
sugar in three batches, beating well after each
addition. Stir in the vanilla and almond essences.
Fold in the flour mixture in two batches.
Transfer to an
ungreased 25cm cake tin and bake until just
browned on top, about 1 hour.
Turn the tin
upside-down on to a wire rack and cool for 1 hour.
Then invert on to a serving plate. Lay a star-shaped
template on top of the cake, sift over some icing
sugar and remove the template.