A sponge cake is one of those recipes, which is very easy and fun to make. No matter how much baking experience you have, this spongy goodness can be made quite easily. With no skill or expertise required, sponge cake is a versatile sweet recipe. Many people wonder that if there is a sponge cake recipe available, which can be termed as the best. Does such a recipe exists? Unfortunately, no! However, there are some similarities between various recipes, which define them as the best. Let’s see below the points that make a sponge cake truly great.

What truly makes a sponge cake its namesake is its distinctive sponginess. To bring out the sponginess in the cakes, the egg yolks and whites must be beaten separately in a bowl. Do not beat them strongly as there must be enough air bubbles present for optimum sponginess. If the eggs are beaten too vigorously, they will turn out compact instead of being fluffy. Meanwhile, if the eggs are beaten less, then the cake will turn out flaccid. The only challenge of baking a sponge cake is that you should know how to beat the eggs just right.

A fact about sponge cake is that it will not stay moist or fresh for very long. Their freshness can be prolonged by placing them in freezer or tightly wrapping them in a container. Otherwise, after a day or two, your soft sponge cake will turn unappealing and hard.

Mostly in all sponge cake recipes a similar characteristic is present i.e. the pan of the sponge cake should not be sprayed with cooking oil or cooking spray. The reason for this is that, if the pan is greased with oil then it does not get a “grip” to expand properly while baking. If the cake pan is not slick, the cake batter will not slide down and will expand to your desire.

Whatever recipe you choose to use, there are many ways to check whether your sponge cake is made or not.

1^st Method

·         Peek in the oven and observe whether the eggs are releasing steam or not. If there is still steam present then the cake is not baked yet.

2^nd Method

·         The cake should rise when you view it in the torch

3^rd Method

·         One of the most popular methods is the toothpick test. Insert the toothpick in the cake; if it comes out clean then the cake is done.

While it is debatable that there is a great sponge cake recipe out there, no one can deny about some certain things that,a baker should always take care when making a sponge cake. Best way is to note down all the finer points and then customize your own sponge cake.