The Pesach symbol on a cake plate

By Sybil Kaplan

March 24, 2010

There is no blessing, there is no specialplate. There isn't even a bracha over it! Canyou guess this well-known part of Pesach?

It's sponge cake.

Sponge cake comes in two types: angelfood and true sponge. Angel food cakehas cream of tartar, an acid ingredient,which used to be combined with bakingsoda and salt to make a form of bakingpowder before baking powder wasproduced commercially.

Cream of tartar is what gives the angelfood cake the pure white color, and it alsocreates an acid reaction in the batter.

Sponge cake has a more delicate cousinreferred to as sunshine cake. Most people,however, refer to the Passover version assponge cake.

Sponge cake is usually baked withoutshortening or butter or baking powderbut with lots of eggs. Its lightness andtexture comes from careful handling andthe air beaten in the eggs. Recipes withnine to twelve eggs are not uncommon.

The aim of making a sponge cake is tobeat the maximum amount of air into theyolks and whites while handling them aslittle as possible to retain the air. Eggyolks should be room temperature whenbeaten. An electric or rotary beater givesbetter results than whipping by hand.Since there is no baking powder, the mainrising factor is the air plus steam.

In making a sponge cake, it is importantthat the yolks are beaten until light andthick, and the whites must be beaten untilthey are stiff but glossy. Essences such asvanilla, lemon or orange rind add specialflavor to sponge cake.

Subscribe to read more.