You will be surprised by the simplicity of this recipe which produces a soft, fluffy and delicious sponge cake without butter and baking powder. You can always make a perfect sponge cake with this recipe every time. Start by preheating your oven to 170 degrees Celcius then line an 18 by 6 cm(7 by 2.3 inches) round cake pan with parchment paper.
Place your eggs in a bowl of a stand mixer then add sugar and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture has increased in volume and it’s pale and fluffy. since this cake is only leavened with eggs along with beating the time required to reach a maximum volume. Add in vanilla extract and beat for a few minutes until well incorporated. Combine the dry ingredients starting with the flour, cornstarch, and salt, and then sift it into the egg batter.
Sifting your flour5 removes lumps and adds air, resulting in a lighter, fluffier cake. You can always add the flour in batches and fold it gently with a spatula until all the flour is completely incorporated into the batter. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until well risen, golden brown and a toothpick inserted at the centre of the cake comes out clean.
A significant factor to consider is not to open the oven for the first 25 to 30 minutes when baking otherwise the sponge cake may collapse. Once the cake is baked, turn off the heat and open the oven door just a crack and let the cake rest for 5 minutes then take it out of the oven and leave it in the pan to cool for another 5 minutes.
You can then remove the cake from the pan, peel off the parchment paper and transfer it to a wire rack to cool completely. Your genoise sponge cake should be tall, soft, light, fluffy, beautiful and delicious. You can dress this cake up in so many ways with chocolate ganache frosting, berries, and whipped cream or you can cut it into layers and spread your favourite filling. Whatever you choose will be delicious. Enjoy.
Ingredients;
- 200 grams / 7 oz grams eggs room temperature (about 4 medium eggs)
- 140 grams / 5 oz light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp vanilla
- A pinch of salt
- 120 grams / 4.2 oz pastry flour
- 40 grams /1.4 oz cornstarch
Instructions;
- Line an 18 by 6 cm(7 by 2.3 inches) round cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer, beat in 4 medium-sized eggs with sugar until doubled in volume, soft and fluffy then add in vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients then sift them in batches into the egg batter.
- Start folding the dry mixture into the butter slowly until all the flour is well combined in the batter.
- Pour the batter into the parchment-lined cake tin and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted at the centre of the cake comes out clean.
- Do not open the oven for the first 25 minutes otherwise, the cake may collapse.
- Once baked, let the cake cool before slicing and frosting. Enjoy.
