Tag: sponge cake

Orange Swiss Roll

Somewhere along the way, “make fluffier Swiss roll sponge cake” became one of my baking goals. I’m proud to say that last week’s orange Swiss roll, my Easter dessert, yielded a very fluffy sponge. Paired with the delicious orange curd I had left over from our seder, this orange and almond sponge turned out very well.

How does one achieve fluffy Swiss roll sponge? You can go with a different prep method than I’ve used below; many bakers find success by separating their eggs and mixing the yolks with the other ingredients, then whipping up the whites to a meringue and folding them in just before baking. Given all the baking I’d done for Passover, I wanted to go with a simpler solution, so I started by giving my sponge a full 12 minutes of baking before I checked it to keep as much heat in the oven as possible. My sponge baked for about 13 minutes before I pulled it; I also let it cool for about 2-3 minutes before I rolled it, and didn’t roll it as tightly in the towel for cooling. Success!

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • zest from 1 Valencia orange
  • Orange curd, for filling
  • Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 10 x 15 x 1 pan with parchment. Place a lint-free tea towel on a heatproof surface (I use a cutting board) near your oven and lightly dust it with powdered sugar.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs until foamy, then slowly add the sugar, beating on medium speed until the mixture is thick and a light lemon color, about 5-7 minutes; add almond extract and orange zest just before you stop beating. When the batter is done, it will fall from the whisk in a ribbon, then mound on top of the batter before blending back in. Gently fold in the flour mixture so you don’t lose volume, but make sure you get all the streaks of flour; they can hide in the fluffy batter.

Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading with a spatula to create an even layer. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until the top is golden brown and springs back when you touch it. Remove from oven, then quickly and carefully flip your cake onto the powdered sugar-sprinkled tea towel. Gently peel the parchment away and allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes before rolling. Starting at one of the short ends, roll the cake up in a spiral and allow to cool on a wire rack completely before filling.

When cool, unroll the cake and spread on the orange curd. Re-roll and dust with powdered sugar. If not serving immediately, wrap the cake in plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator. Makes about 8 servings.

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Citrus Cake

This weekend’s theme seems to be “tastes delicious, but the texture needs work.” Yesterday afternoon I whipped up a foam/sponge cake, similar to what you’d use for a jelly roll but without the actual rolling. It’s too chewy, and I’m not really sure why. Did I over-mix it? Under-bake it? It’s not nearly as light and airy as my spice roll was at Thanksgiving, so I’m going to have to get back into the kitchen and see where things went wrong. I actually suspect I under-baked it and didn’t give the cake enough time to rise.

In any case, this creation is one that, had the texture turned out well, I think would have made the judges of the Great British Baking Show proud. My blood orange curd features in both the filling and the frosting, so flavor-wise this is a wonderful combination of citrus and vanilla.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest from 1 blood orange

For the frosting & filling

  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 1/2 tablespoons blood orange curd, divided
  • 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 10 x 15 x 1 pan with parchment.

In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs until foamy, then slowly add the sugar, beating on medium speed until the mixture is thick and a light lemon color, about 5-7 minutes; add vanilla and zest just before you stop beating. When the batter is done, it will fall from the whisk in a ribbon, then mound on top of the batter before blending back in. Gently fold the flour mixture in (I used my whisk attachment for easy clean-up).

Pour batter into parchment-lined pan and bake for 12-14 minutes, until the top is golden brown and springs back when you touch it. Remove from the oven and flip onto a cooling rack, then gently peel the parchment away. Allow to cool completely before filling and frosting.

While the cake cools, make the frosting: in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and cream cheese until completely smooth. Add 1 cup powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon curd, beating until smooth; add remaining powdered sugar and curd, then beat until totally smooth.

Place frosting in a piping bag and remaining 1/2 cup curd in another piping bag; set aside.

Trim edges of the cake to create three equal rectangles (you can save the scraps and have them as a snack with some curd later). Place bottom layer on a platter and pipe a border of frosting around the edge, then fill the inside with curd. Repeat with the second layer, then top with the third layer. Pipe remaining frosting on the top.

Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes about 8 servings.

Victoria Sponge

What better way to celebrate the royal wedding than with a traditional English dessert? I’ve wanted to bake a Victoria sponge for a while now, and yesterday’s Harry-and-Meghan-extravaganza presented the perfect opportunity.

Victoria sponge, also called a Victoria sandwich or Victorian cake, was named for long-reigning British monarch Queen Victoria. This simple cake is an absolutely delicious treat; two layers of cake filled with raspberry jam and whipped cream. The cakes themselves are very easy to make, requiring only butter, sugar, eggs, self-rising flour, and baking powder; no extracts of any kind. You might wonder if they’ll turn out bland, but trust me, they don’t. The tart raspberry jam and sweet whipped cream go a long way to complement the cakes, which are a bit like pound cake. This recipe is adapted from Mary Berry’s Victoria sandwich from BBC Food; I measured all of my ingredients by weight for the cakes, rather than volume, to ensure that my ratios were correct.

Ingredients

  • 8 ounces (1 cup) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pans
  • 8 ounces superfine sugar*
  • 4 eggs, at room temperature
  • 8 ounces self-rising flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 cup raspberry jam
  • 2/3 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tablespoons powdered sugar

*To make superfine sugar, place regular granulated sugar in a food processor and pulse to a fine consistency, like sand. 

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two 8-inch round cake pans with butter, then line each with a circle of parchment.

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until combined; add eggs one at a time, beating after each addition. Mix in flour and baking powder.

Divide batter evenly between the two cake pans, leveling the tops with a spatula. Bake for 20 minutes, then check to see if cakes are done; they will be golden brown on top, have pulled away from the sides of the pan, and will spring back when pressed lightly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 5 minutes; run a butter knife around the edge of each cake and turn onto a wire rack to cool.

Once cakes are cool, place one layer on a cake plate (handling very gently using a large spatula – my cake cracked easily when I started to move it). Top with raspberry jam.

To prepare whipped cream, place cream and powdered sugar in a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip at high speed for a few minutes, until soft peaks form. Be careful not to over-whip your cream, or you’ll end up with butter!

Drop whipped cream in dollops over the jam and gently spread to cover the whole surface. Top with remaining layer of cake; dust the top with powdered sugar if desired. Store, covered, in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Most recipes note that Victoria sponge is best eaten within about 12 hours after it’s made.