Sponge Cakes

There are four main types of Sponge Cakes, such as Biscuit Sponge, Genoise, Angel Food Cake and Chiffon Cake. There are also derivatives such as the Jaconde Sponge worthy of a special mention.

Biscuit Sponge:
This type of sponge cake contains both the egg white and yolks in the recipe. They are however first separated; whipped separately (egg whites and sugar to make a meringue) then mixed back together. In this type of Sponge cake; the eggs are the raising agent in the recipe. Chemical raising agents are not used in this recipe traditionally. The resulting foam batter is very light. The Biscuit Sponge cake is a bit dryer than most sponge cakes, but holds its shape very well. It can be used to make just a regular sponge cake for different types of cakes and tortes; it can also be used to make Swiss rolls. It is also known to be used while making Lady-finger cookies. This sponge is usually moistened with syrup, fruit juice or some kind of liqueur to give it moisture and flavour.

Genoise:
This type of sponge cake is made with whole eggs (no separation); this technique is a bit more involved as opposed to the Biscuit. Eggs are mixed with sugar and heated over simmering water then whipped. You must ensure that you constantly whip the egg mixture so the eggs don’t cook and become scrambled eggs. Make sure the bowl you’re mixing in doesn’t come into contact with the water in the pot below. The pot of water should not come to a boil; it should simmer. Whisk the egg mixture on top of the water about 3-5 minutes; until the bowl is warm to the touch or until it gets to about 110°-120°F (43°-49°C). Whipping the eggs over heat allows them to whip to a greater volume. After the eggs and sugar have doubled or almost tripled in volume; add some melted butter and fold gently - then add the flour and fold. The eggs are used as the raising agents; this is why you need them to double or triple in volume.  Genoise cakes tend to be light, airy and a bit moist; but they can also be moistened with syrup for flavoring and to add more moisture. These types of sponge cakes can be used in Forrest cakes assembly. They are also used as layer cakes (e.g. in making a cake called Fraisier); they’re torted into a few layers and filled with fruits, fruit preserves, pastry cream or frostings such as whipped cream or meringue butter-creams.

Angel Food Cake:
This type of sponge cake is made with egg whites alone, no egg yolks. The egg whites are whipped; then a fine granulated sugar is added and whipped until very firm. The flour is then very gently folded in. This gives a very white, airy and fluffy cake; it does tend to be dry in texture. This type of sponge can also be moistened with sugar syrup, then filled with whipped cream and also garnished and filled with fruit; they go very well together (the fruit and cream). This Sponge cake also uses the egg whites as the raising agents traditionally.

Chiffon Cake:
This is a cross between a sponge cake and an oil cake. We refer to it as a sponge cake that ‘cheats’. This sponge cake contains both a fat and a chemical raising agent; oil and baking powder, in the ingredients list. The eggs are also separated; the whites are beaten until stiff. All the other ingredients are combined in another bowl to make a smooth batter like a pancake batter; the beaten egg whites are then folded into the ‘pancake’ batter. The result after this mixing process is of a lighter sponge cake texture, but with a rich flavor like butter/oil cakes. These cakes are generally layered and filled with fillings and frostings. They don’t always require decoration especially when used in Chiffon cake pans or Bundt pans; you can just dust some icing sugar on top or drizzle a little bit of glaze. You can however decorate with whipped cream or meringue butter-creams if you prefer.

Jaconde Sponge:
It is a type of Biscuit Sponge. A lot of pastry chefs use it for the assembly of different types of cold desserts or entremets. Generally, it’s used by pastry chefs and rarely by bakers. It’s a sponge cake that’s baked like a rectangle, very thin. The difference between a Biscuit and a Jaconde is that you add some almond flour or almond meal. When you finish baking it, you then add sugar syrup or just sugar to keep it moist. It’s used for a lot of assembly of entremets and other types of pastries.