You're my cuppy cake, gumdrop..

Originally I was going to do a chiffon cake; however, I decided against it upon noticing the sponge cake since I had enough eggs. I love making cakes but I hate using recipes that only call for whites unless it’s a large amount of whites which I can just purchase egg whites in a carton to use. The turnout of this cake was much better than I anticipated or, rather, better than I expected.

I modified the recipe to add natural sweetener as opposed to pure cane sugar but caloric wise or nutritional wise, there aren’t really any added benefits except for very trivial amounts. The only difference between cane sugar and honey is that honey contains mostly fructose, the sweetest monosaccharide (simple sugar), which is found in mostly fruits. In substituting honey for sugar, due to its sweetness you can use less. My original recipe called for one cup of sugar and I simply cut that in half with honey. So, essentially, you are saving some calories, still gaining your sweetness, and not using artificial sweeteners. Because of the lack of added fat, these little ditties are mostly fat free except for the addition of the eggs. If you substitute the eggs with an egg substitute such as flax seeds, there will be trivial amounts of fats but I do believe that extra liquid will be needed.

The key to a sponge cake is that you beat the eggs separately, incorporate air into the batter, then pop the bubbles before it bakes to give it that spongy airy texture. With one batch of cake batter I made an 8” torte and six cupcakes. Then I made a second batch, adding the cocoa powder to make a chocolate torte and for class I’m going to have an orange/chocolate cake to decorate filled with butter cream. Hopefully, I don’t mess it up and succeed in performing the design I indicate. It’s going to be valentine-esque since that’s approaching swiftly. For Valentine’s I have some ideas of doing chocolate covered heart cookies or maybe mini heart cakes since I found my mini heart pan. I also want to make Phillip a cake since his birthday is shortly after.

After watching Ace of Cakes, I have this obsession to make a giant cupcake. Cupcakes are fun because they’re like little mini artistic creations. Of course, Chef Duff is anti-cupcake because he has no patience. That’s okay though and not everyone has the patience to decorate something so small or to eat it. I tortured Phillip a little when I was taking pictures of the interior of my cupcake. He, however, was eventually rewarded and ate the cupcake

According to him, it was delicious. Feel free to change up the flavors by substituting the extracts and liquids.

The liquids should not surpass ¼ of a cup otherwise the batter will be way too moist. For the honey, I’m certain you can substitute agave nectar with the same amount or sugar with one whole cup. This is one of my favorite cake recipes because its so decadent yet not entirely physique damaging.

Orange Sponge Cake
¾ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup cornstarch or potato starch
¼ tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp baking powder

4 eggs, separated
½ cup honey

¼ cup orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
Zest of one small orange

Chocolate Sponge Cake
¾ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup cornstarch or potato starch
¼ tsp xanthan gum
1 tbsp baking powder
¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 eggs, separated
½ cup honey
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Sift all the dry ingredients together and stir until well mixed. In two bowls, seperate the eggs. In the bowl with the yolks, whisk or blend in the honey and vanilla until it obtains a pudding like texture. Now, beat the egg whites until just foamy. Make a well in the bowl with the dry ingredients and add the liquids (add the orange juice and zest at this step for the orange sponge).

Fold everything together gently until combines. Pour batter into either 2 8-inch cake pans or a 12 cup muffin/cupcake pan. Bake for 15 to 12 minutes. Let cool then decorate with a gentle dust of powdered sugar or a luscious topping of butter cream icing.

..Or even a chocolate/carob glaze for the orange cup cakes.