Basic Sponge Cake 原味海綿蛋糕

I am sharing with you my foolproof way of making sponge cakes today. When I make my sponge cake, I love to separate the egg whites, whip it to a meringue then incorporated it into the batter at the very last stage. Warm milk is added to the yolks while beating to make the yolk mixture fluffy. I have modified the technique by adding the melted butter earlier in the mixing stage. Butter and flour mixture are added alternatively in several batches (as in making American-style butter cakes) to ensure better incorporation. These methods greatly reduce the chances of the cake batter being deflated or toughen. The appearance of flour pockets and butter sinking to the base of the cake is also minimized. The cake will be a lot fluffier compared to one made by the whole egg method. For the cake structure, the more flour you add, the firmer or sturdier the cake will be. To use as a cake base for buttercream or fondant cakes, I usually boost up the flour amount by approximately 20 to 30%. Replacing the flour with all purpose flour also gives the cake a sturdier texture. So you can play around with the amount or type of flour in this recipe according to your needs.

For sponge cakes that are moist and cotton-soft (which are good just to eat alone), try my Tang Mian method Sponge Cake.

這是EC的分蛋海綿蛋糕做法，失敗率十分低！EC的做法是將蛋白打成蛋白霜，到最後才與麵糊混合避免消泡，蛋黃在打發過程中加入了暖牛奶協助打成蓬鬆的蛋黃糊。EC將加材料的傳統次序改良了，牛油溶液提前加入，並與粉類分次地交替混合(就好像做美式牛油蛋糕一樣)，這些方法大大地減少了麵糊消泡、出筋、粉粒的出現及牛油沉底的情況，蛋糕比全蛋法海綿蛋糕更鬆更軟。想蛋糕更紮實的可增加麵粉份量或使用中筋麵粉，若做buttercream或翻糖蛋糕底，EC一般會加添兩至三成麵粉，所以大家亦可按需要自行調整麵粉份量或使用不同麵粉。

若想海綿蛋糕進一步濕潤柔軟，請參考EC的燙麵法海綿蛋糕。

Basic Sponge Cake
原味海綿蛋糕

Makes a six inch cake
可做六吋蛋糕一個

Ingredients

70 g cake and pastry flour
A pinch of salt
3 large eggs, separated
50 g sugar, divided
1/3 tsp cream of tartar
25 g butter, melted
30 g warm milk
1 tsp vanilla bean paste or pure vanilla extract

Notes: The eggs I use are about 50 g each without shells.

材料

低筋麵粉 70克
鹽少許
大蛋 (分開蛋白和蛋黃) 3隻
他他粉 1/3茶匙
細砂糖 (分半) 50克
牛油溶液 25克
暖牛奶 30克
雲尼拿醬或純雲尼拿香油 1茶匙

註：EC用的大蛋每隻淨重約50克

Directions 做法

Preheat oven to 350ºF/180ºC. Separate the egg whites and egg yolks. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Sift together flour and salt in a bowl. Set aside.
焗爐預熱350°F/180°C，分開蛋白和蛋黃，模內底部放上牛油紙，麵粉及鹽混合過篩備用。

In a clean mixing bowl, whip egg whites with an electric mixer until foamy. Add cream of tartar (to stabilize the meringue) and continue beating until soft peaks form. Then slowly add half of the sugar in batches and continue beating until glossy and firm peaks form.
取清潔的鋼盆放入蛋白，用電動打蛋器將蛋白打至起泡, 加入他他粉繼續打至泡泡變細密, 分次加入一半糖打至乾性發泡。

With another mixing bowl immersed in warm water, beat egg yolks and the rest of the sugar with an electric mixer until slightly thickened. Add in warm milk and continue beating until mixture is fluffy, very pale in color and tripled in volume. Whisk in the flour mixture (in three additions) and melted butter (in two additions) alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue with a whisk or spatula to lighten. Pour batter into remaining meringue and fold until just incorporated.
將蛋黄和餘下的糖放在另一鋼盆中隔暖水用電動打蛋器打發至少許稠身，加入暖牛奶繼續打發至淡黃色及鬆發(約三倍體積)，粉類分三次(最先及最後都是加粉)、牛油溶液分兩次交替加入用蛋拂或膠刮拌勻，加入1/3蛋白霜充份拌勻，將麵糊倒在餘下的蛋白霜中輕手以切拌方法(fold in)混合至麵糊成均一的顔色。

Pour batter into pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap cake pan against the kitchen counter several times to get rid of any large air bubbles. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out clean. invert cake and cool on wire rack. Remove cake from pan, level and slice cake if necessary before frosting.
將麵糊倒入模中, 抹平表面後將烤模住桌上輕敲幾下敲出較大的氣泡，焗30-35分鐘或至竹籤插入蛋糕中央取出不沾麵糊，取出倒扣放涼後可脫模，用刀切去頂部突出部份便可切片使用。