SPONGE CAKE WITH WHIPPED CREAM AND FRUITS

This recipe goes for Sandy Jones.  It is an airy and light sponge cake more or less similar to a Savoy Cake (Gateau de Savoie).  It is fatless and at the same time delicious when eaten with ice cream, fresh fruits or canned fruits in syrup.

The cake tasted more or less like the one you would find in the Mauritian supermarkets and hypermarkets.    My sister and my neighbour gave me a 10/10 for this recipe.  I baked a few sponges during school holidays using different types of flours and modifying the methods at the same time and finally I ended up with this recipe.

I investigated about the local sponge cake and found that the commercial sponges are made using sponge premixes.  Sponge cake premix produces a more dry, airy and light sponge cake due to the presence of a massive amount of stabilisers and emulsifiers.  The one I made lacked the dryness of those found in the Mauritian supermarkets.  It was rather moist, feather-light and airy.  Click here to have a look at the ingredients in a sponge cake mix I found on net!

You can definitely 'customise' the cake the way you want.  You can also make a chocolate version of this cake.  What is good about sponges is that you can soak them in syrup without making them soggy.  Jumbo hypermarket would entirely soak the cake in syrup before decorating with whipped cream.

Three sponges from the Mauritian hypermarkets.  The first one is soaked in syrup and decorated with whipped cream , desiccated coconut and fruits.  The other two are chocolate sponges decorated with chocolate whipped cream and chocolate vermicelli.    

   

Ingredients
List A

Egg white of 6 large eggs

75 g sugar

3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

List B

6 egg yolks

75 g sugar
2 tablespoon vanilla essence

List C

50 g corn starch

50 g wheat starch or potato starch

50 g self raising cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

List D

Around 400 ml whipping cream
3-4 tablespoon icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Pinch of salt 

Canned fruit of your choice (e.g. cocktails, peach, pear, pineapple, etc...)

Fresh fruit (e.g. kiwis, strawberries, grapes, etc...)
The syrup of any canned fruit or lime soda (Sprite)
Chocolate vermicelli or grated chocolate

Method (Egg-separated Method)

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1.  Sift the dry ingredients in List C THRICE.  Line the base of a tin.  Do not grease.

Sifting ensures thorough mixing of the dry ingredients and aerates the flour at the same time.  It also helps to remove lumps and large particles in the flour.

2.  Whip the egg white until it is uniformly white and stiff and forms peaks.  

If it is cold at your place or if the egg white is cold, I recommend beating the egg white over a bowl of hot water (NOT boiling water).  First beat your egg white until frothy or foamy on low to medium speed (DO NOT start on high speed directly).  Add the cream of tartar (It greatly helps to stabilise the egg white and prevents over-beating).  Continue beating on medium to high speed until it starts to form peaks.  Add the sugar little by little and beat until you get shiny, moist and glossy stiff peaks.

It is highly recommended to use clean bowls and whisk.  A trace of fat may hinder the formation of soft peaks.  You can use a large stainless steel bowl, copper bowl or glass bowl.  Avoid plastic bowls since they often retain traces of fat due to their porosity.  I would personally choose metal bowls over glass bowls because of their conductivity.  Stephanie Jaworski from Joy of Baking stated in one of her post that plastic and glass are not good surfaces as the whites tend to slip down the sides of the bowl.

3.  Whisk the egg yolks and sugar on high speed until it is pale, light and creamy.

(Whisk up to the Ribbon Stage i.e. when an 'S' shape is drawn with the mixture it should hold its shape for at least 3 seconds).

4.  Whisk the vanilla essence into the egg yolks.

5.  Add 1/3 of the whipped egg white into the yolk mixture.  Sift in 1/2 of the dry ingredients (List C).  Fold gently.

Avoid doing things too quickly thinking that the batter will deflate or else you will end up folding vigorously which is worst.  For the folding of dry ingredients and whipped egg white you can use either a spatula, a large metal balloon whisk, a large metal spoon or just do it with your hand.  One way to fold ingredients is by using the cut and fold action.

6.  Sift in the remaining dry ingredients.  Add another 1/3 of the whipped egg white.  Fold again.

7.  Fold the remaining whipped egg white.

8.  Pour in prepared cake pan. 

I used a 23 cm-diameter cake tin.  Tap the mould twice or thrice on a flat surface (on your work top or on the floor :-D) to get rid of those big bubbles of air (large air pockets) rising on top.

9.  Bake immediately at 190°C for 40-45 minutes.  Avoid using the skewer test.

Place a bowl containing hot water below to generate steam.

10.  Tap mould twice or thrice immediately after baking.  Invert on a cooling rack.

Loosen the cake from the pan by sliding a knife around the inside edge of the pan.  Invert on a cooling rack.

Points to Remember

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Beating of the egg white is a critical step which should be done correctly.  Improper beating of the egg white may affect the final volume and lightness of the cake.

Be gentle with the folding.  Improper folding may break the small air bubbles trapped in the whipped egg white thereby affecting volume and lightness of the cake.  Improper folding may also produce large holes and tunnels in the final product which is undesirable.

I had difficulty slicing the cake into two layers after baking.  So I would advise dividing the batter in two cake pans which mean that you won't need to slice the cake into two layers afterwards.

Assembly & Decorating

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1.  Whip the cream with sugar, salt and vanilla essence.

2.  Cut the fruits into desired shapes.

3.  Slice the cake into two.

4.  Sprinkle the first cake layer with 3-4 tablespoon of syrup (Use the syrup of the canned fruit or use any lime flavoured soft drink e.g. Sprite).

5.  Spread whipped cream over the first cake layer.  You can place some canned fruits on top of the whipped cream if you want.

6.  Place the second cake layer over the fruits.  Sprinkle syrup over the top of the sponge.  Cover with whipped cream.  Decorate with fruits.

You can decorate the cake with anything you want.  You may omit the fruits and decorate the cake with nuts, desiccated coconut and chocolate vermicelli.

Et voilà!!

Good Luck with it Sandy!