Light as a Cloud Aussie Sponge Cake - Happy Waitangi Day... kind of!

My husband said to me the other day, "Waitangi Day" is coming soon!  Here I was, in eager anticipation of the Groundhog at Gobbler's Knob - something my hubby can only scratch his head  and wonder about.  For me, celebrating Waitangi Day seems a bit odd - not just because I'm not a Kiwi by birth, but because I feel kind of bad for the Maori people of New Zealand.  Here the Brits promised them land and citizenship (and all the rights that come with it - in exchange for letting a bunch of Pommies invade their island.  Of course, they had to swear allegiance to the Queen/King or whatever Royal there was at the time. You can already guess the ending of the story.. the Maori got the short end of the stick.  It's a bit dreary if you ask me.

However, in keeping with all things fun, I decided to make some fun "down under" treats today to keep hubby from yammering on about how dumb the Groundhog is and how fabulous Waitangi Day can be.. even though he was not able to fully explain how it's celebrated! 

So on the menu today was two Aussie favorites - Sausage Rolls and  a beautiful sponge cake Aussie Feather Light Sponge Cake with Jam & Cream.  I know, I know.. it's a Kiwi holiday not an Aussie one, but close enough.  Besides, they eat sausage rolls in New Zealand too!

Aussie Sausage Rolls - Even the Kiwi's eat them!

Ethereal, light and extraordinarily delicious!

Aussie Feather Sponge Cake with Jam & Cream

This recipe comes directly from Australia's own wonderful chef, Stephanie Alexander.  She is very famous for her culinary expertise (she makes "to die for" Pavlova!") and has a fabulous cookbook, "The Cook's Companion."

I will never forget the first time I tasted a Sponge Cake.  In a small street bistro in St. Kilda in Melbourne.. the weather was perfect, the coffee was gorgeous and the cake - just blew me away.  It was beautiful and extraordinary in its simplicity. 

When I saw this recipe in Stephanie's book, I just knew I needed to give it a try.  It had no flour in it, but contained an unusual ingredient called "Cornflour" (not like the cornstarch or cornmeal we all know here!  More about Cornflour in a moment) and it was made by beating egg whites into a meringue and folding in the dry components.  Brilliant.. a light, gorgeous cake that is stunning in all manner of speaking - and eating!  It is absolutely the lightest cake I've ever had with a beautiful and delicate crumb.  It is not cloyingly sweet, not at all greasy and it truly is as light as a cloud.  One bite, just melts across the tongue and after finishing a slice, it doesn't sit like a 20 lb weight in the pit of your stomach.  Gorgeous!

About Cornflour or Wheaten Starch
Throw out any notions about Cornstarch and Cornmeal.  Only comparing them to Wheaten starch or "Cornflour" will only serve to confuse you.  American cornstarch and corn meal are made with - duh, corn.  Cornflour or Wheaten starch uses wheat as its base and contains no corn whatsoever.  It's not readily available in most American stores and to be honest, I could only find it in two places.. at my local Asian marketplace (Lee Lee's Asian Supermarket, which is huge by the way and awesome!) and online in a Chinese grocery store website.  It's common in places like Australia or throughout Japan, China and even India.  Just be sure you are getting the right ingredient here.  I haven't tried to make this cake using our Cornstarch, but I just might do it and see what happens.  Cornflour and Cornstarch are identical in texture and look.. they are equally fine and both have that distinctive chalky feel.  Oh and don't ask me why they call it Cornflour if it doesn't contain corn.. that's a big mystery.  Maybe Wikipedia can help! 

I finally found mine in an Asian store here in Arizona called Lee Lee's Asian Supermarket.  It was located in several sections because many Asian countries use it.. see, what did I tell you?  I found my bag in the Chinese/Japanese section.  If you have a store nearby, look for it.  If not, order some online here or do a google search on wheat starch or wheaten starch.  It's weird.. it feels and looks just like cornstarch.. I wonder if I could use cornstarch the next time I bake it?  If I do, I'll report my findings here!

This cake is not cloyingly sweet, dense or sticky.  It is truly lighter than air due to the meringue of egg whites.  It calls for "jam" in the middle along with whipped cream.  However, our jams here in the states are extremely sweet, so I used a cake fruit "jam" that wasn't nearly as sweet and was delicious.  I found it at my regular grocery store near the cans of pie filling.

Next time I bake this cake.. and there WILL be a next time according to my husband - I will slice the cake into three layers and use a lighter spread of both fruit and cream.  It should be phenomenal! 

Next dilemma was the size of the cake pan.  The recipe calls for an Australian style cake pan.  These are the standard sized 8" cake pans, but the sides are almost 3 inches tall.  I don't have a pan like that and the closest I could find was a 9.5 springform pan for Cheesecakes.  What the hell.. I decided to go for it.

Because the original recipe was intended for a smaller cake diameter, I decided to step up each ingredient by 25%.  The recipe posted below is the original measures, so if you're in my dilemma.. feel free to step it up a notch.  As the cake was baking, I thought of baking them in two smaller sized bread pans.. making mini sponge cakes.  Could be alot of fun to try that next time.  Serving it, in a slice vs. a wedge. 

Light as a Cloud Aussie Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

Cake:
60 grams (5 TBS) cornflour
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
3 eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
100 grams (1/2 cup) sugar
Confectioners sugar for dusting

Filling:
1/2 cup of your favorite fruit jam, softened or use a fruit filling for cakes like Solo
1/2 pint heavy cream, whipped to your favorite sweetness.  Needs to be thickly whipped

Directions:

Preaheat your oven to 340 degrees.  Set the rack in the middle of the oven.  Using a 9.5 inch springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang at the edges.  Butter the bottom and sides of the pan extremely generously.  Set aside.



Stiff Meringue - a must!

 In the meantime, combine egg whites and salt into a mixer and beat using a wire whip until the whites begin to foam.  Add the sugar, a few teaspoons at a time and allow whites to reach the stiff meringue consistency.  Next, beat in the egg yolks and 1 tsp of vanilla.

Combine cornflour, cream of tartar and baking soda together in a small bowl.  Using a wire straining basket or a fine mesh sieve, sift the ingredients twice. 

Using a spatula, pour 1/2 of the cornflour over the eggwhite mixture and fold in gently and completely.  Next, fold in the rest of the cornflour.  Make sure there are no dry pockets or white streaks remaining.  Dump contents of the bowl into your prepared pan and level off batter gently with your spatula.

This is so light and airy.. it's like a cloud!

Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out cleanly.  Your cake should spring back when gently nudged with a finger.  Carefully remove cake from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes.  Run a thin knife blade around the side edges if necessary and carefully unlock the spring in the pan.  Remove the sides and transfer cake to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cut cake evenly in half and spread jam on to the edge.  Now, pipe or dollop the cream and cover evenly with a spatula.  Place the cake on top and dust with confectioners sugar. 

Chill in refrigerator until serving.  Cake stays well for 1 or 2 days.

You can see it's so light.. you can see the light!