sponge cake

I've always seen spongecake defined as a cake without butter at all. I beat 6 whole eggs and 1/2 tsp salt to a thick cream, add 1 cup sugar, beating gradually and continuing to beat till the whole mass is very thick and pale and like soft whipped cream. Then i add a cup of flour, or flour and cornstarch, or flour and cocoa, always a cup total, or even flour and ground nuts or just ground nuts. fold together, and bake. It's not a great cake to eat as is, because it has this spongy consistency and is extremely light, but works well with light fillings, like whipped cream.

Sponge cake....

Myself I make the genoise sponge, that has butter and is delicious to eat, plus it has many uses like petite fours etc, I have also made it into Swiss roll, oops sorry I mean jelly roll.
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup flour sifted.

A fat less sponge as you say not much on flavour but much easier to work with, great for jelly rolls etc...... qahtan

yeah, i always heard the butter sponge called "genoise" and the non-butter one called "spongecake" - I actually prefer the butter not to be melted if i make a butter-type-sponge, but to bring it to room temperature and mayonnaise-like consistency and then fold it in at the end it seems to give a better texture that way (I don;t really like genoise either, I have to say, but this seems to come out differently).

Butter assist in the structure of the cake has it binds with the other ingredients.
Flour gives the cake structure and the eggs give it structural stability, since eggs coagulate when exposed to heat.
Rgds Rook

genoise

Do you mean you can fold the soft butter into the egg and sugar mixture.
I have never tried that way, what sort difference does it make.

qahtan

My impression is a creamier texture of the final product, less rubbery, more creamy. It's not a scientific study, just a few cakes i've made that way, but i notice a difference.

Speaking of genoise earlier in the thread, I was wondering what an ideal genoise should be in terms of texture. Like siduri I've made them quite a few times and each time they're pretty dense cakes, despite carefully folding every ingredient, beating egg whites to medium peaks at most, etc, etc.

I know that fat in general inhibits the formation of bubbles in egg whites, lubricates proteins causing gluten to not be formed, etc. and is this what's happening to a genoise when butter is incorporated? Certainly lady fingers and angel food cakes aren't dense in the same way genoise are.... or am I simply making them incorrectly?

genoise

My genoise is never dense, it's a very light butter sponge, I use it a lot, just plain or maybe chocolate, but it is never any thing other as I said a very light butter sponge.
I will admit to one time when my S I L was with me in the kitchen and I beat the flour in, hence it went flat as a pancake, so that's what I made the batter into, added milk a tad more flour, and made it into crepes. they were super.
qahtan

OK, can I drive over and watch you make it? I'm still not sure why I'm strangely frustrated by it. :)

Genoise....

Sure you can, after all you are not far away in Waterloo, I was in Cambridge yesterday, I am in St Catharines. :-))) qahtan

The genoise that I make /bake as I said in an earlier post tastes and is a nice butter tasting light sponge cake. This is what I do.

1/2 cup salted butter melted but NOT hot
6 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup A P flour sifted.

Place the eggs and sugar into mixer bowl, and place bowl over hot water, I do mine in the sink with water from hot tap. Stir to get contents of bowl warm but not hot or you will start to cook the egg.
I then mix with the whisk at high speed until the eggs and sugar look like thick custard and have tripled plus in volume.
I then remove bowl from mixer and FOLD in alternating the flour and the melted butter, I do this with a large wire whisk.
I bake this in many sizes, and bake at about 375, 25 minutes if I am making a sandwich sponge that I will have a filling in.
You will find that this sponge cake will rise evenly, with no hump in the middle. Enjoy,,,,,qahtan

You can have a light genoise, a heavy genoise, a genoise with butter, a genoise without butter - they are all still a genoise sponge and it all depends on the ratio of eggs, flour, sugar, and the addition of butter/fat, nuts, other dry ingredients etc.

Genoise ( warm method) is a term that is specific to the "production" method of the cake/sponge and is not a reference to the list of ingredients which make the recipe.

BTW the butter should always be melted, added at the end and lightened with a portion of the egg emulsion before being incorporated into the mixture.

If I was adding butter I would add 10-15% to give a good "mouth feel" a richer, slightly denser product with a nice buttery colour to the sponge.

Genoese sponge cake.

This is the Swiss roll I made this morning as per recipe I posted in an earlier post above, the butter cream filling was not chilled that is why it is not a clean cut.
qahtan

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58...urebroc019.jpg

I have always drizzeled butter in the barrer just as I'm finishing up folding in the flour. Never dense. I even drizzel butter in my oh what's the ladyfingers.

qahtan's photo:



The buttercream looks awfully dark... did you add anthing else to the filling?

Sponge cake....

Yes, very strong coffee,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,qahtan

Good info and tips from you all there! This is my 1st post so i hope its right, i've searched for a thread & this is the closest i can find so here goes: on the subject of sponge can anyone advise me on baking at altitude (2500 metres) i'm working in a ski chalet & have been advised that traditional sponge recepies 'fail'. I leave in four days so i could do with some sound recepies.