Flat Sponge

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

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;

...

Just out of curiosity, what's the attraction of "non-fat" recipes?

Dusty ...

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 : snipped-for-privacy@chartermi.net

seconds and

A one is to one ratio among eggs flour and sugar is classified as a sponge sandwich type .

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

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!

for a picture. This cake was about 4 inches high--it's a small cake, though.rona

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

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.

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