Basic Vanilla Sponge

If you had tried following the Basic Chocolate Sponge recipe, you will understand why I love it so much. It's light and airy, it won't put you on a guilt trip and most importantly, it's chocolatey yet not overwhelming! Because of which, it compliments anything from classic crème chantilly, fruits, nuts and of course, more chocolate! You might have already polish off a good half of the cake without knowing (always the case in my family)!

With each great chocolate cake recipe, there will, of course, always be an awesome vanilla equivalent. This is usually achieve by replacing the cocoa powder and putting back a slightly lesser amount of flour. In which case:

I had wanted to share the vanilla counterpart many moons ago, but after receiving feedback from a fellow baker that the recipe didn't work for her, I decided to hold back. It has always worked for me and I have no idea what went wrong. In any case, I worked on the recipe, focusing on the texture, test it over and over the past few months and this is what I arrived at.

Basic Vanilla Sponge (makes 8" Round)

Mixture A
     5       Egg Yolks
   60g     Castor Sugar

Mixture B
   40g     Milk
   70g     Corn Oil
     3g     Vanilla Extract

Mixture C
   75g     Top Flour
   25g     Corn Flour
     5g     Baking Powder

Mixture D
     5       Egg Whites
 100g     Castor Sugar

Preheat oven to 160ºC 
1. Grease and line the cake tin.

• "how to line a round cake tin"
• "how to line a rectangle/square cake tin"

2. Stir (B) till homogeneous, reserve. Sift (C) and reserve.

3. Using a whisk attachment, whisk (A) till colour is pale and volume has doubled.

4. Reduce the speed of mixer and slowly add in Mixture (B) till combine. Add in Mixture (C) and whisk till batter is thick, smooth and lump-free. Transfer batter to another bowl, wash and clean mixer thoroughly.

5. Using the whisk attachment, start whisking the Egg Whites till before soft peaks and gradually add in the Sugar. Stop whisking when meringue turns glossy and just reaches stiff peaks.

6. Gently stir in 1/3 of the meringue into the batter to lighten the mixture. Gently fold in the remaining meringue with your hand (recommended) or preferred tool till no white spots can be seen.

7. Pour into prepared tin. For round tins, bake 40-45mins or till cake tester comes out clean. For rectangle/square tin, bake 30-35mins or till cake tester comes out clean.

8. Cool completely before frosting or slicing. I've tried cooling both upright and overturn, it didn't make any significant difference I can spot, so I think it's fine to use whichever way you find most convenient.

These photos are from the various occasions I made the sponge (for different applications). I've used this revised recipe 7 times and it worked beautifully every time so I feel comfortable enough to blog about it. As you can tell, my decorative skills still suck.

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