At the heart of every good pastry lies the moist, light and airy sponge cake. No matter how brightly and beautifully it is decorated on top, a dry or not well baked sponge cake can spoil any pastry masterpiece.
Fortunately, making the perfect sponge cake batter is awfully easy – as long as you stick to the recipe and use the right sized molds. Approximately, a mixture of 3 eggs is enough for a square mold with a side of 18 cm or a round mold with a diameter of 23 cm, a mixture of 4 eggs is enough for a baking mold with a side of 20 cm.
Any traditional sponge cake batter can be frozen and defrosted very easily. The sponge cake is frozen without the decorations or filling and will be good for up to 3 months.
The filling can be made from fresh or canned fruit, you don't need to increase the calories of the cake with copious amounts of cream if you are on a diet. Strained yogurt and cottage cheese are low in fat and easy to process. On the other hand, plain butter cream is a gorgeous garnish if non-fruit flavors like coffee are added to it.
Choose decorations that give a finished look: grinded or whole nuts, candied dried fruit or chocolate curls and creams.
Sponge cakes, which can be served as a dessert or on their own, are very perishable, so eat them immediately after making them.
The perfect sponge cake
Preparing the sponge cake mold
If possible, use a cake mold with a removable bottom. Thus, the airy sponge cake is removed without damaging it. To prepare the cake mold, lightly grease it. The butter will make the pastry stick. Round molds are not lined, but in molds of a different shape, parchment is placed on the bottom, which is also greased with oil. Take 1 tbsp. flour and powdered sugar, mix them, pour the mixture into the mold and shake it to cover the entire bottom. Remove the excess. With the sugar, the pastry clings to the mold as it rises along its sides.
Flat sponge cake surface
To ensure a flat surface after baking, flatten the top and make a slight indentation in the center. As it rises, the dough will fill the indentation.
Chilling the sponge cake
Allow the fluffy baked sponge cake to cool in the mold for 5 minutes and remove the bottom. Turn it out to cool on a wire rack. Before you spread it, carefully peel the parchment paper from the bottom.
Surprise, surprise!
Make a surprise by cutting the cake layer horizontally in two. Carve out one half about 2.5 cm from the bottom and sides. Fill the center with whipped cream and berries and cover with the other half of the sponge cake. Put glaze on top. Crumble the carved out part, mix it with cream and fruit and freeze it – another wonderful pastry.
Glazes and sponge cake fillings
Fresh fruit cakes are best when topped with whipped cream, but flavored cakes such as chocolate or walnut are great with butter glaze or extra flavored butter cream. The glaze gives the cake a final shine.
Butter glaze
Necessary products: 50 g of butter, 100 g of sifted powdered sugar, 1 beaten egg yolk
Method of preparation: Beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until foamy and slowly add the egg yolk to make a hard glaze.
Variants
Add the finely grated peel of 1 lemon or orange
Add 1 tbsp. chopped walnuts
Add 25 g of melted chocolate to the glaze by beating
Put 1 tsp. cocoa and 1 tsp. dissolved Nescafé.
Decoration and putting the sponge cake together
For all types of cakes, the cooled sponge cake is divided into two or three layers. This is done on a hard surface with a bread knife held horizontally.
The sponge cake are stuck together with filling of choice. For the fruit tarts, fill the center of each layer with fruit and pipe out cream around the edge.
If each layer is to be spread with cream or butter glaze, use a flat knife and spread the filling so that 1.5 cm of the edge is uncovered. This is done because when a sponge cake is placed on top, the filling comes out.
With a flat knife, make patterns on the cake when it is completely covered with glaze or cream. Around the walls of the cake you can apply roasted nuts or chocolate curls.
