Image is for illustrative purposes only.
This is a light, fast-whisked walnut sponge made with a cake emulsifier, which lets the whole eggs, sugar and water be whipped to full volume in one go. The batter is stable and forgiving, and the finished sponge comes out even, fine-grained and soft, with a gentle nuttiness from the chopped walnuts and a tender crumb that stays moist thanks to a little oil in the mix.
It is a very useful base layer for layered cakes and tiramisu-style desserts, because it soaks up syrup or coffee without collapsing and still holds its shape when cut. Bake it as a slab, cool it well, then slice it horizontally into thin layers or cut it to fit rings and moulds.
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: 1957
Number of Units: 1
Unit Size: 30 x 25 cm slab tray, about 4 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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880 |
17.6 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.
about 17 to 18 eggs
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room temperature |
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B
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80 |
2.7 fluid_ounces
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Water
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room temperature |
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C
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60 |
2.1 ounces
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Cake Emulsifier (ovalett)
Cake emulsifier, sold as Ovalett, Jilk or sponge gel, is a soft paste that helps fat and liquid stay combined and holds air in the batter. It gives a finer, more even crumb and makes the mixture much less likely to split when the eggs are added.
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D
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360 |
12.7 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.
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E
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100 |
3.5 ounces
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Walnut Pieces
Walnut pieces are shelled walnut kernels broken into rough chunks. They are sold ready-chopped and are cheaper than whole halves, which makes them ideal for folding through cake batters where the nuts are not on show.
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finely chopped |
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F
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300 |
10.6 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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G
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80 |
2.8 ounces
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Corn Starch
Corn starch, cornstarch, cornflour or maize starch or maize is the starch derived from the corn (maize) grain. The starch is obtained from the endosperm of the corn kernel. Corn starch is a popular food ingredient used in thickening sauces or soups, and is used in making corn syrup and other sugars.
also sold as corn flour
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sifted |
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H
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5 |
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Baking Powder
Baking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent, a mixture of a carbonate or bicarbonate and a weak acid, and is used for increasing the volume and lightening the texture of baked goods. Baking powder works by releasing carbon dioxide gas into a batter or dough through an acid-base reaction, causing bubbles in the wet mixture to expand and thus leavening the mixture. It is used instead of yeast for end-products where fermentation flavors would be undesirable or where the batter lacks the elastic structure to hold gas bubbles for more than a few minutes, or for convenience. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through fermentation, breads made by chemical leavening are called quick breads.
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sifted |
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I
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2 |
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Salt
Common salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in its natural form as a crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantities in seawater, where it is the main mineral constituent; the open ocean has about 35 grams (1.2 oz) of solids per litre, a salinity of 3.5%. Salt is essential for animal life, and saltiness is one of the basic human tastes. Salt is one of the oldest and most ubiquitous of food seasonings, and salting is an important method of food preservation.
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J
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10 |
2 teaspoons
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Vanilla Essence
Vanilla Extract is made with 100% pure vanilla beans. With a sweet, syrupy consistency, this Vanilla is ideal for use in icings, drinks and whipped cream as well as classic baking recipes. Vanilla Essence is commercially manufactured by chemicals and is more of a watery consistency as opposed to vanilla extract which is thicker and a lot fuller and richer in flavour. You can replace one with the other but use 50% more of essence. For example, for 1 teaspoon of extract, use 1.5 teaspoons of essence.
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K
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80 |
2.7 fluid_ounces
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Cooking Oil
Cooking oil is plant, animal, or synthetic fat used in frying, baking, and other types of cooking. It is also used in food preparation and flavouring not involving heat, such as salad dressings and bread dips, and in this sense might be more accurately termed edible oil. Cooking oil is typically a liquid at room temperature, although some oils that contain saturated fat, such as coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil are solid. There is a wide variety of cooking oils from plant sources such as olive oil, palm oil, soybean oil, canola oil (rapeseed oil), corn oil, peanut oil and other vegetable oils, as well as animal-based oils like butter and lard. Oil can be flavoured with aromatic foodstuffs such as herbs, chillies or garlic.
neutral flavoured
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room temperature |
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1957
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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 180°C (355°F) and line a 30 x 25 cm slab tray with baking paper. |
Oven fully up to temperature before the batter is whipped |
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2 |
Prepare |
Sift F, G and H (cake flour, corn starch and baking powder) together twice and set aside. Chop E (walnut pieces) finely. |
Dry mix light and lump free |
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3 |
Whip |
Put A, B, C, D, I and J (whole egg, water, cake emulsifier, caster sugar, salt and vanilla essence) in the mixer bowl and whip on high speed. |
Very pale, thick and at least tripled in volume; a ribbon of batter sits on the surface for a few seconds |
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4 |
Fold |
Fold the sifted dry mix through the whipped egg foam in two or three additions, using a wide spatula and a light hand. |
No dry flour showing, foam still airy |
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5 |
Fold |
Fold in the chopped E (walnut pieces), then drizzle K (cooking oil) around the edge of the bowl and fold it through last. |
Oil fully absorbed with no streaks; do not overmix or the batter will deflate |
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6 |
Fill |
Pour the batter into the lined tray and spread it level with a palette knife. |
Even thickness corner to corner |
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7 |
Bake |
Bake at 180°C (355°F) for about 25 to 30 minutes. |
Golden, springs back when pressed in the centre and a skewer comes out clean |
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8 |
Cool |
Rest in the tray for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper once cool. |
Completely cold before slicing into layers |
Important Notes
This batch makes about 1,957 g of batter, enough for one 30 x 25 cm slab about 4 cm high, or two 20 cm round tins. Once cold, the slab can be split horizontally into two or three thin layers, or cut with rings to fit moulded desserts. The sponge takes syrup well: brush the layers rather than soaking them, so they stay firm. Wrapped well, it keeps two days at room temperature, up to a week refrigerated, or it can be frozen flat for a month.
Tools & Arrangements
Electric mixer with whisk attachment, digital scales, sieve, wide spatula, 30 x 25 cm slab tray, baking paper, palette knife, cooling rack, serrated knife for slicing layers.
