Lemon Sponge

There’s nothing like a good old family recipe is there! (I promise to list some ‘secrets’ below).  This sponge is no exception.  I have fond memories of eating it as a child.   The lemon filling has a delicious tang.  It’s gluten free and you can make it dairy free if you use a non-dairy spread in the filling.  Of course you can fill it with whipped cream and fresh strawberries.  Yum!

The ‘secrets’

1. Make sure you beat the egg whites into a frenzy and for quite a few minutes.  I beat them for approximately 7 minutes.  If you don’t beat your egg whites enough, you will end up with one very sunken, sad looking sponge indeed.
2. Use cornflour for a lighter textured sponge.
3. The last tip is to use a high sided tin for getting the height into your sponge.  Hope that helps!

Sponge ingredients –

4 eggs (or 5 small)
3/4 cup castor sugar
1 cup cornflour (use actual corn cornflour if you want it gluten free)
1/2 tsp bi-carb soda
1 tsp cream of tartar

Lemon filling –

2 medium lemons
1/2 cup pure icing sugar
1/4 cup cornflour
1 cup water
2 tsp butter or non-dairy spread

Method:

Separate eggs.  Beat egg whites and sugar until light and fluffy, approximately 7 minutes.  Add in egg yokes, one at a time, beating between additions.  Sift cornflour, bi-carb and cream of tartar twice.  Add it to the sponge mix and stir gently (you don’t want to loose all that beautiful air you just beat in) until cornflour is just mixed through.  Pour into a prepared cake tin that has been lined with baking paper and lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Cook for approximately 20 minutes @160 degrees celcius.  Once cooked, remove from oven, cool and cut in half.

In a saucepan, place the zest and juice of two lemons.  Sift in the cornflour and icing sugar.  Mix and add the water.  Place on stove and whisk until it thickens.  Place filling in the middle of the sponge and replace the top.  Dust sponge with icing sugar.  Enjoy!

Variation –

300ml whipping cream
1 punnet of strawberries

Whip cream until thick.  Spread half of the cream through the middle of the sponge.  Cut strawberries in half and place half the amount in the middle of the sponge with the cream.  Replace the top half of the sponge and spread with remaining cream and decorate with the rest of the strawberries.

One slice in never enough!