Featherlight Sponge Cake Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F/325 degrees F fan-forced. Grease and flour two deep 8-inch round cake pans.
• Beat eggs and sugar in small bowl with electric mixer until thick, creamy and sugar is dissolved. Transfer mixture to large bowl; fold in triple-sifted dry ingredients. Divide mixture between pans.
• Bake sponges about 20 minutes. Turn, top-side up, onto parchment-covered wire rack to cool.
• Sandwich sponges with jam and cream.

Steps:

• Serving suggestion: Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with milk
• Arrange a rack in the upper 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Butter and flour a bundt pan or tube pan. (You can use a mixture of cocoa powder and flour instead of flour, to prevent white spots on the cake.)
• In a standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer, cream the butter until light and fluffy. Mix in the sugar. One at a time, mix in the eggs, then the vanilla, occasionally scraping down the mixing bowl.
• Meanwhile, in another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Add 1/3 of the flour mixture; then 1/3 of the ice water. Repeat, mixing after each addition. Transfer the batter to the pan and bake until springy and dry, about 40 to 45 minutes.
• Let cool in the pan on a rack, then carefully turn the cake out. Just before serving, sift confectioners' sugar over the top. Serve with very cold milk!
• Notes about the recipe: When I developed this recipe I was just looking for a good, reliable dark cocoa cake that could sit on the counter over the weekend and be enjoyed in slivers, craving by craving. This cake is really moist and keeps for days. I just finished one that's been hanging around the kitchen for 6 days! You could frost it with creamy white icing but it hardly needs it. My friend Lana's mom June was one of the best cooks I knew as a kid in the '60s and she did a cake by the same name, though the recipe handed down to me from her daughter is a bit different.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325°. Let eggs stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Sift flour and salt; set aside. , In a large bowl, beat yolks until slightly thickened. Gradually add 1 cup sugar, beating until thick and lemon-colored. Blend in water and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to yolk mixture; mix well. , In another bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually beat in remaining sugar, about 1 tablespoon at a time, on high until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved. Fold a fourth of egg whites into the batter, then fold in remaining whites., Gently spoon into an ungreased 10-in. tube pan. Cut through batter with a knife to remove air pockets. Bake on the lowest oven rack until cake springs back when lightly touched, 55-60 minutes. Immediately invert the pan; cool completely. , Run a knife around side and center tube of pan. Remove cake to a serving plate. If desired, serve with ice cream topping.