I made this cake today for some of my friends. I think they enjoyed it, I’m not really sure, but I hope so. It is sort of the first sponge I made so I think it was successful. I have made it before for lamingtons but I have never made it alone, just to eat.
Ingredients
95g self-raising flour
25g cornflour
4 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar, 2 tbsp extra for the egg whites
1 tsp of vanilla essence
1/4 tsp cream of tartar, I replaced with 4 tsp of lemon juice because I had no cream of tartar
Cream and strawberries to top
Method
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius. Grease and line a circle cake pan. Sift the flour and cornflour together, and set aside.
Using an electric mixer, whisk together egg yolks, the 100g of caster sugar and vanilla essence for 2-3 minutes, until thick and mouse like. Set aside.
Whisk egg whites until starting to froth, then add cream of tartar or lemon juice and continue to whisk until stiff but not dry. Whisk in the 2 tbsp of sugar gradually.
Fold a large scoop of whisked egg white into the beaten yolks, to slacken the mixture, then fold in the sifted flour and finally egg whites, until just combined.
Turn the mixture into the prepared tin, gently smoothing the top. Place in oven, reducing the temperature to 170 degrees Celcius, and bake for 30 minutes. Check if the cake is cooked before taking it out of the oven by very gently pressing with an index finger to check if the centre of the cake is firm. If so, remove from the oven and check the d’être with a very fine skewer – it should come out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack, to make sure the top is nicely set.
Once cooled, split the cake by cutting with a sharp knife into two even rounds. Top the base with whipped cream and strawberries, then place the second cake layer on top.
Note: Recipe is not my own – The Great Australian Cookbook- Margaret Fulton and Suzanne Gibbs