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Sponge Cake
Mrs. W. Arthurs.
Four eggs, two cups sugar, two cups flour, one-half cup cold water, three teaspoonsful Cook's Friend; beat the eggs separately,
A hot-water sponge in the plainest form: no butter, no flavouring, and the leavening doing work the eggs would normally do alone. Note that the printed text breaks off mid-sentence at "beat the eggs separately" — the remaining method has to be inferred from ordinary practice.
- Cook's FriendA Canadian baking powder, sold since the later nineteenth century and still made. Substitute an equal amount of ordinary baking powder. Three teaspoons for two cups of flour is at the top of the usual range; modern double-acting powder is likely stronger than what was sold under this name in the 1870s, so two teaspoons may be closer to the intended lift and less likely to leave a soapy aftertaste.
- Cup measureTake the cup as 8 fl oz. Two cups sugar is about 14 oz / 400 g; two cups flour, spooned and levelled, about 8.5-9 oz / 240-255 g. Because both are measured by volume, the sugar outweighs the flour, which gives the crisp, sugary crust characteristic of this style.
- Eggs beaten separatelyThe method is cut off, so this follows ordinary practice: whip the yolks with the sugar until pale and thick, then beat the whites to soft peaks and fold them in last, alternating with the sifted flour and baking powder. The cold water would go in with the yolk mixture. Folding, not stirring, is the hinge of the whole recipe.
- OvenNo oven direction is given in the text. A moderate oven, 350F / 175C, suits this batter.
- Pan and timingThe original names no tin. This quantity fills a 9-inch tube pan or two 8-inch rounds. Expect 30 to 40 minutes for a tube, 22 to 28 for layers; it is done when the top springs back and a skewer comes out clean.
- No flavouring givenNineteenth-century sponge cakes were commonly flavoured with lemon rind, a little lemon juice, or rose water. A teaspoon of grated lemon zest is in keeping and covers any residual egg flavour.
- CoolingBecause there is no fat, the crumb is fragile while warm. Invert the pan and let the cake cool completely before turning it out, or it will compress.
- YieldAbout 10 to 12 slices. Served plain with fruit or tea, or split and filled with jam and whipped cream.
The Home Cook Book (Toronto, 1877) is generally credited as Canada's first fundraising cookbook, compiled "by ladies of Toronto and chief cities and towns in Canada" in aid of the Hospital for Sick Children, and its recipes carry contributors' names as this one does. Sponge cake appears in nearly every community cookbook of the period, made without butter and leavened largely by eggs whipped to a foam. The recipe also calls for three teaspoons of Cook's Friend, a sign that chemical baking powder had reached Canadian kitchens and that cooks were willing to combine it with their egg foam.