Fail proof basic layer sponge cake

How to make great cakes

It might sound counter intuitive, but the best way to make great cakes is to not search for and store up recipes. Once we know we have landed on a good recipe, we don’t switch recipes when it doesn’t work after the first time. We keep trying until it works.

When it finally works, we’re not tempted to try another recipe just because it promises to be better in some ways. We stick through thick and thin and when we’ve finally mastered it, we explore and create new flavours and new exciting ways of using it, instead of always hunting for new basic recipes.

Sounds like a marriage advice, but it is easier to KISS. Tenacity always works. Here’s my proposal: find a great recipe and get married to it if you want to bake and once you are committed, you can create hundreds of recipes from it! Don’t look around after you have settled, whether for this sponge or another that you already like. Well, I mean you can try other recipes once in a while, but don’t forget to go back to your main recipe.

It is confusing what a sponge cake is. Google doesn’t help. While some say it originates from Italy, some say it is from Spain, some Americans even call the pound cake a sponge cake. Some say to use only the eggs as the leavener, like the Jews do for their Passover, there are others that prefer the help of baking powder.

Why Make a Sponge Cake

First, why make a sponge cake? Whether you are trying to make the simple French’s madeleines, the German’s black forest gateau or the Japanese’s fancy roll cakes or the Singapore pandan cake, they all call for the sponge recipes, and therefore we need to learn how to make a simple sponge. There are many ways to achieve that moist, light, low fat cake that is so flexible.

Some recipes call for a separation of eggs making a meringue first. Others include creaming the fat with sugar. There are so many recipes. For me, the best recipe must be easy to execute and easy to remember, flexible and a delight to use. Who wants to slave in the kitchen!

I did some research for a cakeshop level kind of moist layered cake. The steps sound like a lot, but they are actually quite easy:

Make a good sponge cake, and take all the steps to keep all the moisture in.
Use the trick of sprinkling a flavoured sugar syrup over it before you ice the cake. Nobody will guess your cake is overbaked even if you did overbake it.
Decorate the cake to keep the moisture in.
If you need to keep the cake fresh for a longer period of time, freeze rather than refrigerate it. The freezer creates small ice molecules in the cake that defreezes nicely into a moist cake.

The Layered Sponge

It looks complicated, but this is really an easy cake to make.
Even if you happen to fail, just throw out the failed bake and try again!
Once that sponge is mastered, then spend the time to experiment with:

Flavours that you like: examples of some favourites are pandan, matcha, chocolate, tea leaves, vanilla or natural or artificial colors.
Add fruits, how about durians and mangos, berries and seasonal fruits.
Use creams, add alcohol, liquer.
Make the cake look good: add interesting decorations.