Sponge cake, whether you know it as génoise or pan di Spagna, is a light, sweet, delicate cake rich in eggs. These cakes are made from egg foams with very little or no added fat. To add moisture, sponge cakes are often liberally brushed with sugar syrup. Fill the cake with whipped soft Ganache, or make a simple filling by spreading lightly sweetened whipped cream and sliced or diced fresh fruits between layers. Add a final layer of whipped cream on top and garnish with a few perfect fresh berries or slices of fruit.
Ingredients
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly butter two 8-inch cake pans and line with parchment paper.
- Sift the flour twice and set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla extract to the melted butter, and stir to combine. Set aside to cool.
- Combine the sugar, eggs, and egg yolks in the bowl of a stand mixer and set the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisking constantly with a wire whisk, heat until the mixture is warm to the touch or reaches 110°F on a candy thermometer.
- Remove the bowl from the heat and attach it to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip the eggs on medium speed until the foam is 3 times the original volume and no longer increasing in volume, about 5 minutes.
- Fold the flour into the egg mixture using a rubber spatula. Blend a small amount of the batter into the melted butter and then fold the tempered butter into the remaining batter.
- Fill the prepared cake pans about two-thirds full. Bake until the top of each layer is firm to the touch, about 30 minutes.
- Let the layers cool in the pans for a few minutes before turning out onto wire racks. Let cool completely before finishing with frosting and filling.
For Chocolate Sponge Cake: Replace 1/2 cup of the cake flour with cocoa powder. Sift the cake flour and cocoa together twice. Proceed as directed.
