Orange Scented Sponge Cake

Print Print | Print Email this to a friend | July 27, 2008
Filed Under basic, cake, dessert, recipe

orange sponge

I made this Fresh Orange Sponge Cake from my The Fannie Farmer Baking Book. It is a classic and really nothing about it needs changing. It is light and the orange gives the cake a fresh flavor that isn’t overly sweet. I combined it with a dacquoise, strawberry whipped cream and home made jam to make a birthday torte for my stepmother. Even though there is no butter or oil in the cake I find it moist enough that I didn’t use a simple syrup soak. But you certainly could add it for flavor.

Fresh Orange Sponge Cake from The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup egg whites (about 8 large whites)

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup yolks (about 6)

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons orange zest

1/3 cup fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare 2 9-inch round cake pans with parchment, no butter.

sifting

Sift together the flour and salt twice; set aside.

orange sponge

In your mixer beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar, continue to beat until the whites are stiff but moist,

orange sponge

and stand in soft peaks peaks. Set aside.

orange sponge

In a separate mixing bowl, beat the yolks until they are thickened slightly, then slowly add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar.

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Continue to beat until the mixture is thick and lemon-colored.Add the orange zest and juice, blend well.

orange sponge

Sift 1/2 the flour over the egg yolks.

orange sponge

Fold the flour into the eggs. Repeat with the rest of the flour.

orange sponge

Add 1/3 of the whites to the yolk mixture and gently fold in. Continue with the next 1/3 of egg whites.

orange sponge

Add the last 1/3 of whites and fold gently until they are well combined.

orange sponge

Spread the cake batter into the two ungreased pans.

orange sponge

Bake for about 30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

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Invert the cake pans and let stand this way until the cake is completely cool.

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Flip over, run a knife around the sides and tap the cake gently out of the pans. Frost with your favorite icing, use in trifle, a summer torte.

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Comments

7 Responses to “Orange Scented Sponge Cake”

07/28/08 8:42 am	Amanda said... loving those layers! so thin and crisp. I have a hard time getting mine to turn out that way. How do you cut your layers?
07/28/08 12:57 pm	grace said... yes, the cake is lovely–you do good work. however, i’d take a pastry bag full of strawberry whipped cream and just squirt it down my gullet. yum!
07/28/08 1:02 pm	zoe said... Thank you! Amanda, I use a super slicer knife that is sharp, serrated and very long; a perfect combo for cutting cakes. Grace, you assume I didn’t! Actually my 7 year old got to it first! Zoë
07/29/08 8:54 pm	courtney said... May I ask how tall those cake pans are? They look taller than mine (the standard ones you find in places like bed bath and beyond).
07/29/08 10:15 pm	zoe said... Hi Courtney, Excellent question! My pans in that picture are 3-inches tall x 8-inches. I call for 9-inch cake pans in the recipe, because I figured many people won’t have such tall pans. If you use your regular 9-inch pans you will be all set. Thanks for noticing and bringing it to my attention. I’m sure others were quietly wondering what is up with my tall pans! Zoë
02/4/09 12:05 pm	francesca said... I would like to know how many egg whites do you use for this cake. It does not state. Thank you
02/4/09 5:18 pm	zoe said... Hi Francesca, The way I wrote the 8, for some reason created an emoticon in its place. Very strange! Thanks for letting me know. I’ve fixed the recipe! Zoë