Tall, flat, tasty, airy but perfect is the way to describe this sponge cake. You can use this recipe for all cakes but it is the best for fruit cakes. Prepare 6 eggs and separate the whites from the yolks then into a stand mixer, add in the egg whites. Start whipping the egg whites and when they start to foam, add sugar slowly in three additions.
Once all the sugar is added, increase the speed to medium-high and whip until they reach a stiff peak. To the meringue, add the 6 egg yolks, one peel of lemon zest, and its lemon juice, beat them in just until combined then stop. Mix the soft wheat flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and a pinch of salt then with a sieve, add the dry ingredients into the meringue mix.
From this point, you will switch to a spatula so that you do not overmix the batter and incorporate air in the batter for a fluffier, softer cake. Fold the flour in the batter gently until all the dry ingredients are moistened. It should be smooth but you should not overbeat it. For the cake pan, use a 26 cam diameter mold but you can also use other shapes or sizes.
Butter the bottom and sides of the cake mold with butter/ oil then sprinkle lightly with flour. Lightly pour the batter into the prepared cake tin then prepare a kitchen paper that is slightly moistened to be moist, it needs to be long so it can line the mold. Take an aluminum foil long enough to coat the cake mold and line it with the moistened kitchen paper.
Fold the moistened paper into the aluminum foil then line it on the outside of the cake mold and tighten the hoop. Bake this cake at 160 degrees Celcius oven for 50 minutes. Once baked, free the cake from the mold and allow it to cool on a wire rack.
Ingredients:
- 6 eggs
- 180 g/ 6.3Oz (1 cup) of sugar
- 120 g/ 4.2Oz (1 cup)of soft flour
- 80 g/ 2.8Oz of corn starch
- 8 g baking powder
- 1 lemon – peel and juice
- a pinch of salt
Instructions;
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks and whisk the egg whites for only about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you get a completely firm and frothy mass.
- Add the rind and juice of 1 lemon and stir for another 20 seconds. Add the egg yolks and stir for about 10 seconds.
- You won’t need a mixer anymore.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and a pinch of salt, and gradually add this mass to the egg bowl with a sieve or strainer.
- Mix this with a spoon and not a mixer.
- Mix with light movements, gradually adding the mass with flour.
Grease a 26 cm diameter cake tin with butter and lightly transfer the biscuit mass to the mold.
Bake at 160 degrees (320F) for about 50 minutes.
