Un sponge cake It is a sweet preparation that represents a living memory in Argentine families, because it is often shared with coffee, a hot mate or a glass of milk. Just perceiving its aroma makes you evoke pleasant past circumstances and that you are about to relive, staying present in the family setting.
El cake spongy, super light and fluffy is made with egg, sugar and vanilla. To obtain it, the use of flour, yeast, or fat is not needed. Beating the eggs, separately the whites and yolks with the sugar, at least with electric rods, then carefully integrate. When baked it is super fluffy.
To the ingredients of a sponge cake you can add, among other things: lemon zest, dried fruit, chopped nuts or chocolate. It can also be varied by filling it with pastry cream, dulce de leche, strawberry or another fruit. It can be used to make a cake, tres leches or other desserts.
Types of biscuits
One of the most common classifications of biscuits is made according to the fat that is added to it in its preparation. Each one is described below.
light biscuits
The light biscuits do not have any extra fat in their preparation, they will only have the little contribution of the fat that the eggs contain.
heavy biscuits
Heavy cakes are those that have a fat in their ingredients that can be butter, margarine or oil. Due to the addition of extra fat, they lose sponginess, therefore, it is frequent that if they contain fat, it is necessary to add a yeast or baking powder that compensates, and it turns out to be spongy.
History of sponge cakes
The word biscuit comes from the Latin “biscoctus”. The Romans prepared them by baking them in the oven, then taking them out of the mold and baking them again. As a result of so much time in the oven it was very dry. The benefit of so much firing was durability.
It is said that the preparation of sponge cake, somewhat similar to how we know it today, was the creation of an Italian pastry chef named Giobatta who lived in Madrid in the year 1700. In its beginnings, sponge cakes did not differ much from the bread of the time. corresponding, only that it was sweetened with honey and some affirm that the Romans added nuts to them.
In Europe, in the XNUMXth century, with the advent of technology in terms of ovens, baking containers and having refined sugar, brought about the rise of biscuits. They were baked by placing the preparation in rings that were placed on flat trays.
At this time, dried fruits were still incorporated into the preparation as the Romans did. On the other hand, the initial glazes were made with diluted, boiled sugar and egg whites. Once prepared, the cake was bathed with the glaze and returned to the oven, which when cooled was left as a shiny and hard crust.
In the 1894th century there are records where it is observed that the cake is already very similar to the current one. These records include: recipe contained in "The Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book (XNUMX in London)" and also records in France of the chef "Antonin Careme (1784-1833)”.
sponge cake recipe
Ingredients
1 and a half cup of flour, 5 eggs, half a cup of sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, half a cup of milk, vanilla essence, zest of 1 lemon or a small orange according to taste, dulce de leche, pistachio or peanuts to garnish.
Preparation
- Add the baking powder to the flour, sift and set aside.
- Place the egg whites and yolks in separate bowls. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Reserve.
- To the yolks add the sugar, vanilla, orange or lemon zest. Beat with an electric whisk until the egg yolks have lowered the intensity of their yellow color. Then add the milk and flour, beat with rods a little, just until the ingredients are integrated. Remove the electric rods.
- With a spatula, add the reserved beaten egg whites to the previous mixture with enveloping movements.
- Grease and flour a baking dish approximately 25cm in diameter, add the mixture obtained in the previous step and bake at 220 °C for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Let cool, divide into two parts by a horizontal division, fill with dulce de leche and add chopped pistachio or peanuts on top.
- Ready the sponge cake. Enjoy!
Tips for making a delicious sponge cake
- Modifications can be made to the above recipe cake spongy, adding to the mixture any of the following ingredients, among others: cocoa, ground almonds or their powder, grated coconut, chopped nuts, dried fruits, such as raisins.
- Since the sponge cake can be soaked with liquid, it is perfect as a base for the preparation of the dessert called tres leches. Also, it can be imbibed with liquor or with a preparation that contains it.
- You can also embed the sponge cake with lemon juice with icing sugar or, failing that, refined sugar beaten in a blender without adding liquid.
Did you know….?
Each of the ingredients used in the preparation of the recipe sponge cake described above, provides nutrients that benefit the body. Here we specify the most important benefits:
- The wheat flour that is part of the preparation provides carbohydrates, which are transformed into energy by the body. The fiber it contains helps the proper functioning of the digestive system. It contains vitamin B9 or folic acid, which is very beneficial for pregnant women. It also provides minerals such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron and calcium.
- When the sponge cake It is filled with dulce de leche, said sweet contains very important protein in the health and creation of the body's muscles. In addition, it contains vitamins: A, D, B9 and minerals: phosphorus, magnesium, zinc. And calcium.
- The eggs that are part of the preparation of this recipe provide more protein to the dish, in addition to providing vitamins A, D, B6, B12, B9 (folic acid), E. It also provides all the amino acids that the body needs for its proper functioning.
