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Sponge Cakes |
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Also known as foam style cakes, these cakes are light and airy.
They rely heavily upon eggs for their characteristics. Aerated
eggs and/or egg whites are combined with flour, sugar and sometimes
baking soda and/or baking powder. |
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| Foam
cakes have a high proportion of eggs to flour. They contain very little, if
any, fat and have a spongy texture. The
three categories of foam cakes are:
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Sponge Cake (not to be confused with a
Butter Sponge Cake or Genoise) is
sometimes used to refer to the whole category of
foam cakes. The texture and flavor of sponge cakes is so delightful that
they are usually eaten without or without adornment.
Sponge cakes are leavened by
whipping eggs (whole, yolks only or whites only) with sugar. Whipping air into
the mixture is what makes them light. When baked, the air bubbles expand
from the heat of the oven and the cake rises.
Substitutes:
génoise (These are made with
butter and have less sugar than sponge cakes. They're not as airy.) OR
angel food cake OR
ladyfingers (These are also
used to make charlottes.) OR pound cake.
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A Sponge
cake is versatile, with a multitude of recipes. It
varies by two types: American and European. Here, I will primarily discuss
the American type... |
AMERICAN SPONGE CAKE:
The American Sponge cake has no or little melted
butter and more eggs than other sponge cake types.
The yolks and whites are beaten
separately, providing air as the cake's
leavening. This makes for a light and airy
(spongy) texture, being the very essence of sponge
cake’s dominant characteristic of being. Because these cakes are based on
air bubbles, these batters require gentle handling when making so none of the
air cells are broken down.
When extra
yolks are added and their whites are left out, the cake becomes richer, more
tender and tighter grained - or less spongy - from the added fat of more yolks.
Other essential American sponge
cake ingredients are sugar and flour. Cake
flour (do not use self-rising), instead of all-purpose, is usually used
in sponge cakes which makes a finer textured recipe. Because cake flour is
usually bleached, the cake easily takes on the color of the egg yolks or other
add-ins.
Superfine sugar,
rather than regular table sugar is preferred, which gives a
finer texture. (It can be easily made by placing granulated sugar in a food
processor for a few seconds, but it's better to buy it).
Sometimes heated milk is added to
the recipe and it is called a "hot milk sponge recipe".
EUROPEAN SPONGE CAKES: Among the more
popular Sponge cake types are the European styled
Biscuit and
Genoise, which more often than
not are moistened with syrups because of their tendency to be somewhat dry. The
right amount of syrup results in soft and tender crumbs, too little can render
the cakes dry or tasteless, while too much produces soggy units. Hardcore
European versions have liqueur as part of their syrupy additives, resulting in
notably enhanced flavors. In both the Genoise and Biscuit, cornstarch replaces
some of the flour, causing the cake to be tighter. Superfine sugar is
recommended to achieve an extra fine texture.
JOCONDE:
an almond sponge cake. This biscuit is
named for the Mona Lisa (La Joconda in French). In addition to containing
almonds, it differs from other sponge cakes by having whole eggs (rather than
just yolks) beaten with sugar and ground almonds before the meringue is folded
in. Joconde is baked in thin layers on baking sheets. Joconde is used to make
linings for the outsides of charlottes, a traditional French raspberry mousse
cake, and other Bavarian mousse cakes. View
pre-baked Joconde sponge cake forms
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Tips for
a Successful Sponge Cake: |
Sponge cakes are best baked in an
ungreased two-piece, 10-inch tube pan.
The sides and bottom of the pan are separate, but are nested to make removal of
the cooled cake a cinch.
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 Ladyfingers
are miniature sponge cakes and are easier to make.
Click for step-by-step
information with photos! |
You can also use a
regular cake pan as well as
loaf pans. Whatever you
choose, don't grease or spray the pan. The batter needs a clean, dry wall to
cling to as it bakes, as slick sides cause it to slip back down. If the pan has
been used before to bake a cake with shortening, scour it and dry it thoroughly
before using it for a foam-type cake. Lining the bottom of the pans with
parchment helps ensure that the cakes release easily.
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 Rolls,
also known as
Biscuit Roulade:
are a form of sponge-cake, baked in a shallow pan and used for jellyrolls or
holiday cakes. Rolls are immediately removed from the oven when done and
rolled up in a sugared tea towel. When cool, they are unrolled gently,
filled with jelly, custard or icings and rerolled. The
Vanilla or the
Chocolate Roll
filled with flavored
Whipped Cream Frosting and dusted with powdered sugar or
cocoa powder, is a good place to start. |
Pre-measure all ingredients before starting because with any cake
you need to work quickly through its instructions.
Separate the eggs and
let the egg whites come to room temperature
before you begin. Warm whites whip up
to the greatest volume. If you have a heavy, stationary mixer, now's the time to
use it.
Preheat the oven
and adjust the oven racks to the middle of the oven.
Sponge cakes rely heavily on beaten egg whites and yolks which
deflate quickly, so you want to be able to follow the recipe's instructions
without delay. Some recipes have you
beat egg yolks separately from the
beaten egg whites.
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What's Unique: A Sponge cake is mixed by beating
eggs and folding them with the batter, and when ready for the pan, it should
be a delicate, fluffy mass. However...
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Not beating enough
or not folding the egg whites completely into the batter
can cause coarse, low-volume cakes. |
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Beating or folding too much will break down the egg white
foam, and you'll end up with a compact cake. |
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Beat egg whites with cream of
tartar, just until stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly.
Beat the yolks until thick and
light-colored in a saucepan over medium heat; gradually beat in the sugar. The
yolks must be warmed so they whip to a maximum volume. Make sure mixture can
form a ribbon before using.
Fold the flour gently but
thoroughly into the batter until all patches of white disappear.
Using a balloon whisk,
fold half of the whites into the yolks and sugar; fold in half of the
flour, the other half of the whites and the other half of the flour. The flour
must be folded in gently, but thoroughly to ensure the least amount of air
loss. Stirring must be avoided. Using a balloon whisk ensures the least amount
of air loss.
Sponge cake batters must be baked
immediately after mixing. For even baking use Magi-Cake Strips. To test for
doneness:
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Lightly press the top — it
should spring back; or, |
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Test the cakes with a toothpick
after the minimum amount of time, and bake just until it comes out clean; or,
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As long as a sponge or angel
cake "sings" in the oven, which is really the eggs releasing steam, it has not
finished baking. When the "singing" stops and the cake is nicely browned and
springy to the touch, it's done; or, |
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Unfortunately, sponge and angel
cakes will not shrink from the sides of the pan, so you can't use that test
for doneness. |
 Q:
When the Sponge
cake is still warm, it is quite soft.
But after keeping in wrapped on the countertop, it becomes hard the next
day. What is the reason ? How to make soft sponge cake ? How to
keep it soft for days? Thank you, Bridget Ho
A: I am sorry to
say but that is the nature of Sponge cakes. They quickly begin to
stale after removing from the oven. In Europe it is commonplace to refresh
and moisten the cake with a sugar syrup or a liquor syrup.
For an unfrosted Sponge cake, you can keep
it tightly wrapped for about a day, but if you want to keep it longer, store
it in the freezer. Once the cake is frosted, however, it will stay moist
longer, depending on the moistness of the frosting. Remember to keep it
covered. Tami |
Immediately after baking, baked
sponge cakes are usually turned upside down in the pan to cool. This keeps the
air cells stretched until its texture becomes firmly set otherwise, the cake
would collapse. If you're lucky, your cake pan has feet -- flat metal tabs --
that stick out about an inch over the rim. To cool the cake, you can turn the
cake pan upside down on the counter. I like to put my pan upside down in a
colander; it supports the cake and the holes in it allow for cooling without
condensation (because the cake is not close to the countertop).
Other Sponge cakes are cooled
before unmolding, then covered with a towel to cool completely before
assembling. Another way to remove the cakes from its pan, and cool on a cake
rack
Sponge-type cakes are often
sprinkled with a sugar syrup after baking. It absorbs more easily if the top and
bottom crusts are removed. To remove the top, cut in a sawing motion with a
serrated knife. For the bottom crust, scrape gently with a serrated knife to
remove. However, don’t try to slice the cake until it’s cool — it’ll fall
apart.
Wrap cake layers well or glaze or
frost them when cool.
portions adapted from detnews.com
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