Skip to main content

Chocolate Sponge Cake


Chocolate Sponge Cake
Source: Maida Heatter's Cakes (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2011 ed.), pg. 71.

The directions for this cake were so odd that I found myself doing a double-take and re-reading them over and over. Apparently though (unless there were typos in the book), they are correct - the long beating time for the eggs, using a wet pan, and adding the sugar only one tablespoon at a time - very odd. I am still not sure if I did it all correctly - the cake did not rise up in the pan as much as she said it would (almost to the rim) but the taste was wonderful. It is very light, as a sponge cake should be, and has a very mellow chocolate flavor. We ate it with strawberries. Delicious!

3/4 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. powdered instant coffee or expresso
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)
6 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar

Preheat the oven to 325. Place a 10x4 inch angel-food tube pan (the kind with a loose rim) in the sink (for later).

Sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon, expresso (or coffee powder) and cocoa. Resift it six more times.
 
Beat the eggs with the vanilla at high speed until the eggs rise to the top of the bowl.

Transfer the eggs to a mixer bowl and whisk at high speed for about 12-15 minutes until the eggs have thickened.
Still whisking, add the sugar one tablespoon at a time (this will take about 3 minutes).
Lower the speed of the mixer and add the sifted cocoa mixture, one tablespoon at a time. Do not beat longer than necessary or you will deflate the eggs.


Run cold water into the cake pan, then pour it out, leaving the pan wet.
Pour in the batter.
Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until the top springs back when lightly pressed.
After the cake comes out of the oven, turn it upside down
on a wire rack and let it cool completely. Use a sharp knife to cut around
the edges of the pan to remove it.
Labels:

Comments

Lindsey @ American Heritage Cooking said…
A wet pan!?! That's crazy. The cake looks delicious though so it must have been right!
September 5, 2014 at 5:04 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints

Palm Beach Brownies with Chocolate Covered Mints Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. viii. I made these brownies again a few days ago and they were just as good as ever. This time I made half with York Peppermint Patties and the other half with Andes mints. There wasn't a noticeable difference in taste. The ones with the Andes mints were pretty with the mint green color but the ones with Yorks are equally pretty. When Maida Heatter's first book (the above-mentioned title) won the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame Award in 1998, she accepted her award on stage and began to toss out these brownies to the audience. Everybody clamored for one and went wild. The original recipe came from a local deli in her area and did not include the mints (that recipe is available in the first edition of this book). She tinkered with the recipe and added the mints which do not melt during baking. I've been itching to ...
9 comments
Read more

Mulattoes

Mulattoes Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.) , pg. 199. Of the hundreds of Maida Heatter cookie recipes, this may be the most famous. These are chunky but soft, extremely chocolaty,  full of nuts and chocolate chips. Sinfully delicious! They are easy to make. The trickiest part may be the baking time. After making them numerous times, I have learned to only bake them 10 or 11 minutes at the most, then remove them and allow them to sit on the hot baking pan for about 5 minutes. They will be extremely soft to the touch but eventually they firm up nicely.  I just use my hand mixer for these. Although the recipe states that it makes 18 large cookies, I find that the yield is slightly higher, even when making them fairly large. I use a tablespoon scoop to form the cookies. 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate 3 oz. (3/4 stick) butter 1/4 cup sifted all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking pow...
12 comments
Read more

Frozen Chocolate Mousse

Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.) , pg. 228. Here is a dessert sure to make any chocoholic swoon. Silky and decadent, this frozen mousse is like a rich chocolate ice cream. It is really easy to make - all the folding required will give you a workout but it is worth it! The crust can be made with crushed wafer cookies or you could even buy a ready-made crust. If doing your own, the instructions say to apply the crumbs around the sides of the pan (use a springform pan) but I did not do this - I just made a bottom layer. You will have to run a sharp knife around the pan before releasing the catch on the pan. The mousse is soft (even after freezing) and it will need to be put back in the freezer as soon as possible after serving. Maida Heatter recommends covering the mousse with either whipped cream, strawberries or chocolate leaves. I did not do either, it looks lovely without a topping. Crust 8 oz. choc...
5 comments
Read more