Fluffy Sponge Cake

I'm back! Sort of. I've been on somewhat of a little hiatus with my blog this year. I don't know if it's quarantine or the fact that this hobby has been in my life for almost a decade or what, but I just haven't been as excited to document my cooking the past couple of months. I actually had a backlog of a few different posts sitting on my camera that I only just got around to editing and uploading. Basically, once those are posted, I'm not really sure where this blog goes from there. Maybe I'll only post when I'm really feeling inspired or maybe I'll get back into a groove after we're no longer confined to our houses and I can go and dine out and get excited about food again.

Cake is my favorite dessert and it seems like an appropriately celebratory kind of post to revive this blog with. One of my favorite kinds of cake is Japanese bakery-style; I love the cloud-like texture and the subtle sweetness. I'd been researching recipes for a while and ended up roughly following Jeannie Tay's recipe. The cake ended up being pretty delicious but I felt like the cake was just a little too dry. So, I made a few modifications - namely substituting the butter with oil - and the result was pretty fantastic.

To serve, I dolloped with lightly sweetened whipped cream and topped with some simply macerated fruit and it was the perfect little treat after dinner.

Ingredients:

4 eggs, separated

70 grams canola oil

60 grams light cream

40 grams + 80 grams sugar

100 grams cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

Separate the whites and the yolks. Set the whites aside briefly and focus on the yolks. Whisk in oil, cream, 40 grams of sugar, and cake flour.

Whip the egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until foamy. Continue whipping while slowly drizzling in the sugar until a thick meringue forms; peaks should be stiff and hold their shape.

Gently fold the whites into the yolk batter mixture until homogenous.

Pour the batter into greased and papered cake tins, either two 4-inch tins or 1 8-inch tin, and then place into a baking tray.

Pour hot water into the baking tray to create a water bath and bake at 300F for 40 to 45 minutes or until the tops of the cakes are golden.

Remove the cakes from the tins, remove the paper, and let cool completely.

Honestly, the cakes are delicious as is, but are even better with a little whipped cream and fruit. The cake itself is so light and airy and is a great complement for the tart fruit and rich cream.

Here's the recipe page: