sponge cake mania

i had always hated making sponge cakes. why? i think, to make sponge cakes, one must have a lot of patience. 2 years ago, i made a black forest cake that someone ordered. the cake sank in the middle! later, it turned out that i used a lot of raising agents. then, last week, the cake i made shrank! it wouldnt matter if it's just 1 layer, but i wanted to make 2 layers using 2 different pans, so 1 cake was smaller than the other.

yes, making sponge cake can be frustrating at times. i find making cheesecake easier. but this doesnt deter me from continuing my quest to become a perfect baker.

yesterday, i had this mood for making coffee cream and nut roll, except that it's not in the form of a swiss roll, but a normal cake. i used blue key recipes, and i was surprised to find that the cake actually taste nice! so here's the recipe for coffee cream and nut roll:

sponge cake
100g self raising flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons ovalette
1 teaspoon vanilla (i put in some instant coffee diluted in water)
1/4 cup melted butter

butter cream
125g butter
3/4 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon evaporated milk
2 teaspoons instant coffee powder
2 teaspoons water
chopped nuts

whisk all the ingredients except for melted butter. using a spatula, blend in cooled melted butter into the sponge batter. pour the batter into the pan (or tray). bake at 200 C for 7- 10 mins or until cooked.
spread cake with coffee cream and sprinkle chopped nuts.

coffee butter cream
cream the butter, icing sugar and milk together until light and fluffy. dissolve coffee with water. blend into the cream.

i'm so pleased with the cake that today i made another one - it's chocolate sponge with coffee topping. it's the cake in the pic. i used non-dairy whipping cream and added some coffee essence and instant coffee powder.

here's the ingredients for chocolate sponge cake:

3/4 cup self-raising flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup caster sugar

sift the flour and cocoa 3 times. beat the eggs until thick and pale. add in sugar gradually and continue to beat until it turns pale yellow and glossy. using a metal spoon, fold in sifted ingredients quickly and lightly. bake for 20 mins 180 C or until the sponge cake is lightly golden and shrink from sides of the tin.