Sponge cake double layer turned into solid hard slab of almost egg? f

[Stupendousseptember]

What did we do, choclate mouse and sponge cake?

What is the name of the recipe?

I recognise that, it’s an Annie Bell, I think!

OK, that’s a fatless sponge. You do need the egg and sugar to be super light and fluffy, and lightly fold the flour through.

It uses larger than standard tins, too.

You have to handle the batter INCREDIBLY lightly and gently. In this case, you’ve knocked all the air out.

Did you follow the instructions and beat it for 10 actual minutes? That is so much longer than you think!

It's the mice. They're very dense.

It’s a traditional fat less sponge.
Did you whisk the egg enough?
Also the flour needs to be folded in, very gently, in a figure of eight motion. Minimal folding - just enough to incorporate the flour- no more.
A fat less sponge needs a very light hand.

@GolgafrinchamB

Wow, yes it is!!
First time we have cooked from her book, i think she used to do dailymail cakes?

Could be a number of things. ‘Folding in’ the flour can easily go wrong; I would have used self-raising instead of plain, too, to ensure the cake rose. Oven temperatures vary, so invest in an oven thermometer (available from Dyas/Amazon or similar). Your oven may have been too cool and/or too humid for the job; you need a reasonably hot fan oven.

Worth pointing out that this ‘cake’ isn’t a cake at all, really, but a soufflé. And any recipe writer who thinks that a soufflé can support a double layer needs to go (back) to cookery school.

I don’t know, but I’ve had that book for around 15+ years a d it’s a good one.

Her lemon drizzle is fantastic! I also recommend the chocolate cake made with oil and decorated with Smarties - absolutely foolproof and stays moist for days. I use her amounts of coffee and walnut to make two 20cm sandwich cakes, it’s a good one too

If you look at other fat free sponges it is usually 75g flour to 3 eggs, therefore I think it is a misprint and should have been 150g of flour.

@GolgafrinchamB

Thank you, I've also got the Xmas one but never really used it.

Thank you everyone for the great tips!

Unfortunately it was a bday cake but we will definitely try again and be "lighter of hand".

@GolgafrinchamB which Annie Bell book is it please? I need one which has some foolproof cakes!

You need to fold the flour in quickly but lightly with a metal spoon so you don't knock the air out. If you are too heavy handed the air ,which makes the sponge rise, will just be beaten out, and you will be left with a 'biscuit' texture.

Gorgeous Cakes

Nigella's Domestic Goddess also has some good reliable cakes too.

Why don't you just make a normal sponge?

175g of butter, flour and caster sugar
3 eggs

X

This!

@GolgafrinchamB super, thanks

200g each of fat, SR flour and caster sugar, and 4 large eggs is what I use for a 2 x 20 cm tin sandwich sponge cake. Roughly 25 mins in the oven at 160 fan.

Always works fine. Mind you my trusty old Kenwood Chef does all the hard work.

Plain flour and no raising agent (baking powder, baking soda etc) = quiche

Or at least it should say to separate the eggs and whisk up just the whites to get some air in the batter.

That's not how you make a fatless sponge though. And you don't need baking powder either. You whisk up the whole eggs with caster sugar for ages to incorporate lots of air then very gently fold in flour. It makes a very light sponge. You can even roll them up to make a traditional Swiss roll.

It sounds like you need a pretty powerful motor on your electric mixer to get the batter to the right consistency. A stand mixer, rather than an own-brand hand-held.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER I think the point is though, that recipe is a Victoria sandwich, a sponge is fatless and doesn't have self raising flour. It only rises because enough air has been whisked into the mixture.I've made Sharlotka cake this morning and I've had to leave it to whisk for ages to get it right.