Sponge Cake with Cream and Berries {Gluten-Free}

I guess I am back to blogging for a little while, and even though holidays are slightly longer than last time, I won’t be posting too much unfortunately. Mainly because I have some school work to do. So now onto the blog post, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did creating it for you.

As per usual, the past term has been pretty busy. Assignments, exams, late nights not overly different.  I’m not the type of person who sleeps in, and it’s actually quite weird going to bed at nine-thirty instead of eleven-thirty, and cooking and watching Masterchef instead of studying.

This recipe is actually from my Auntie, and I used to make it with my Mum when I was a kid. The only problem with the recipe is that although it tastes good, the sponge does deflate significantly when the cakes come out from the oven. Basically, fill the tins with quite a lot of batter (almost to the top), then they will appear to rise a lot in the oven and sink when taken out.

This mainly occurs due to the significant amount of air from the egg whites and the melted butter so the balance between the air and fat is not overly good. And the egg whites cannot handle all that liquid. Trust me, I have tried a lot of recipes that do cook a lot better but unfortunately, the taste is not as good.

This cake is light and fluffy whilst buttery at the same time. The cream, berries and flowers easily cover up any mistakes.  I am also very sorry that I didn’t get any photos of the inside and cake slices.

So I hope you enjoyed this post, and I actually saw this quote on Instagram that I really resonated with: “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about un-becoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place” (unknown). Thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful week!

 

Sponge Cake with Cream and Fresh Berries

Ingredients

• 8 large eggs, separated
• 135g caster sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 60g cornflour (cornstarch)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 250g unsalted butter, cut into 2cm cubes
• 500g cream
• Fresh berries (e.g. strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)
• Edible flowers (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C. Grease and line three 6-inch cake tins (or two 8-inch cake tins) with baking paper.
2. Beat egg whites to soft peaks, starting on low speed then gradually increase the speed.
3. Gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, then beat until stiff peaks form and sugar has dissolved.
4. Add the egg yolks and 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste, and beat on high speed for 2 minutes ensuring to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
5. Meanwhile, sift together the cornflour and baking powder then sift again into the batter. Beat on low speed until just combined.
6. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and bring to a boil, and whilst it is still warm, gradually pour it into the mixture on low speed. Beat until everything is just combined, and fold by hand to ensure everything is well mixed.
7. Distribute evenly between pans, and bake reduce oven temperature to 200°C then bake for 5 minutes. Finally, bake for a further 20 minutes at 180°C – or until golden brown, and a wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool for 30 minutes in the tins, then turn cakes onto a wire rack and remove baking paper. Then allow to cool completely.
9. To assemble, whip cream and remaining 1 tsp vanilla bean paste to stiff peaks.
10. This is optional, but feel free to trim and level cakes, with a serrated knife and cake leveller for more even layers.
11. Add a little bit of cream to the bottom of your cake stand or platter.Then place your first layer of cake on the cake stand.
12. Spread cream on the first layer, fill with fresh berries and then add the next layer of cake. Repeat for the remaining layers.
13. Decorate with remaining cream, berries and flowers.