If you enjoy baking then making the perfect sponge cake should definitely be part of your cake repertoire. Sponge cake is used in a variety of cakes such as layer cakes, swiss rolls, charlottes and tiramisu so it’s something that you should try and perfect.
Here are tips on how to improve your sponge cake:
- Warmed eggs hold more air and therefore will create more volume when they are whipped.
- Whip your egg whites separately from your egg yolks to add more volume to the mixture.
- Beat your egg yolks with the sugar until thick and a lemon colour. You will know if its properly mixed when you lift the beater, as a ‘ribbon’ should form on the surface of the mixture.
- Be careful adding melted butter or sifted cocoa powder as they will decrease the volume of the mixture. Fold them in very gently to keep as much of the volume as possible.
- It is best to make a sponge cake with an electric mixer – preferably a stand mixer.
- Make sure your tins are lined and your oven is preheated as it’s best not to leave the mixture sitting for too long.
- To warm your eggs use a stainless steel bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Sugar has an insulating effect and will stop the eggs from coagulating over the heat. Add a few tablespoons of sugar from the recipe into your egg whites (or yolks) and whisk in. When the egg is warm, move it to your mixing bowl and whip the mixture until semi-stiff peaks form.
- Stop beating your egg white when these peaks form. Perfectly beaten egg whites should fold nicely into the mixture. They should not break into white flecks.
- When folding in the egg whites, first add ⅓ of the egg whites into the bowl. Use a balloon whisk for best results and fold gently.
- Add the rest of the egg whites and once again gently fold them into the mixture. To fold you should use smooth strokes through the centre of the bowl, around the sides and lift back through the centre again.
- Once the mixture is ready, immediately divide in into the prepared tins. Smooth the surface if needs be.
