Chocolate Sponge Cake

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Chocolate Sponge Cake Cut-Outs

Have Fun with Your Food

Food is important because it provides the nutrients your body needs to grow and the energy for all the things you do. But, food can be fun, too. You can have fun creating your own special treat with a sponge cake.

Part of the fun in making the cake is watching the different ways egg whites and egg yolks foam up when you beat them. It’s also fun to bake the cake because it only takes about 10 to 12 minutes to be done. It’s even more fun when the cake is out of the oven. You can use cookie cutters or even a drinking glass to cut the cake into different shapes. Next, spread the shapes with a filling of foods you like. Then, put two pieces of cake together to make an ‘eggs’traordinary dessert sandwich.

This cake is good for impatient young bakers. The airy sponge cake takes only about 10 to 12 minutes oven time. The secret is using a long, wide, shallow baking pan called a jelly roll pan. The oven bakes the batter quickly because the batter is so thinly spread in the big pan. If you baked the same batter in a smaller pan with higher sides, it would take much longer. Why? Because the batter would be denser (thicker) in the pan and less of the batter’s surface would be directly reached by the oven’s heat. It would take longer for the heat to move from the top, bottom and sides of the batter to the center.

Options
You can use regular size cookie cutters to cut the cake into child-sized dessert slices. If you don’t have cookie cutters, use a round biscuit cutter. Or, turn a milk-sized drinking glass upside down. Use either the rim of the glass itself or a small knife to cut around the glass to make circles. If you have them, you can also use tiny hors d’oeuvres cutters to cut the cake into nibble-sized shapes for a dessert party buffet.

Would you rather serve slices of cake? Then, cover a clean tea towel with waxed paper and sprinkle it lightly with confectioners’ sugar. With a spatula, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Invert the pan to turn the cake out onto the towel. Carefully pull the waxed paper off the bottom of the cake. With a serrated knife, trim off the cake’s crusty edges. Starting with a narrow edge, roll up, rolling the waxed paper in with the cake. Wrap the rolled cake in the towel. Place the roll seam-side down on a wire rack to cool, about 30 minutes. Unwrap the roll. Carefully unroll it. Evenly spread the entire cake’s surface with the filling. Reroll the cake with the filling inside. If you like, you can simply decorate the cake by dusting it with confectioners’ sugar. To serve, cut off 12 pinwheel slices, each about 3/4-inch thick.

For fillings, choose foods the family likes. Possibilities include:
	•	ricotta and/or mascarpone cheese and chopped fresh fruit, chopped Maraschino cherries or dried fruit bits
	•	softened cream cheese or whipped cream cheese and fruit preserves, jam or jelly
	•	fruit butter, such as apple butter
	•	fruit-flavored yogurt
	•	peanut butter and sliced bananas
	•	softened ice cream and chopped nuts
	•	softened sherbet or frozen yogurt
	•	marshmallow fluff with mini chocolate morsels

Hints
Use this cake to teach the science of baking. A sponge cake is a good example of the process called leavening, which means lightening.

The cake is called a sponge because it’s made with separately beaten egg whites and egg yolks. The beaten yolks will foam up to become double or triple their liquid volume. But, the beaten eggs whites will foam up so very much that they’ll make the cake light and airy, like a sponge. In fact, if you beat the egg whites just right, they’ll grow 6 to 8 times bigger in volume than when they’re unbeaten. Why? Because beating causes the protein in the egg whites to hold bubbles of air. The air that the protein holds is what makes the finished cake light and fluffy.

For a quick-and-easy science experiment, use a liquid measure to find out the volume of the egg yolks and the egg whites before you beat them. Measure them again after you beat them. Did your beaten egg yolks double or triple in volume? Are your beaten egg whites 6 to 8 times the volume they started out?

To be sure your beaten egg whites and yolks do turn out right for any recipe you make, follow these tips:
Tips for beating egg whites:
	•	When you’re going to beat egg whites, take the eggs out of the refrigerator and carefully separate the yolks and whites (see the next tip). Then, let the whites sit at room temperature about 20 minutes. Warming the whites just enough to take the chill off helps the whites beat up to the best volume.
	•	Both fat and salt make it hard for egg whites to beat up well. Use an egg separator or a funnel to carefully separate egg whites and yolks so that no fat from the yolk gets into the whites. Use a clean glass or metal bowl for beating because plastic bowls can absorb fat and hold it in their pores. Add salt to the recipe’s dry ingredients or to the yolks, not to the whites.
	•	Be sure to use the amount of cream of tartar, vinegar or lemon juice called for in the ingredient list. These are all acids. Acids help egg whites to hold air.
	•	Sugar helps prevent overbeating in egg whites and helps make the foam stable. It’s important to add the sugar slowly, about 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time.
	•	Test egg whites to see if they’re beaten just right to make a dish puff. Turn off the mixer and tilt the bowl a little. If the egg whites slip and slide, beat a little more and test again. Stop beating when the beaten whites stop slipping and sliding. Don’t let beaten egg whites sit too long. If you do, the air will escape and some of the whites will turn liquid again.
	•	Try not to overbeat egg whites. Beating too much causes the whites to lose air so a recipe won’t puff as it should. Overbeaten whites also form dry, brittle clumps that don’t mix well with other ingredients.
	•	When baking, preheat the oven. Use the right size baking dish or pan for the recipe. It’s easier for air-filled whites to climb up a rough surface than a slick one. So, don’t grease the dish unless you also dust (sprinkle) it with a dry ingredient, like sugar, nuts, corn meal or bread crumbs. Place the baking dish on a rack in the lower third of the oven. All these things help the air bubbles to expand and make the recipe rise in volume.
Tips for beating egg yolks:
	•	It’s hard to overbeat egg yolks. It takes about 3 to 5 minutes of beating with an electric mixer on high speed to beat yolks enough for most recipes. Stop beating when the yolks are thick and they turn a pale lemon-yellow color. Turn off the mixer and lift the beaters a little. If the yolks flow back into the bowl in ribbons, they’re done.

Chocolate Sponge Cake Cut-Outs Makes 10 to 12 servings

	•	Butter or cooking spray
	•	6 eggs, separated
	•	3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
	•	2/3 cup sugar, divided
	•	1 teaspoon vanilla
	•	1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa (baking cocoa)
	•	1/4 cup all-purpose flour
	•	1/4 teaspoon salt
	•	Filling of your choice (see options list)

Lightly grease or spray 15 1/2 x 10 1/2 x 1-inch jelly roll pan. Line bottom with waxed paper. Grease again. Set aside.

Beating Eggs

In large mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg whites with cream of tartar until foamy. Add 1/3 cup of the sugar, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are glossy and stand in soft peaks. To test, rub just a bit of the egg white-sugar mixture between thumb and forefinger to feel if sugar has dissolved. Set aside.

In small mixing bowl at high speed, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored, about 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla until blended. In small bowl, stir together cocoa, flour and salt. Sprinkle over reserved beaten whites. Add beaten yolk mixture. Gently, but thoroughly, fold yolk and cocoa mixtures into whites. Pour into prepared pan. Gently spread evenly.

Bake in preheated 400° F oven until top of cake springs back when lightly touched with finger, about 10 to 12 minutes. With spatula, loosen cake from sides of pan. Turn out cake by inverting pan over wire rack. Carefully pull waxed paper off bottom of cake. Cool completely.

Using cookie cutters, cut shapes from cooled cake, making sure there are at least 2 of each shape. Spread or top one side of a cake shape with filling ingredients. Cover it with another cake piece of the same shape to make a sandwich. Repeat until all shapes are used.

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