Recipe Sponge Cake how to prepare it step by step

Recipe of Sponge Cake.

A few ingredients to prepare a soft base for many recipes.

Here there is the recipe of a high and soft sponge cake.

The first thing you need to do is be wary of who says that the recipe for sponge cake is fast: sugar and eggs must be mixed for not less than 20 minutes.

Sponge cake is easy to make, but it takes time.

Since there is no yeast because the sponge cake does not provide yeast in any way, the mixture must take as much air as possible this is why it takes at least 20 minutes of electric mixer or other food processor.

It was not easy to find the right recipe to prepare a soft sponge cake, but thanks to my friend Lucia’s advice after three times I managed to have a good sponge cake: high and soft.

With the dose of 5 eggs indicated in this article, I prepared a sponge cake with a diameter of 24 cm, high enough to be cut into three layers and filled as you like: with classic custard, with custard without eggs, with whipped cream, etc… to make amazing cakes.

Sponge cake Recipe Ingredients

How to make a Sponge cake

The original recipe of the sponge cake has a simple procedure, you just need to put the whole eggs in a bowl making sure they are at room temperature and not as cold as just taken from the fridge, then add the granulated sugar and with the electric whisks or a food processor, whisk for at least 20 minutes.

It is very important to respect these times because the mixture will become more than double, foamy and with air bubbles inside so the sponge cake will be a success.

Let it rest for 5 minutes and then add the salt and the flavours to the eggs and sugar.

At this point you won’t need the electric whisks anymore.

Add the flour and the starch sifting them; please, mind that also this sifting process is crucial because flour and starch incorporate air that’s useful to the leavening of the cake.

If the mixture of eggs and sugar has been beaten well, the flours will remain on it; at this point start mixing them with a wooden spoon. Start mixing from the bottom to the top, incorporating as much air as possible.

This will create large bubbles, some filled with flour, proceed mixing the mixture in this way for at least 7/8 minutes.

When it’s ready, so everything is well blended, in Italy they say that “the mixture “writes”

Oil and flour a 24 cm hinged mold or cover it with parchment paper; pour the mixture in it and wait for a while for it to settle.

I used baking paper for the base and oiled the edges of the hinged mold.

Baking the sponge cake

For baking the sponge cake it is necessary to put the cake in the oven after having heated it well; it would be better to get it to the right temperature before baking the cake.

The suitable temperature for this recipe, with this cake size, is 160 °C, in a static oven and you should bake it for 35 minutes.

But I will never be tired of repeating that unfortunately each oven is different, so each of us knows his appliance; however it is a fact that you must not open the oven window before 20 minutes because if you do so, you’ll risk to deflate the cake.

When it starts to grow, if you have worked well, there will be a homogenous rising of the cake sponge cake without the classic hump in the middle which is likely to become a ditch once cooled.

After the cooking time, before pulling the sponge cake out of the oven, do the toothpick test and only when it is completely dry, remove the cake from the oven.

Let it cool before removing it from the cake mould.

Remember that this is a cake that serves as a basis for other preparations, so it is more than normal if it’s not pleasant to see.

But notice how light it is, it looks like a cloud, very very soft.

Try this sponge cake with custard. You can find the recipe on the blog by clicking on the link.

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How to cut the sponge cake with the knife

To be able to cut this cake with a knife: you need two knives a small and a long one, like the one used to cut bread.

Using the small knife, outline a trace along the entire circumference of the cake at half height; then with the long one start to cut it following this line and going more and more inward, taking care of not tilting the knife.

Continue until you get two separate disks that should be more or less equal.

How to cut Sponge cake with thread

This technique will allow you to have a more precise cut, but you will need to get a nylon or sewing thread that is very strong.

Using a small knife, outline a line at the height you chose to cut, as mentioned in the previous paragraph, now pass the thread through the track and pull it in parallel through the cake until you cut it in two parts.

How to preserve the sponge cake

When you need to prepare this base for a great dessert, for example for a birthday cake, it is better to make it at least one day before, but as it is usually well kept in the fridge for two or three days, you can anticipate its preparation even of a few days.

Just wrap it with plastic film and keep in the fridge.

Why is the sponge cake in Italy called Pan di Spagna?

It seems to be a recipe invented by a Genovese cook who was in Spain, Carbona Giovatta.

At the beginning this soft and sweet dough was called Pasta Genovese, a very hot preparation similar to the Pan di Spagna, which is still used in pastry.

It was called so in honor of its ligure inventor, but then it was revisited and used in an easier version and named Pan di Spagna in honor of the Spanish court who greatly appreciated this cake.