The Best Ever Sponge Cake Recipe
To serve in the sunshine...
I've both cooked and devoured many sponge cakes over the years and this is my favourite recipe - it works every time. Here’s to tea and cake outside in the sunshine…
Recipe from Joanna Wienberg’s Cooking For Real Life
I've used the time-honoured, accurate method for making this cake, by weighing the eggs in their shells (they will be around 240g) and then measuring out exactly the same amount of butter, flour and sugar.
For this cake, you can do whatever you like to sandwich it together - while raspberry jam is the classic filling, whipped cream and fresh raspberries are always a welcome summer alternative.
This is also a great recipe for cupcakes - simply drop spoonfuls of the mixture into paper cases and bake for 8-10 minutes. How you decorate them is up to you - sometimes you want the full buttercream icing extravaganza, at others, a simple dusting of icing sugar is best.
makes 1 x 20cm round cake
you will need …
2x20cm springform or loose-bottomed tins
Butter, for greasing
4 medium eggs
About 240g butter, softened
About 240g self-raising flour, sifted
About 240g caster sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
Raspberry jam or fresh raspberries
and whipped cream, to fill
Icing sugar, to dust
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas .4
Lightly grease the tins and base-line with baking parchment. Weigh the eggs. Measure out exactly the same weight of butter, flour and sugar.
Place the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat them together - an electric beater of some kind really helps - until pale and fluffy. This will take 10 minutes or so, but really is worth the effort.
Beat together the eggs and, spoonful by spoonful, incorporate them into the creamed mixture with the electric beater; take it slow or it will curdle. Finally, with a metal spoon, fold in the baking powder and flour, one quarter at a time, until well mixed in, but try not to overwork.
Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 25 minutes, until the middle feels springy to the touch. Alow to cool slightly before turning out of the tins, then transfer ot a wire rack to cool completely.
Peel off the paper and sandwich the flat sides together with raspberry jam or raspberries and cream. Dust the top with icing sugar.
Enjoy!