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Hot Water Sponge Cake
Yolks 2 eggs Whites two eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup flour 3/8 cup hot water or milk 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract 1/4 teaspoon salt Beat yolks of eggs until thick and lemon-colored, add one-half the sugar gradually, and continue beating; then add water, remaining sugar, lemon extract, whites of eggs beaten until stiff, and flour mixed and sifted with baking powder and salt. Bake twenty-five minutes in a moderate oven in a buttered and floured shallow pan.
A small, lean sponge that depends entirely on air beaten into the eggs and on hot liquid to dissolve the sugar. It comes together in minutes, but it will not forgive a heavy hand at the folding stage.
- Fold, do not stirOnce the beaten whites and the flour go in, work with a spatula and as few strokes as possible. This batter has no fat to protect it, so overmixing collapses the foam and gives a tough, shallow cake.
- 3/8 cupSix tablespoons. Measure it rather than eyeballing, as the ratio of liquid to flour is what keeps this cake tender.
- Hot means hotThe recipe calls for hot water or milk, and it should go in hot so the sugar dissolves in the yolk mixture rather than staying granular.
- Moderate ovenRoughly 350-375F in modern terms. Much above that and the thin batter risks setting a crust before it has finished rising.
- Shallow panSomething on the order of an 8-inch square or 9-inch round tin, buttered and floured as directed, suits the twenty-five minutes given; test with a skewer, which should come out clean, and the top should spring back when pressed.
- Baking powderBaking powders have changed since this was written, and a modern double-acting powder may act more strongly. Measure the 1 1/2 teaspoons level; excess can give a coarse crumb and an off taste.
- Lemon extractA quarter teaspoon of extract is easily replaced by the grated zest of half a lemon, beaten in with the yolks, if you prefer a less perfumed flavor.
- YieldA single thin layer, six to eight modest servings. Sponge cakes of this type stale quickly; eat it the day it is baked, plain or with fruit and cream.