Traditional Sponge Cake

Sponge cake is based on flour, sugar, butter and eggs, leavened with baking powder which gives it a firm sponge like structure. In the United Kingdom a sponge cake is produced using the batter method, while in the United States cakes using the same method is referred to as butter or pound cakes. In Trinidad and Tobago thanks to our English influence we also call these cakes sponge.

Prior to 1843 sponge cakes were made without baking powder but after an English food manufacturer by the name Alfred Bird created baking powder that enabled the cake to rise higher, and sponge cakes were never the same again.

My mother has been a baker for over thirty (30) years specializing in wedding cakes and the making of sponge cake has been done hundreds of times in our home and thanks to that making it is like second nature.

The recipe below is my family’s version of sponge cake and I do hope that it can be yours as well.

Ingredients

1 Butter

2 cups granulated sugar

4 eggs

3 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup milk (water or orange juice could also be used)

1 tablespoon vanilla essence

¼ teaspoon salt

Method

Grease and flour 1 large cake pan or two small ones

Cream butter and sugar until light & fluffy

Add eggs one at a time beating well after each one

Add vanilla essence

Sift flour and baking powder together

Add in flour, in three batches, mixing lightly after each addition of flour

At this point you have the option of adding a little colour or even cocoa, I'll be using pink food colour to create a marble swirl to one of my cakes.

For this, scoop out tow (2) pot spoons of batter into a small bowl and add a couple of drops of food colouring and mix well.

Divide remaining batter into two (2) and place into your baking tins. In one of them spoon the coloured batter in sections , and using a fork, skewer or knife lightly swirl in the coloured batter.