This recipe for a featherlight sponge was first published in the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine but in my family it’s known as Aunty Ivy’s Sponge and has been passed down through the generations.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 165g caster sugar
- 150g cornflour (wheaten)
- 30g custard powder
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 tsp bi-carbonate of soda
Directions
- Preheat oven to 200°C/400°F.
- Grease two deep 22cm / 9″ round cake tins.
- Lightly flour the pans with a little plain flour and shake out the excess.
- Beat the eggs and sugar in a small bowl with an electric mixer for 7 minutes until thick and creamy. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
- Sift the dry ingredients twice onto a piece of baking paper. Sift the dry mixture a third time evenly onto the egg mixture. Using a balloon whisk or large metal spoon, quickly and lightly fold the dry mixture through the egg mixture until incorporated. Pour mixture evenly into the two pans.
- Bake the sponges for 20 minutes or until they spring back when pressed lightly in the centre.
- Turn sponges immediately, top-side up, onto baking-paper-covered wire racks to cool.
Decorate with whipped cream, strawberry jam, fresh strawberries and a sprinkling of icing sugar.
the expat traveller food 