By: Helena Stallings, Culinary Arts Student
In the first of a four video series with Pastry Chef Ashlea Tobeck is ‘How To Make A Sponge cake’ and will be followed by ‘How To Crumb Coat A Cake’, ‘How To Cover A Cake In Fondant’ and ‘How To Decorate A Cake’. The first step in making a sponge cake is to gather your mise en place and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. The equipment you will need is a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, 2 buttered/parchment lined cake pans and a medium sized pot of boiling water to serve as your double boiler. For your ingredients you will need 10 ounces of eggs (roughly 5 large eggs), 6.6 ounces of granulated sugar, 6.6 ounces of sifted cake flour, 2.2 ounces of butter and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract.
Once you have gathered everything you need, you will start by dissolving your sugar into your eggs on a double boiler. By using the double boiler method, you are keeping your eggs off of the direct heat and that will help to keep the eggs from curdling. The goal isn’t to cook the eggs, so once the sugar is fully dissolved pull the egg mixture off of the stove, pour the mixture into your mixer bowl and beat the eggs on high until they lighten in color and fully aerated. When the mixture is ready you can begin to gently fold in your cake flour, followed by your flavorings. Be careful not to over mix your batter, because it is the air bubbles in the egg mixture that gives the cake its spongey texture. The next step is to gently pour your batter into the pre-butter cake pans and bake them in a 350 degree oven until set.
Spongecake Recipe
10 ounces (5 each) large eggs
6.6 ounces sugar
6.6 ounces cake flour
2.2 ounces of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Other Flavoring Ideas
Almond extract
Hazelnut extract
Lemon extract or zest
Orange zest
