Image is for illustrative purposes only.
This is a lean chocolate sponge built on just four things: egg, sugar, cocoa and cake flour. There is no butter and no oil in it, so it stays light and slightly dry on its own, which is exactly what you want under a mousse. It soaks up syrup readily and holds its shape when it is cut into discs or strips.
Bake it as a thin sheet and you can cut bases and layers for entremets, mousse cakes and roll-style desserts. The cocoa gives a deep colour and a clean chocolate flavour that sits behind the mousse rather than competing with it. Brush the layers with a little sugar syrup before assembling and the finished cake slices cleanly without crumbling.
Ingredients
The weights in the recipe table below will yield the following 'weight per unit' and 'number of units'. If you would like to change the recipe to cater to a different 'weight per unit' and/or 'number of units',
you can use the Recipe Calculator Tool below the ingredients table.
Note: The Recipe Calculator Tool is available to subscribers.
Weight Per Unit: 1350
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: 40 x 30 cm slab tray, about 1.5 cm high
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WEIGHT
(grams)
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ALTERNATIVE METRIC
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INGREDIENT
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IMAGE
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CONDITION
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A
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750 |
15 Whole Eggs
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Whole Egg
Eggs are one of the most common ingredients in a typical cake. Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in baking. Usually an eggs role in a cake is to add moisture and richness, act as a raising agent as well as a glue to bind the ingredients together.
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room temperature |
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B
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300 |
10.6 ounces
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Sugar
Sugar is the generalized name for sweet, short-chain, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. They are carbohydrates, composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are various types of sugar derived from different sources. Simple sugars are called monosaccharides and include glucose (also known as dextrose), fructose and galactose. The table or granulated sugar most customarily used as food is sucrose, a disaccharide. (In the body, sucrose hydrolyses into fructose and glucose.) Other disaccharides include maltose and lactose. Longer chains of sugars are called oligosaccharides. Chemically-different substances may also have a sweet taste, but are not classified as sugars. Some are used as lower-calorie food substitutes for sugar described as artificial sweeteners.
caster
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C
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75 |
2.6 ounces
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Cocoa Powder
Cocoa Powder (cocoa solids) is a mixture of many substances remaining after cocoa butter is extracted from cacao beans. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa, and cacao. In contrast, the fatty component of chocolate is cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is 50% to 57% of the weight of cocoa beans and gives chocolate its characteristic melting properties.
Cocoa solids are one of the richest sources of flavanol antioxidants. They are a key ingredient of chocolate, chocolate syrup, and chocolate confections.
unsweetened
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sifted |
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D
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225 |
7.9 ounces
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Cake Flour
Cake flour is a finely milled white flour made from soft wheat. It has very low protein content, between 8% and 10%, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher protein content of other flours would make the cakes tough. Highly sifted cake flours may require different volume amounts in recipes than all-purpose flour. Using the scoop and level method, well-sifted flour usually produces 125 g per cup. However, most American recipes are written with 140 g of flour per cup, so weighing and experimentation can be helpful in baking unfamiliar recipes. Small weight differences can greatly affect the texture. American Cake flour is bleached; in countries where bleached flour is prohibited, plain flour can be treated in a domestic microwave to improve the texture of the end product.
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sifted |
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1350
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Recipe Calculator Tool
Using this tool, you can alter this recipe for your own requirements. Use the two fields below to generate new weights for the ingredients above.
STEP 1. Enter your Custom Weight Per Unit
The 'Custom Weight Per Unit' is already loaded with the weight per unit for this recipe but can be changed if required. If all you wish to do is change the number of units (or servings), just leave the current weight per unit.
STEP 2. Enter your Custom Number of Units
This is the number of units (or servings) you want this recipe to yield.
STEP 3. Click Calculate
The new weights for your adjusted recipe will be displayed in the table above.
Method
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STEP
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ACTION
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DETAIL
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CONDITION
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1 |
Pre-heat |
Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (390°F) and line a 40 x 30 cm slab tray with baking paper. |
Oven fully up to temperature before the batter is mixed |
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2 |
Prepare |
Sift C and D (cocoa powder and cake flour) together twice and set aside. |
No lumps of cocoa left |
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3 |
Warm |
Put A and B (whole egg and caster sugar) in a mixing bowl and set it over a pot of hot water, whisking by hand until the sugar has dissolved. |
Mixture is lukewarm to the finger, about 40°C (105°F) |
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4 |
Whip |
Take the bowl off the heat and whip A and B (whole egg and caster sugar) on high speed until very pale and tripled in volume, then whip a further minute on low speed to even out the bubbles. |
Thick ribbon that sits on the surface for a few seconds before sinking |
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5 |
Fold |
Sift the C and D (cocoa powder and cake flour) over the whipped egg in three lots and fold through gently with a large spatula, scraping right to the bottom of the bowl each time. |
No dry streaks, mixture still light and aerated |
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6 |
Fill |
Pour the batter into the lined tray and spread it level with a palette knife, working quickly. |
Even thickness corner to corner, about 1.5 cm |
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7 |
Bake |
Bake at 200°C (390°F) for 8 to 10 minutes. |
Springs back when pressed lightly in the centre and the edges just begin to pull from the paper |
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8 |
Cool |
Slide the sponge with its paper onto a cooling rack and leave until cold, then peel the paper away. |
Completely cold before cutting or layering |
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9 |
Store |
Wrap the cold sponge in plastic film and keep it refrigerated, or freeze it flat. |
Well sealed so it does not dry out |
Important Notes
The halved recipe makes about 1,350 g of batter, enough for one 40 x 30 cm slab about 1.5 cm high, or two 20–24 cm rounds if you prefer thicker layers. The commercial sheet uses frozen egg pulp; at home, 750 g of whole egg is about 15 eggs without shell, and they whip best at room temperature. Because there is no fat in this sponge it will taste dry on its own — always brush the layers with sugar syrup before assembling with mousse. Wrapped well, it keeps three days in the fridge and up to a month frozen; cut discs while the sponge is still cold and firm for the cleanest edges.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with whisk attachment, large mixing bowl, pot for a water bath, fine sieve, large spatula, palette knife, 40 x 30 cm slab tray, baking paper, cooling rack, cake rings or cutters for portioning.
