Sponge Cake Recipe

hitatotatus

If your cake is rising too much in the middle, the temperature is too high. Pre-heat your oven to exact temp in recipe before putting the cake in. If you get a peak then it is trial and error for the recipe you are using, just turn it down a little the next time you make it.
You can always slice the peak off and cover with some type of icing.

Pitlanepiglet

On oven temp point, if you're using a fan oven then drop the temperature in the recipe by 10 degrees and reduce the time by 10 minutes per hour -just keen an eye on it for a sponge and be ready to take it out a bit earlier.

Penny_Watcher

Leviathan2009 wrote: »

And the secret to a level base is?

Seriously this is driving me nuts now - I need to lay to rest the idea that young men cannot bake!

If you want a completely flat topped cake then you can slice the risen top off, flip the cake over and use the flat bottom as the new top. After icing no-one would know the difference. :whistle:

midnightraven3

:cool:i really cant understand people do that for pleasure

i spent some of this morning making a (quorn) cottage pie
when i finished, kitchen was spotless, and so was i

just made a sponge
what a mess
and i look like casper:rotfl:

stressful, messy and since i dont like sweet things, i dont even have something i would enjoy

hats off to the bakers
not for me
i'll stick to making cookies:D

casperlarue

It must be true then that you can either bake pastry or cakes but not both.....builders could use my pastry for hard hats!

So I'm sticking to sponge cakes, my secret is to mix the eggs butter and sugar together for ages with an electric whisk until it is light, creamy and leaves ribbons on the surface. Then gently fold in the flour and cook on a low heat for even rising. I usually go for 150deg in a fan oven.

Linda32

casperlarue wrote: »

It must be true then that you can either bake pastry or cakes but not both.....builders could use my pastry for hard hats!

.

I'll agree with that, I can make savory pastry. I could fashion a hard hat out of a bun loaf, though.

owtfornowt_2

taplady wrote: »

4 eggs

8oz SR flour
8oz margarine
8oz sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder.

cream the fat and sugar and beat in the eggs one at a time with a little of the flour sieved in(and BP) then stir in the remaining flour.

grease tins and use a bit of greaseproof on bottom. bout 20 mins 180C - ish depending on your oven.

Simple and has never failed me yet!

Thank goodness - some one else uses the same recipie as me. I was getting all confused with this weighing off the eggs....:D Though I have to admit I just chuck everything all in & whisk with an electric hand mixer to get some air into the mixture.

I've never had any complaints about my sponge cakes & usually take a batch of them into work with various types icing on them, where my work colleagues are either really polite or do actually like my cakes!!

ps never had a problem with lack of rising in the middle using this method...

skintchick

Bumping this so I can find it tomorrow! Great tips in this thread.

Kay_Peel

Sorry for being thick but when people say 'weigh the eggs' do they mean

in their shells or without shells?

misskool

I weigh mine in shells and then equivalent of flour, sugar and butter. I don't have a mixer, do it by hand and it's still good