It is the dream of every baker or would-be baker to master the skill set of making the most soft and moist sponge cake on earth. I am always game to experiment to find better recipes.
I came across this recipe that day quite by accident recently, by Josephine’s recipes, using the the 燙麵法 (Tang Mian Fa) methodology. I remembered reading this method so time ago but I never tried it. This round, I wanted to see if this method really makes the cake very soft and moist. 燙麵法 (Tang Mian Fa), as the name implies, is to “heat” the “flour”. According to Bakerpedia, once flour is heated, its ability to absorb moisture improve, while its protein content is unable to form gluten when the flour is hydrated. The heated flour will work well with high ratio baked goods such as cakes, cookies and muffins, resulting in improved texture, height and volume.
After following the recipe closely, I was amazed that the sponge cake turns out to be super soft, cottony and moist. I had adapted Josephine’s recipe, but reduced the sugar level as well change normal milk to soy milk which gives the sponge cake a delicate soy fragrance. You can switch back to normal milk if you prefer a more neutral taste.
In my experiment, I used 6″ cake tin (as pic below), resulting in the cake being very tall. I will suggest using 7″ cake tin for below recipe, so that the baked sponge cake is broader in diameter and not so tall, if you intend to decorate the cake. My kids prefer eating more of the cream and fruits than sponge cake, so having a tall sponge cake does not help much….
Apologies that I could not cut out one slice of the cake as I am going to decorate the cake later….
Please try it too!
First step to separate egg yokes and egg whites.
Under low heat, melt sugar, butter and soy milk. Then add in egg yokes one by one.
Sift in cake flour and salt. Mix well.
Beat the egg whites till soft, firm peaks. Then take out one scoop of egg whites mixture and add to egg yoke mixture, mix well. Pour the egg yokes mixture back to the egg whites mixture and mixed well. Pour into cake tin. Tap the cake tin a few times to let out any excess bubbles before putting into the oven.
Sponge cake should be baked under water bath condition, so as to keep the sponge cake moist and soft. After the baking, let the sponge cake cool down in the oven for another 15 mins before taking out.
Soft and Moist Sponge Cake Recipe (7″ cake tin)
Recipe adapted from Josephine’s recipes.
(Preparation time: 40 mins. For 3 – 4 pax)
Ingredients
5 small eggs (or 4 medium/large eggs)
71 grams butter
8 tbsp soy milk (non-sweet or reduced sugar)
2 tbsp caster sugar (original recipe is 4 tbsp)
12 tbsp cake flour (sifted twice)
1/4 tsp salt (original recipe is 1/2 tsp)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
4 tbsp caster sugar (original recipe is 8 tbsp)
Method:
- Pre-heat the oven to 140 oC.
- Line the base of cake tin with grease proof paper.
- Separate the egg yokes from egg whites.
- In a separate saucepan under low heat, add soy milk, butter and 2 tbsp sugar to it. Use a manual hand whisk to whisk the mixture until the sugar and butter has melted. Remove from heat.
- Slowly add the egg yokes, one by one, to the saucepan and use the hand whisk to whisk and mix, until all the egg yokes are well combined with the mixture.
- Slowly sift in the cake flour and salt. Use the hand whisk to whisk into a sticky mixture.
- In the separate bowl containing egg whites, add in Cream of Tartar. Use electric beater to beat the egg whites until it gets foamy. Then slowly add in the 4 tbsp sugar in batches as you continue to beat the egg whites until soft, firm peaks are formed.
- Use a spatula to scoop some egg whites into the egg yokes mixture, mixed well. Then slowly pour the egg yokes mixture back to the egg whites mixture, use spatula to mix well until combined.
- Pour the mixture into cake tin. Bake the sponge cake in water bath (In the oven, place a tray with hot water, and this cake tin be put onto this tray while it is being baked).
- Bake for 40 mins. Once the sponge cake is baked, off the oven heat, leave the sponge cake to cool down in the oven for another 15 mins.