Recently on a favorite French website, I spotted a recipe for a sponge cake scented with ground hazelnuts, and served with strawberries and mascarpone whipped cream. Since local strawberries are omnipresent right now in markets and farmers’ stands in our New England town, I was anxious to try this dessert on my side of the Atlantic.
French recipes are typically abbreviated and often assume that cooks know basic culinary techniques, so I read up on sponge cakes. Prepared with a minimum of ingredients (usually eggs, sugar, and flour plus seasonings), they can still be challenging to make. The eggs need to be at room temperature for best results, and then are separated. The yolks along with sugar need to be beaten for several minutes until pale yellow and thickened, and the whites should be whipped just until firm and glossy, and stiff enough to form straight peaks when a beater is lifted from them. The whites are what make sponge cakes rise, so most recipes suggest not greasing the baking pan to ease the batter’s rise up its sides.
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