The Best Old Fashioned Sponge Cake
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The Best Homemade Old Fashioned Sponge Cake. A simple, basic, yet versatile sponge cake recipe that can become the basis of many different desserts, trifles or dessert cakes.
It's back to basics time on the blog this morning as we feature a very simple but very versatile recipe for a simple old fashioned sponge cake.
Many years ago the recipe came from Spouse's roommate's mother, a Mrs. Chaulk from St. Phillip's. I have been making it ever since as a base for many different desserts and dessert cakes.
It is a great base to soak up sweet sherry and berry juices in a simple trifle or even on its own filled with your favourite jam and topped with thick cream.
I sometimes use it for a simple strawberry shortcake by piling on some fresh berries, sometimes soaked in Cointreau or other suitable liqueur. It's then topped with a big dollop of sweetened whipped cream for a great summer barbecue dessert.
Once mastered, this cake hold plenty of room to use your imagination to create your own ways to put it to delicious use.
One of the recipes I use this sponge cake as the base for, is this incredibly luscious Orange Creamsicle Cake!
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The Best Sponge Cake
A simple basic, yet versatile sponge cake recipe that can become the basis of many different desserts, trifles or dessert cakes.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs separated, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tarter
- 1 cup sugar, separated in 2 half cups
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon lemon flavoring, optional
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round cake pans but do not grease the sides
- Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
- For the meringue base of the batter, beat egg whites and cream of tarter until foamy. Add ½ cup sugar gradually until egg whites are stiff.
- In a separate bowl, beat egg yolks and ½ cup sugar until foamy and thickened.
- Fold beaten egg yolks into the beaten egg whites along with the vanilla (and lemon) for only a few turns before slowly and gradually folding in the flour and baking powder mixture very gently BY HAND using a rubber spatula until just incorporated into the meringue mixture. I mix in the dry ingredients in 3 equal portions. Do not over mix, you just want the flour to be incorporated; over mixing will deflate the egg whites and result in a tough textured final product.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until center springs back when touched. Cool completely in the pans. This prevents the cake form shrinking as it cools.
- When completely cooled run a small sharp knife completely around the outside edge of the pan to release the cake. Do this slowly being sure to keep the knife at a steady 90 degree angle so you don't damage the sides of the cake. Turn the cakes out onto a wire rack and peel off the parchment paper on the bottom.
- Terrific served with layers of whipped cream and seasonal berries.
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Nutrition Information
Yield
12Amount Per Serving Calories 136Saturated Fat 1gCholesterol 82mgSodium 32mgCarbohydrates 25gFiber 1gSugar 17gProtein 4g
The nutritional information provided is automatically calculated by third party software and is meant as a guideline only. Exact accuracy is not guaranteed. For recipes where all ingredients may not be used entirely, such as those with coatings on meats, or with sauces or dressings for example, calorie & nutritional values per serving will likely be somewhat lower than indicated.
Rock Recipes a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Our product recommendations are almost exclusively for those we currently use or have used in the past.
Hi,
One of my sponges fell in the middle. It was the second sponge pan that I filled if that makes a difference. I was careful to fold in the ingredients when stated. My baking powder is less than 6 months old. I didn't open my oven. Any ideas on what went wrong? I haven't tasted them yet. They are still cooling.
Sounds under baked.
Can you freeze this cake? If so, is there any particular thawing method?
I've never frozen it but I don't see why not.I always unwrap to thaw.
I want to make this cake I want to know if it can be baked in a tube pan