My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
promote the rise.
I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds and
then folded in the remaining ingredients.
Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20 mins.
Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended up in a
trifle ! Any help please.TIA.

Pete

Firstly, anything with four whole eggs in it isn't non-fat. Four eggs are
going to have about 13 grams of saturated fat, which is equal to 117
calories.

Secondly, my experience has been that hand mixers just don't cut it for
speed or power when it comes to trying to get a cake to rise with air and no
leaven. A stand mixer is about the only way to go. If you only have a
hand mixer though you'll need to beat them for several minutes to get the
eggs to the appropriate degree of fluffiness.

Finally, you can't mix these things in plastic bowls, glass or stainless
steel only. And, once you have mixed the ingredients get it in the oven as
rapidly as possible. Don't let it wait for a few minutes while you answer
the phone.

That's my take on this, better luck next time. T


"Cumberpach" > wrote in message
...
> My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
> 4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
> Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
> promote the rise.
> I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds
> and then folded in the remaining ingredients.
> Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20
> mins. Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended
> up in a trifle ! Any help please.TIA.
>
> Pete
>

Firstly, anything with four whole eggs in it isn't non-fat. Four eggs are
going to have about 13 grams of saturated fat, which is equal to 117
calories.

Secondly, my experience has been that hand mixers just don't cut it for
speed or power when it comes to trying to get a cake to rise with air and no
leaven. A stand mixer is about the only way to go. If you only have a
hand mixer though you'll need to beat them for several minutes to get the
eggs to the appropriate degree of fluffiness.

Finally, you can't mix these things in plastic bowls, glass or stainless
steel only. And, once you have mixed the ingredients get it in the oven as
rapidly as possible. Don't let it wait for a few minutes while you answer
the phone.

That's my take on this, better luck next time. T


"Cumberpach" > wrote in message
...
> My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
> 4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
> Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
> promote the rise.
> I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds
> and then folded in the remaining ingredients.
> Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20
> mins. Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended
> up in a trifle ! Any help please.TIA.
>
> Pete
>

Cumberpach wrote:

>My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
>4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
>The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
>Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
>promote the rise.
>I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds and
>then folded in the remaining ingredients.
>
Usually one separates the egg whites and yolks for this sort of cake,
beats the whites until stiff, sets them aside, then beats the yolks,
adds the other ingredients to the yolks, mixes some more, and then
gently folds the beaten whites into the rest of the batter.

If the egg whites don't trap the air, the cake can't rise.

If you did that, it wasn't reflected in your description.... and I've
never gotten egg whites stiff in 30 seconds....

Mike

G'day all;

....
>> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
Just out of curiosity, what's the attraction of "non-fat" recipes?


Dusty
....

G'day all;

....
>> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
Just out of curiosity, what's the attraction of "non-fat" recipes?


Dusty
....

"Cumberpach" > wrote:

>My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
>4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
>The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
>Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
>promote the rise.
>I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds and
>then folded in the remaining ingredients.
>Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20 mins.
>Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended up in a
>trifle ! Any help please.TIA.

Did you use the whisk, or the chopping blade? Did you use whole eggs
or egg whites? If whole eggs, there's fat in the sponge.

Either way, you didn't whisk the eggs nearly enough. 30 seconds
*might* be enough to mix the eggs for an omelette, but doesn't get
nearly enough air into them for a sponge.

You really should use a hand whisk if you've got one, or a proper
whisk attachment for the mixer. Whisk whole eggs until they're lemon
colored and fluffy, whites until the form soft peaks (when you pull
the whisk out of the eggs, you get a soft peak following the whisk).
--
Jenn Ridley :

"Cumberpach" > wrote:

>My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
>4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
>The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
>Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
>promote the rise.
>I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds and
>then folded in the remaining ingredients.
>Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20 mins.
>Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended up in a
>trifle ! Any help please.TIA.

Did you use the whisk, or the chopping blade? Did you use whole eggs
or egg whites? If whole eggs, there's fat in the sponge.

Either way, you didn't whisk the eggs nearly enough. 30 seconds
*might* be enough to mix the eggs for an omelette, but doesn't get
nearly enough air into them for a sponge.

You really should use a hand whisk if you've got one, or a proper
whisk attachment for the mixer. Whisk whole eggs until they're lemon
colored and fluffy, whites until the form soft peaks (when you pull
the whisk out of the eggs, you get a soft peak following the whisk).
--
Jenn Ridley :

>My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
>4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
>The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception
of
>Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to

>promote the rise.
>I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30
seconds and
>then folded in the remaining ingredients.
>Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20
mins.
>Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended up
in a
>trifle ! Any help please.TIA.
A one is to one ratio among eggs flour and sugar is classified as a
sponge sandwich type .
>From the result
Your egg foam is under beaten. and technically speaking the batter
specific gravity approaches 1.0 like water. Meaning there was no
aeration!
Another things the total batter weight is only 12 ounce that is good
only for one 8 inch pan.
If you are using two pans you should double the recipe.
Ensure first that your eggs are at least room temperature and not
directly from the fridge.
If you want to beat it properly do it at high speed , usually takes
from 5-10 minutes with stand mixer but longer with hand held mixer.
One time I remember took me 30 minutes to beat the whole egg sponge
with a hand mixer to the desird end point!
It does not matter whether you use a metal bowl , plsstic or ceramic
/china as long as its clean( free from fat / oil).
When properly done
1)The egg and sugar mixture should be thick and lemon yellow that by
drawing the spoon on the surface you can create a crease that very
slowly smoothens out. However if it does not return it is on the way to
being over beaten.
2)Another way is to observe if the beater whip marks are distinct in
the egg foam and that is also another indication that your are doing
well.
3)Another things you can hasten the beating time by having the eggs
heated to lukewarm before beating it.
.. Another technique is to heat the sugar until warm in the oven and add
it to the eggs while beatinga at high speed.
You should exercise also caution in folding process of the dry
ingredients, do it gently with hand fingers spread apart while stirring
the mixture to incorporate.
When your place the finished batter into the prepared pans it should be
not more than 2/3 deep of the pan thickness.
Keep in mind that your indicated recipe is good for one round pan only
as I stated above.
Roy

Cumberpach wrote:
> My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
> 4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the
> exception of Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses
> whisked-in air to promote the rise.
> I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30
> seconds and then folded in the remaining ingredients.
> Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for
> 20 mins. Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they
> ended up in a trifle ! Any help please.TIA.
>
> Pete

I've made lovely sponge cakes with great height without having to separate
the eggs or use a stand mixer. You really do need to mix for a much greater
period of time than you are. I usually use high speed for about 30 seconds
just to start the eggs, then add the sugar and beat forever. The electric
hand mixers here in Japan are only about 80 watts--about the same power as a
light bulb--so it's about 5-10 minutes for a 2 egg (or maybe it was one),
70g sugar, 70g flour, 1 T milk mixture. Once the batter has reached a
ribbon-like stage, you can sift in the flour, fold, then add the milk.
Worked well for me!

http://community.webshots.com/photo/...83218108oXvVYc for a picture.
This cake was about 4 inches high--it's a small cake, though.

rona

--
***For e-mail, replace .com with .ca Sorry for the inconvenience!***

"[America] is filled with people who decided not to live in Europe. We
had people who really wanted to live in Europe, but didn't have the
energy to go back. We call them Canadians." ---Grover Norquist in
Newsweek, November 22, 2004

Cumberpach wrote:
> My first attempt at a sponge, the recipe :
> 4 eggs, 4 oz sugar, pinch salt and 4 oz plain flour.
> The cook book suggests sponges are non-fat recipes (with the exception of
> Genoese). It also suddests no raising agent and uses whisked-in air to
> promote the rise.
> I used a Braun-type hand electric whisk on the eggs for about 30 seconds and
> then folded in the remaining ingredients.
> Greased and floured 2 x 8" sandwich tins and baked at 200C/400F for 20 mins.
> Total rise, less than half inch and very hard texture - they ended up in a
> trifle ! Any help please.TIA.
>
> Pete
>
>
If you add 4 oz butter you might get a very very tasty cake :-D
... beat it ...

Joschi

Thanks all - I'll try again tomorrow and write a postmorten.

Pete

"Cumberpach" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks all - I'll try again tomorrow and write a postmorten.
>
Success ! Looks like a light sponge and tastes like one. Increased the
ingredients by 50% and separated the eggs. Thanks to one and all.

Pete

>Success ! Looks like a light sponge and tastes like one. Increased the

>ingredients by 50% and separated the eggs. Thanks to one and all.

Pete
That is good...but only a partial success
As you have not solved youe puzzle....that is by beatimg whole eggs
with sugar and incoporating the flour can you still be able to get a
sstifactory sponge cake.?
If you had done this latter part satisfactorily then you really made it
and that you reallyunderstood what sponge cake is. and how it was
originally made.

"Roy" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> >Success ! Looks like a light sponge and tastes like one. Increased the
>
>>ingredients by 50% and separated the eggs. Thanks to one and all.
>
> Pete
> That is good...but only a partial success
> As you have not solved youe puzzle....that is by beatimg whole >eggs with
> sugar and incoporating the flour can you still be able >to get a
> satisfactory sponge cake.?
> If you had done this latter part satisfactorily then you really >made it
> and that you reallyunderstood what sponge cake is. and >how it was
> originally made.
>
Thought I'd try the eggs separated method first, but it is a bit of hassle.
Wednesday, my wife is making apple and rhubarb crumble (we have a glut of
rhubarb in the garden).
I'm in charge of cakes, so this w/end, I'll do your non-separated method and
use it in a Battenburg cake.

Pete