Baking an ethereal Spring cake with edible cherry blossoms

There’s something about Spring that makes me want to lighten everything up. I’m currently repainting all the trim in my house a nice bright shade of white, swapping out my dark, heavy winter clothing and even lightening things up in the kitchen. I made this ethereal Spring Einkorn Sponge Cake with Lemon Buttercream for a baby shower last week and it was utterly delicious.

I never actually meant to make this cake. In fact, when I cracked open my trusty Einkorn cookbook and turned to what I thought was my usual birthday cake recipe, I didn’t even notice the pages were stuck together. It was late in the evening, I needed to get my cake baked for the baby shower in the morning, and so I just gathered all the ingredients, and set to mixing, sifting and folding my little heart out. Very Rachel a la English Trifle.

It wasn’t until about halfway through the recipe, as I was folding a bowl full of big, fluffy egg whites into my batter that I realized my mistake. Oh no!!! I’d made SPONGE CAKE instead of regular cake! I’ve always been super intimidated by sponge cake after one brief foray that ended in something more closely related to a rock than dessert. And here I was baking a sponge that lots of lovely shower attendees needed to eat the next morning! Oh dear.

What’s so special about a sponge cake?

Sponge cake is aptly named. Light, a little squishy with a slight chew. It contains a much smaller proportion of flour than a regular cake, and much larger proportion of eggs. As you bake a sponge, you separate the yolks and whites, working with each separately. The yolks become an almost custardy mix with the sugar and the whites are whipped into a cloud of meringue-y fluff. You fold them back together to make the magical combination that brings you all that wild rise in the oven.

Is it easy to bake a sponge cake?

Honestly, no. Baking a sponge is not a quick or simple process. It’s not a recipe I would probably start with as a beginner. And I say that from true first-hand experience. I tried a sponge as a newbie baker and it was an utter failure.

While baking a sponge can certainly be tricky, and the process is a little more involved, it is a PERFECT project to take on for FUN! If you have some time- an evening after your kids’ bedtime, perhaps- it is such a fun and rewarding project!

What is so tricky about sponge cake?

If you’ve watched any season of Great British Bake Off, you’ve seen many a seasoned baker struggle with a sponge. I first attempted one early on in my culinary career, and it was so hard you could have used it as a stepping stone. What went wrong? Well, here’s a few things that can go wrong when baking a sponge.

• You didn’t beat the butter. Beating the butter in the early stages of the cake is a vital piece of the pie, er…cake. It makes sure there is enough air in the foundation of your cake. Your butter needs to be room temperature as well, to achieve the proper fluffy texture. The good news? This step isn’t even in my recipe! So no worries there!
• Over-mixing the flour. There isn’t a lot of flour in a sponge to begin with, but you definitely don’t want to overstimulate that flour and get it all gluten-y. Another great thing about my recipe is that you double sift the flour before adding it into the mix, AND you fold it in by hand. That way, you don’t have to fear your stand mixer beating all the fluff out of your batter.
• Make sure ALL your ingredients are room temperature. So not just the butter, but EVERYTHING! Think ahead, set it all out a few hours before baking time and you’ll be good to go. This makes sure that everything can combine easily and eliminates the risk of the cake being overly dense.

Baking with Einkorn

Years ago, before I even understood that my body has a hard time digesting grains, I made the switch to Einkorn flour. Learning that it was an ancient grain that had never been hybridized really appealed to me. Knowing that thanks to its weaker gluten structure, it was easier to digest, made sense! Hearing that it contained more protein, vitamins and minerals than regular flour, and I was sold!

All health benefits aside, for me, baking with Einkorn flour is all about FLAVOR. Einkorn flour gives a beautiful golden color to your baked goods. A nutty, buttery taste that can’t be beat. It adds so much depth and interest to the treat, all the while being better for your body. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I typically bake with Jovial’s All-Purpose Einkorn Flour, which I buy in 10 lb. bags. It isn’t cheap, but it is absolutely worth it!

What flavors work well with sponge cake?

I chose to use strawberry jam as the filling for this recipe and used lemon juice and vanilla bean in the buttercream, but here are a few other flavor combinations you could try!

• Orange + raspberry. Substitute orange zest for the lemon zest in the batter, raspberry jam for the filling and add orange zest and juice to the frosting. You could also add some crushed freeze dried raspberries to the frosting for a delightful pink color!
• Lavender + lemon. People seem to be really divided on the issue of lavender used in food, but when there is lemon and cream added to the mix, I’m all for it! You just need to be cautious with your lavender or it can come out a bit soapy. You’re going for a hint of floral flavor, not eau de hand soap. I would use a lemon curd for the filling between the cakes, then add 1 tsp crushed lavender buds to the lemon buttercream.
• Strawberries + cream. This is making my mouth water just thinking about it. Instead of just strawberry jam, mix together the jam, some mascarpone cheese and whipped cream. Substitute this mixture for the frosting on the outside as well, and sprinkle with either freeze dried strawberry dust or cover with fresh sliced strawberries and strawberry blossoms. Dreamy!

Your cake doesn’t need to be perfect

Here’s what I’ve learned about baking: unless you work in a French patisserie, it does not need to be perfect. I spent so many years ashamed of my scruffy bakes, imperfectly frosted cakes and loaves of bread a little on the dense side. But guess what!? There is nothing like home baked goods made with love. When you show up with a homemade cake, cookies, muffins, etc. whether they are perfectly shaped or lean a little to one side, people are delighted.

Crooked cakes, wonky frosting and leaky filling are all parts of baking a cake at home. Remember! You are an amateur! Also remember that a good buttercream covers a myriad of sins.

Essential tools for a really great sponge cake

I’m not one to recommend buying unnecessary items. I am always on a strict budget because we’ve got a big homestead and even bigger dreams to save for. So when I tell you that these items are necessary for a good sponge, you can trust me! Here’s a few things to have on hand for your baking project.

1. A stand mixer. I know. They’re pricey. Believe me. If I wouldn’t have received one for our wedding (almost 16 years ago!) I probably wouldn’t have shelled out the cash for one of these puppies. But boy do they make this process easier. The good news is, you can easily find these secondhand on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace for a fraction of the price.
2. 8 inch cake pans. The original recipe calls for 1- 9 inch pan but I’ve got a “more the merrier” policy when it comes to cake, so I used 3- 8 inch pans. The reason I prefer these is simple- that’s the size of my cake stand. You could easily use another size, but I use and love these stainless steel rounds for all my cake baking.
3. An offset spatula. I never knew what these were until culinary school. But let me tell you, you’ll never attempt to frost a cake without one again. Dipped in a little hot water as you frost, these babies can smooth out even the messiest of frostings.
4. A cake stand. I have a basic, 8.5 in white cake stand that I’ve had for over a decade. It serves me well, has managed to survive many a car ride while balanced precariously between my legs and delivered lots of cakes made with love. Grab yourself one, it’s a baker’s staple! I love this marble one from Sur La Table.

Give it a try!

Are you going to try this recipe!? Have you made sponge cake before? How’d it go?

Be sure to pin this recipe using the image below so you don’t forget to make this cake for Spring. And leave a comment below with your sponge cake experience- even if it’s just giggling along to GBBO. Any other Paul Hollywood lovers out there!?

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