Basic Sponge Cake II 海绵蛋糕 2

This one is for my niece. I made her a strawberry cake for her birthday since she adores strawberries. For the sponge cake, I adapted from my chocolate sponge recipe that I made two weeks ago since it was a hit. I replaced cocoa powder with cake flour and adjusted other quantities accordingly.  The end result was as delightful as I have imagined. The cake turned out soft, fluffy, but at the same time structurally strong to hold the fillings and jam.

Making sponge cake has always been my nemesis. It would either turn out dense or with a cracked top. But with the outcome of this cake, I can walk tall to say I have finally conquered it. Making decent sponge cake is not a problem from now on. These basic sponge cakes, both vanilla sponge and chocolate sponge would be my new go-to recipe.

If you find this method of preparing the sponge not what you are looking for, you could also try my previous basic sponge cake recipe. This recipe was used to make my boy's birthday cake last year. Both the recipes works but the sponge that I am posting here is my current love. The previous sponge yielded a denser texture and was slightly more tasty. Whereas, this current sponge cake is light and fluffy by comparison.

Basic Sponge Cake II 海绵蛋糕 2

Ingredients

A
4 egg yolks (grade A)
55 g butter
90 g cake flour
60 g whole milk
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 tsp salt

B
4 egg whites (grade A)
70 g sugar 
1/4 tsp cream of tartar


Cooking Instruction

1. Measure all ingredients. Sift baking powder and flour together. Preheat oven to 170C.

2. Whisk butter and egg yolks until both are combined.

3. Add milk and whisk until combined. Add vanilla essence.

4. Gently whisk in flour. The batter should become really thick at this stage.

5. Put egg whites into a grease-free bowl. Beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar and sugar in three instalments. Increase speed to high and beat egg whites until almost stiff peak (pix above).

6. Add in 1/3 of the meringue to the batter. Use a whisk to gently mix until the whites are combined. Repeat process until all are done. Then use a spatula and fold the batter until there are no more uneven colours (the batter is well mix).

7. Pour batter into 7 inch round baking pan and give the pan a few knocks on the table to release air bubbles. Bake at medium rack at 170C for 40 minutes or until skewer comes out clean when tested. Remove and gently invert baking pan until the cake cools. Remove cake when it is completely cooled using a spatula.

Note:
If you notice your is cake starting to crack, this means the temperature is too high. Lower heat. Alternatively, to prevent cracked top, you could start baking the cake in a bain marie for 15 minutes before removing the bain marie and continue baking. In both cases, you might have to compensate with a slightly longer cooking time.