Recipes

Hot Milk Sponge Cake

Sponge cakes can most definitely try a cook’s mettle. At best they require a quick and gentle hand as well as a trained eye to know when the eggs are properly beaten. This sponge cake relies on the addition of baking powder and milk which adds both lightness and moistness. It’s the easiest to make of all sponge cakes. I use it as shortcake with fresh berries and whipped cream, cream cakes, fresh coconut cake and even pineapple upside down cake. It’s a great one to have in your repertoire.

Yield: Two 9-inch round layers

4 eggs
2 cups all purpose flour (sift before measuring)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup milk
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or1/2 teaspoon each vanilla and lemon extracts)

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Lightly spray two 9-inch round cake pans with vegetable oil spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Cover the eggs (they are still in their shell) with hot tap water. Allow to sit for at least five minutes to warm up the eggs. It is important that the eggs be warm to the touch when they are whipped with the sugar. This gives an extra lightness to the cake.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a small saucepan melt the butter over moderate heat. Add the milk and heat until it is steaming. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile crack the eggs into a mixing bowl. With an electric mixer, whip the eggs until frothy. Gradually add the sugar and whip on high speed until the batter is light and thick. This takes a good ten minutes.

Turn the mixer down to low and add the sifted dry ingredients. Mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated into the egg batter. Stop once to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl. Add the scalded milk and butter. Mix on low speed until the batter is smooth. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix on low just until the vanilla is incorporated into the batter. Divide the batter equally into each pan. (It is quite thin so don’t be alarmed.)

Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and springy to the touch. Place the cake layers on a wire cooling rack. Sprinkle each layer very lightly with granulated sugar. Leave the cake layers in the pan to cool for thirty minutes. Carefully run a paring knife around the edge of the each cake layer using an up and down motion to avoid tearing the sides of the cake. Turn the layers out onto a wire cooling rack.

Cool completing before using.

Lagniappe
Having the eggs warm and beating them to the proper consistency are the keys to making this cake successfully. While whipping the eggs, feel the bottom of the bowl to make sure that it doesn’t feel cold. If it does then the eggs aren’t warm enough. Place the mixing bowl in a slightly larger bowl filled with about three inches of hot tap water. Stir them until they are warm to the touch.

The eggs are properly whipped when they get light and thick resembling softly whipped cream. Lift the whip from the bowl and the batter should slowly flow from the whip in a ribbon that slowly incorporates back into the batter.

Sponge Cake photo courtesy of Linda Stradley
www.whatscookingamerica.net