| SPONGE CAKE Preheat oven to 300 F. Recipe requires one un-greased angel food cake pan. 6 eggs, separated 1 cup white sugar 1 cup white flour 1 teaspoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon grated orange rind (if desired) Separate egg whites and egg yolks into different bowls. The yolks will need a small bowl and the whites a large glass bowl. It’s better to use glass for the whites because sometimes plastic retains oil even after careful washing. Care should be taken not to get any yolk into the whites or they will not whip as well. Beat egg whites on high with an electric mixer until they form soft peaks, then beat sugar a small amount at a time into egg whites until they form glossy stiff peaks. This should take any where from 5 to 10 minutes. Set bowl aside. Note: It’s important to beat the egg whites first so that no yoke gets on the beaters. In a separate bowl, beat egg yokes and citrus flavorings, as desired, together until light and lemon-colored. In another small bowl, combine flour and salt. Alternately fold egg mixture and flour mixture into whites. Slowly lift batter up and over without stirring until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed together. The air is the leavening in this cake so be careful to fold and not stir to retain the air bubbles. Pour into an ungreased angel food pan. Note: The pan needs to be un-greased so the dough can cling to the sides as it rises. Bake 60 to 70 minutes. Do not touch or disturb cake while cooking. When cake has browned lightly, remove pan from the oven. Do not touch. You must allow cake to cool completely before touching or removing it from the pan or it will shrivel and fall. Tips on how to separate egg yolks from egg whites: Hold the egg over a glass bowl. Crack the egg shell and gently divide in half but don‘t let the yolk fall through. Allow as much white as you can spill into the bowl. Scoop the yolk away from the remaining white using one of the egg shell halves or pour it from shell to shell. Take special care not to pierce or damage the fine membrane over the yolk. The oil from the yolk prevents the whites from whipping. Pour the yolk out of shell into a separate bowl. Once the yolk is separated from the white you can use a spoon to remove any stringy white clumps as needed or desired. |
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