The Bottom Line: Delicious facts about sponge cake!
The Full Story:
- During the renaissance, Italian cooks became famous for their baking skills and were hired by households in both England and France. The new items that they introduced were called “biscuits,” though they were the forerunner of what we now consider to be sponge cake.
- A sponge cake has a firm, yet well aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. That’s why it is called a “sponge cake.”
- The traditional sponge cake consists of just three very basic ingredients: flour, sugar and eggs. The key to the perfect sponge cake is in the technique. The batter must be beaten thoroughly in order to create volume.
- English poet and author Gervase Markham recorded the earliest sponge cake recipe in English in 1615. These sponge cakes were most likely thin, crisp cakes (more like modern cookies).
- By the middle of the 18th century, yeast had fallen into disuse as a raising agent for cakes in favor of beaten eggs. Once as much air as possible had been beaten in, the mixture would be poured into molds, often very elaborate creations, but sometimes as simple as two tin hoops, set on parchment paper on a cookie sheet.