How to make a Whisked Sponge Cake

We will follow the whisked sponge technique for this recipe. A whisked sponge boasts the lightest texture of all cakes. Its volume relies on the amount of air incorporated when eggs are whisked with sugar over a gentle heat.

In this example we use a wide shallow tin to make the base of a Swiss Roll however you can use different sized tins according to your requirements.

Ingredients

4 eggs
125g caster sugar
75g plain flour

Directions

Preheat a fan forced oven at 180 degrees.

Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk vigorously for a few seconds to break up the eggs and start mixing them with the sugar.

Put the bowl over a pan of hot water. Take care that the bowl does not touch the water or the mixture will start to cook. Whisk until the mixture is quite thick.

Note: The technique for doing this is similar to that used when melting chocolate.

Remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking until the mixture has cooled and is very thick. This can take about 5 minutes.

Fold in the flour in batches with a rubber spatula. Cut cleanly through to avoid knocking out any air.

Line a 25cm by 35cm rectangular tin with baking paper and pour in the mixture. Cook in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes.

Cover a wire rack with a baking paper. Then, using the lining paper, lift the sponge out of the tin and place on wire rack with the crust-side down.

Allow the cake to cool before peeling off the lining paper.

Recipes that use this technique:
Christmas Opera Cake - In a slight twist to the traditional Opera usually made with butter cream, the Chestnut cream and Brandy syrup give this recipe has a Christmassy feel.