{"id":295,"date":"2010-06-19T15:17:33","date_gmt":"2010-06-19T07:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/?p=295"},"modified":"2010-06-27T20:42:44","modified_gmt":"2010-06-27T12:42:44","slug":"mums-sponge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/mums-sponge\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum’s Sponge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are certain things in life that just make people happy, a puppy running towards\u00a0them to say hello or maybe\u00a0a child’s laughter.\u00a0 We all have something that we love.\u00a0 For many of my family’s friends that would have to be my Mum’s sponge.\u00a0 When I was a little girl it was always my Nanna who made the best sponge.\u00a0 They were so high that you couldn’t get the whole piece in your mouth, as light as a feather, filled with the freshest cream and ripe fruit and topped with delicious icing.\u00a0 We were also lucky enough to have it topped with hundreds and thousands.\u00a0 It was enough to make all the cousins eat every vegetable on their plate just so that they could have a piece.\u00a0 Those times have passed and my Mum has struggled with the huge boots to fill for many years and (by her own admission) failed somewhat for a long time.\u00a0 However, the last few years have proved that practice makes perfect.\u00a0 She now creates these amazing towers of velvety golden\u00a0sponge, filled with cream and sliced strawberries and topped with passionfruit icing.\u00a0 They are often taken to the local fire house, as one of our friends is a fireman, and devoured in minutes by the hard working gents with many words of praise and thanks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with my Mum (who lives interstate) recently and\u00a0was lucky enough to receive a long awaited\u00a0sponge cooking lesson during her visit.\u00a0 Although I have always been a little hesitant to make a sponge in the past (because Mum is sooooo good at it) I think this recipe is so good that I am quite looking forward to trying it on my own in the future.<\/p>\n

During my Mum’s visit many happy childhood memories were renewed, cooking with my Mum, eating sponge and spending time with friends and family that I love.\u00a0 The best things in life are often the simplest.<\/p>\n

sponge\u00a0(recipe by Mary – Fiona’s Mum)
\nmakes 2 sponges<\/span><\/p>\n

Ingredients
\n<\/span>4 eggs
\n3\/4 cup castor sugar
\n3\/4 cup cornflour
\n1\/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
\n1 tsp cream of tartar
\n1 Tbsp custard powder
\n\u00a0
\nPreparation
\n<\/span>Preheat oven to 180\u00b0C (350\u00b0F\/Gas 4).\u00a0 Lightly grease two 20cm (8 inch) round cake tins with a small amount of melted butter and line the bases with non-stick baking paper.<\/p>\n

Separate the eggs and using an electric mixer, beat the whites until soft peaks begin to form.\u00a0 Slowly add the castor sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved.\u00a0 Add the egg yolks one at a time and beat well, until completely combined.\u00a0 Sieve the remaining ingredients three times to maximise lightness and pour into egg mixture.\u00a0 Fold the flour mixture in using a circular motion.<\/p>\n

Divide equally between the two pans.\u00a0 Bake in a non fan force oven for 20 – 23 minutes, until risen and lightly golden.<\/p>\n

Remove from the oven.\u00a0 Run a flat knife around the edge of the tin to loosen the sponge.\u00a0 Turn out onto a wire rack while still hot and gently\u00a0remove paper.<\/p>\n

Once cool, cut sponge in half and fill with cream and seasonal fruit.\u00a0 Top with your favourite icing.<\/p>\n

My (Mum’s)\u00a0tips:<\/span>\u00a0 *Be careful that you do not over beat the egg whites.\u00a0 As soon as the sugar is dissolved you should stop mixing.\u00a0 You can tell if the sugar is dissolved by dipping your finger in the mixture and rubbing your finger and thumb together.\u00a0 If you don’t feel any grains of sugar then it is ready.\u00a0 *Don’t be scared of mixing the dry ingredients into the egg whites, you need to use a folding acting but be quite firm with it.\u00a0 *Don’t use a fan force oven unless you have to as\u00a0this can\u00a0make them sink when your remove them from the oven.\u00a0 If you do use a fan forced oven you may need to reduce your cooking time by up to 5 minutes.\u00a0 *When dividing the mixture between the tins, weigh it out.\u00a0 This will make sure you have two sponges that rise and cook the same.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

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ease: 8\/10.\u00a0<\/strong>After you have made these the first time it becomes really simple.\u00a0
\nprep time:<\/strong> 15mins
\ncooking time: 20mins.
\ntotal: 35mins.<\/strong><\/p>\n

taste: 10\/10.<\/strong>\u00a0 This is the lightest cake I have ever eaten.\u00a0 It is so high that it needs to be eaten with a fork.\u00a0 Each mouthful seems to almost touch your tongue and disappear due to the lightness of the sponge itself.\u00a0 The cream is sweetened with a\u00a0small amount of sugar and we decided upon a passionfruit icing this time.\u00a0 All of the flavours worked\u00a0together to create bliss.\u00a0\u00a0We took this to dinner with family and although\u00a0it was not completely eaten on the night I never saw it again.\u00a0 I think that’s a good thing. \ud83d\ude42\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mum\u00a0told me that this is often better the next day because\u00a0it gives the cream a chance to immalgamate with the sponge properly.\u00a0 Just cover it and place it in the fridge until it is needed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

would I make it again:\u00a0Yes<\/strong> \u2013 Because everyone asks for them and to honour my Mum & my Nanna.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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There are certain things in life that just make people happy, a puppy running towards them to say hello or maybe a child’s laughter. We all have something that we love. For many of my family’s friends that would have to be my Mum’s sponge. When I was a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[78,81,92,35,27],"tags":[6,4,18,107,100],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1199,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295\/revisions\/1199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.foodfourthought.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}