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A quick look
through an old manuscript cookbook will tell you
right away what housewives considered important,
something that should be written down and saved.
A hundred years ago, it was sponge cakes.
These tiny
cakes were a “must” for afternoon teas. For a
last-minute dessert, it may have been a couple
of sponge layers with a fruit filling, a
backdrop for homemade ice cream, or the base for
a Boston Cream Pie.
No one seems
to know exactly when sponge cakes first appeared
on the dessert table — the first mention
recorded was in a letter written by Jane Austen
in 1808 (and yes — she liked them).
In Victorian
literature it seems that a sponge cake was
always being whipped up by the family cook, or
being perfected by marriageable daughters; you
will note, “whipped up” is the key phrase.
Sponge cakes
only can be produced by the whipping method —
egg yolks are beaten with the sugar, then other
ingredients are added. Once you get the idea of
whipping lightly — too much is sure disaster,
then folding the batter without deflating the
mixture, the labor involved is just “a piece of
cake.”
The baking
time often is fewer than 20 minutes, depending
on the size of the cake. At this time of the
year, sponge cake pairs up perfectly with ripe
berries, sliced peaches or nectarines with
whipped cream on top. Easy and quick, it’s
perfect summertime fare.
This recipe
was developed by the tireless Cook’s Illustrated
group and they called it “foolproof.” It makes
two 8-inch or 9-inch layers, and it should be
noted that the egg whites should not be beaten
to a really stiff state — “soft, glossy and
billowy” are the key words.
☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼☼
Foolproof Sponge Cake
1/2
cup cake flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsps. milk
2 Tbsps. unsalted butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
5 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
Grease two 8-
or 9-inch cake pans and cover the bottoms with
parchment. Set oven to 350 degrees with rack in
the lower middle position.
Whisk flours,
baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Heat
milk and butter in a small saucepan over low
heat until the butter melts. Remove from heat
and add vanilla. Cover and keep warm.
Separate
three eggs. Put the whites in a bowl of a
standing mixer. Put the three yolks plus the two
whole eggs in another mixing bowl. Beat the
three whites on high speed until foamy, then
gradually add six Tablespoons of the sugar.
Continue beating until you have soft, moist
peaks.
Beat the yolk
and whole egg mixture with the remaining six
Tablespoons of sugar on medium speed until thick
and pale yellow in color, about five minutes.
Add the
beaten eggs to the whites.
Sprinkle
flour mixture over the beaten eggs and whites.
Fold very gently 12 times with a large rubber
spatula. Make a well in one side of the batter
and pour milk mixture into he bowl. Continue
folding until the batter shows no trace of the
flour and the whites and whole eggs are evenly
mixed. This only will take about eight
additional strokes.
Immediately
pour the batter into the prepared baking pans.
Bake until the layers are light brown on top and
feel firm. They should spring back when touched.
The time
should be about 16 minutes for a 9-inch cake and
20 minutes for 8-inch cake pans.
Run a knife
around the cakes to loosen them. Cover pan with
a large plate, invert and remove cake. Set a
rack over the cake and reinvert again.
When the
layers are cool, you might consider this simple
dessert:
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Blackberry Jam Cake
1 completed recipe for sponge cake
(as above)
1 jar (8 ozs.) blackberry jam
Confectioners sugar
Place one
cake layer on a sheet of waxed paper. Spread jam
over the cake, then place second layer over
that. Dust the top of the cake with
confectioners sugar, shaken from a sieve. Remove
waxed paper, place cake on a plate and serve.
Allene White lives in Brooklin. |
