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Easy Sponge Cake, Mascarpone Cream and Strawberry jam

July 11, 2021 by Tania 7 Comments

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This Easy Sponge Cake, Mascarpone Cream and Strawberry Jam. It’s so light, you won’t believe you made it at home. Follow the easy steps.

Sponge cake with mascarpone cream

Delicious Sponge that anyone can make!

I can promise you will love this recipe. It would be very hard for you to mess this one up. Well not just you, anyone.

I gave this to a class of 20 beginners who all made this perfectly the first time. Can you believe that some students were so excited they made it when they got home and were successful again?

A close look at a sponge with mascarpone cream

What is the secret to making a sponge?

There are a couple of important steps. Let me take you through them.

You will most definitely need a mixer of some sort. It can be a stand mixer or a handheld mixer. It doesn’t matter just something electric!

  1. Weigh the ingredients. Always weigh. A sponge is a perfect balance of eggs, sugar, and dry ingredients. Sometimes they contain fat (butter, eggs, or oil). The fat in this recipe comes from the yolks
  2. Preheat the oven
  3. When making cakes and sponges, always prepare the cake tins before starting
  4. Stick to the ingredients advised the first time you make a recipe and always if you don’t know how an ingredient affects a recipe.
All the ingredients for a sponge

What do I need to make this sponge?

  • Plain flour, everyday medium protein flour
  • Cornflour, light airy gluten free “cornstarch”
  • baking powder for a little extra lift
  • caster sugar, fine ground white granulated sugar, or superfine sugar
  • Whole eggs, eggs should be at room temperature for the best volume. If you forget to get your eggs out of the fridge to come to room temperature here is what to do. Fill a bowl with warm water and sit the eggs in this for 5 to 10 minutes
  • vanilla
  • cream of tartar

What makes this sponge so good?

Sponge cale on a plate with strawberry jam

Well, it’s all in the balance.

This recipe calls for plain flour mixed with cornflour. (cornstarch) Cornflour is gluten-free and very light. (usually check your brand). This combines with plain flour (that does have gluten) and creates a symbiotic mixture. It’s a light but supportive base for eggs and sugar that has just the right amount of gluten for strength and soft flour for pillowy softness.

Sponges are all about air and eggs and sugar create that air. The flour is added just to bind those eggs and sugars together. That means good eggs are important. I always use free-range eggs that are extra-large.

The eggs I use amount to a total weight (once cracked) of approximately 50 gm. ( 1.8 oz) That’s 30 gm (just over an oz) of egg white and around 20 gm (0.7 oz) for the yolk give or take a couple of grams. This makes a difference in how your cakes will turn out. Some recipes just call for “eggs”. If your eggs are much smaller than mine you may need to add another. It is important that you have the correct ratio of eggs to the other ingredients.

What’s the secret to the best sponge

This brings us to the secret to the success of this sponge. The eggs are separated and the whites are beaten into almost a meringue-like mixture. This makes a very strong airy base before the yolks are added and the flour is folded through ever so gently.

That brings me to the flour. Flours should always be well combined by whisking together and then sifted at least twice. This aerates it, gets rid of any stray bits, and ensures it is well mixed.

a filled spongecake on a wooden board

Chemicals:

  1. Eggwhites are mostly water and after whipping, the water can begin to leak back out of them. This looks a bit like washing up water with the foam on top and a pool of water beneath.
  2. Sugar helps to stabilize egg whites, holding them together. Have you ever whipped up egg whites and they have separated and look like scrambled eggs? Sugar will prevent this from happening.
Start of egg whites and sugar whipped together
The eggs are whisked till frothy before sugar is added gradually

When do I add the sugar?

Sugar must be added gradually to this type of meringue. If the sugar is added too fast it will knock the air out of the meringue.

The thick and heavy meringue will take some time to regain its air and it will, but never fully. The resulting meringue is heavy and a bit runny too.

For this sponge yolks are added to the meringue
Once you have a white and wonderfully supportive meringue you can add the egg yolks one at a time

2. My Foolproof sponge cake also has baking powder. Not all sponges have this addition. For this mixture, it’s the secret chemical reaction that gives the sponge a double rise.

The shiny thick meringue in the picture below demonstrates how the egg yolks look when they are being added.

Mixing in the yolks one at a time
Mixing the yolks into the meringue one at a time
Adding sifted flour to the egg base
Once the eggs and sugar are light and fluffy add the vanilla, and fold through the flour and baking powder mixture
Folding the dry ingredients through a sponge base

This sponge needs a perfect filling

For me, a soft and pillowy bed of sponge is perfect for a creamy jam filling. This jam is very fruity and not too sweet. It is a little unconventional for jam

Jam is usually cooked down with equal weights of sugar and fruit and is cooked down for some time. This mixture has less sugar and is thickened with a little cornflour to make a really strawberry flavoured “filling” jam.

Mascarpone, cream, sugar and vanilla

All of the ingredients for the mascarpone cream filling are whisked together. Don’t be shy with the vanilla here as it really makes all the difference to the taste.

Mixed and fluffy mascarpone and strawberry jam

Remember to never over whisk mascarpone or cream for that matter. You will not over whisk the cream if you stop mixing a little bit before you think it is ready. It’s better to finish it, whisking by hand if it needs more stirring. You know how butter is made right? (hint: churning cream). You need nice firm peaks, not butter.

Sponges ready to be filled with strawberry and mascarpone
sponge with strawberry jam
Sponge with strawberry jam and mascarpone

Please don’t think you have to pipe your cream onto this cake. It’s a great way to add the cream without the cream layer mixing with the jam layer.

A jam and cream sponge cake with dripping jam

If you want to make this recipe in a smaller cake tin you can! It will make two taller layers that you can cut in half to have a 4 layer sponge cake. If this is for you, you will need a 16 cm or 6.5 inch tin. Twice as delicious don’t you think?

Stacking a four tired sponge

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Sponge cake with mascarpone cream and strawberry jam

A recipe for foolproof Sponge so light, so fluffy you won't believe you made it at home and it's paired with homemade strawberry jam and mascarpone cream. Cups used are Australian standard
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Course afternoon tea, Cake, Dessert
Cuisine Australian
Servings 8 serves

Ingredients
  

Sponge Cake

  • 75 gm plain flour 1/2 cup / 2.65oz
  • 75 gm cornflour 1/2 cup, 2.65 oz
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 165 gm caster sugar 3/4 cup +1 Tablespoon, 5.8oz
  • 4 eggs, separated large eggs weighing 50 gm / 1.75 oz
  • 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Strawberry Jam Filling

  • 250 gm frozen strawberries 8.8 oz
  • 150 gm caster sugar 3/4 cup, 5.3 oz
  • 30 gm cornflour 2 Tablespoons, 1.05oz
  • 20 ml water 1 Tablespoon, 0.7oz

Mascarpone cream filling

  • 150 ml thickened cream 1/2 cup +1Tblsp (large)
  • 200 gm mascarpone 7 oz
  • 20 gm icing sugar 1 Tablespoon , up to 1oz
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 20 gm icing sugar extra for sprinkling approximately 1 oz or 1 tablespoon

Instructions
 

Method for Sponge

  • Preheat the oven to 170C / 340F. Line a 2 x 20 cm or 8 inch tins with parchment paper bottom and sides. You will need either a handheld or a stand mixer for this recipe
  • Sieve the flour, cornflour, salt and baking powder, cream of tartar together and mix well
  • Use a mixer for the next step. Make sure the bowl and whisks are very clean. Add the egg whites (4 x 30 gm = 120 gm) and whisk on a high speed until the whites have started to become white and frothy and are just starting to become soft peak. Gradually add the sugar in 3 to 4 additions. The whites will be stiff peaked shiny.
  • Once the whites are nice and shiny, add the yolks (20 gm x 4= 80 gm approx) one at a time until the 4 have been incorporated. The mixture will be very creamy thick and pale.
  • Pour the mixture into a large bowl. Sift 1/3 of the flour onto the egg mixture and use a spatula fold through, continuing until all the flour is incorporated. Mix ONLY until just mixed in. Do not overmix.
  • Decant into the two cake tins and flatten the top. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the sponge springs back when touched in the centre. When cooked sit on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge to loosen then turning out.

Method for Strawberry jam filling

  • Put the frozen strawberries into a pot with the sugar. Turn onto a low heat.
  • Put the cornflour and water into a small bowl and stir to combine.
  • Whisk the strawberry mixture until boiling. This will break up the strawberries a little so there aren't very large lumps
  • Take off the heat and whisk in the cornflour. Put back on to the heat and whisk again until boiling. Pour into a bowl. Cover with cling wrap and set aside.

Method for mascarpone whipped cream

  • Put the cream and the mascarpone with the vanilla and sugar into the bowl of a planetary mixer. Using the whisk attachment whip the cream mixture until it has “firm peaks”. Don't over whisk it will separate. Just until a pipable consistency. Set aside in a bowl in the fridge covered until needed. Before using put into a piping bag with a star nozzle

Putting the sponge cake together

  • Lay the sponges bottoms up on flat surface or cake plate. Spread one side of the cake with a layer of jam. You will not need to use all of the jam. Too much jam will cause the cream to slide off . Put the cream into a piping bag with a fluted tube. Pipe the cream onto the base. Put the top onto the filled base. Sprinkle the cake with icing sugar

Notes

The recipe for strawberry jam makes more than you will need. It will keep in a container for about 2 weeks. You could also use other flavours by interchanging the frozen fruit. Just remember to really whisk the fruit while cooking to break it up.
Watch egg whites when whisking. Don’t walk too far away when doing this job. Egg whites can over whip very quickly. Start adding a small amount of sugar when the eggs only just turn white. You will know if the whites are over whipped when they start to look like scrambled eggs.
I have included measurements in cups in case you don’t have scales but I must stress scales are preferred!
If you can’t get mascarpone just use whipped cream. 
jam can be replaced with shop bought jam too!
 
Keyword baking, cake, sponge

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Filed Under: Cakes and Decorating, Desserts, How to:, Recipe Basics, RECIPES Tagged With: cakes, easiest Sponge Recipe, foolproof sponge cake, How to make a sponge, mascarpone filling, simple strawberry jam, Sponge, sponge cake, sponge recipe

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Comments

  1. Cathy

    March 20, 2024 at 12:47 pm

    Hi! I was hoping to bake and dress the cake 1 night ahead of the party, will the cake go soggy or will this need to be made fresh?

    Reply
    • Tania

      March 20, 2024 at 3:21 pm

      Hi Cathy
      Sorry it has taken me so long to answer you

      The cake will not go soggy, however cream starts to deflate when left for a few hours.
      You will find the cake will be ok, it will keep, the cream will just be slightly softer.
      Sometimes we have to make things ahead. Make it, refrigerate in a container straight away and decorate with fresh fruit ( if using) just before serving

      Reply
      • Shari O’Neill

        October 8, 2024 at 1:15 pm

        Hi Tania
        Have noticed that your recipe ingredient lists baking soda but above you talk about baking powder. Just don’t want anyone to make a mistake as I’m sure you meant BP. I’m
        looking forward to making this sponge soon ?

        Reply
        • Tania

          October 11, 2024 at 9:59 pm

          Hi Shari
          Sorry for that annoying misstep
          It is of course Baking powder and you will see that in the recipe
          Tania

          Reply
  2. Jen

    July 29, 2022 at 8:58 pm

    5 stars
    Amazingly delicious. And indeed foolproof, which I am qualified to attest. Will be making it a second time this month. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Tania

      August 1, 2022 at 10:20 pm

      Thanks Jen

      Reply
  3. angiesrecipes

    July 11, 2021 at 6:56 pm

    That looks light, tender and absolutely amazing with mascarpone cream! Wish I could join you for a piece 🙂

    Reply

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About Me

Tania Cusack Hi, I'm Tania and this is My Kitchen Stories. I share all kinds of recipes here. Most recipes are quick and easy, just perfect for families. BUT, you could also find vegan, cakes and desserts too. Come and have a look around Read More
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