Genoese sponge cake, the three-ingredient sponge cake without yeast that triumphs in the networks

Total: 20 min Diners: 6-8

If you think that the sponge cake with three ingredients that these days is circulating the networks is some new invention of these times of crisis, make no mistake. This simple sponge cake is a classic pastry known as Genoese sponge cake and it is very likely that you have even made it more than once.

Ingredients

Eggs, 4 Regular wheat flour, 120 g Sugar, 120 g

How to make a Genoese sponge

How to make a Genoese cake

If the Genoese thing throws you off, it’s because you probably know it better as sponge cake for pies and gypsy arms, because it is the same cake, the only thing that changes is the baking time that, obviously, when we spread the dough on a tray to have a sheet of sponge cake with which then make a tiered cake or a gypsy arm, it will be lower than if we put the dough in a smaller mold to make a cake of more height.

Step 1

Light the oven at 180ºC with heat up and down without fan. In a large bowl put the sugar. Separate the egg yolks from the egg whites and put the former in the same bowl as the sugar and the latter in another bowl that is completely clean.

Step 2

Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks (if you use an electric mixer or dough mixer it will take about 8 or 10 minutes and you will know they are at the right point when you see that you can turn the bowl upside down and the egg whites do not fall) and set them aside.

Step 3

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until they whiten. Add the sifted flour on top of the yolks and sugar mixture and incorporate it with the help of a spatula making wrapping movements. Sometimes, because the size of the egg yolks is not always exactly the same, it happens that it is very difficult to incorporate the flour. It is in these cases we solve the problem by adding a tablespoon of water to be able to integrate all the flour until a smooth mixture is obtained.

Step 4

Add the egg whites until stiff and incorporate them using the spatula with wrapping movements (from bottom to top). We have to do it gently so that as little air as possible is lost. This is essential, because this cake does not have any type of yeast or booster and all its fluffiness will depend on the air that remains in the dough once everything is mixed.

Step 5

If we want to make a sponge cake sheet, spread the mixture on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (I usually use one of 39 x 26 cm) and bake at 180ºC for 8 minutes, after this time we prick with a skewer stick. If it comes out clean it is ready, if not, leave it a couple of minutes more and check again.

If what we want is to make a conventional cake, we line a mold of 22 centimeters in diameter or a rectangular one of about 30×12 centimeters with baking paper, pour the dough and bake in preheated oven at 180ºC for 30 minutes, after this time we prick with a skewer. If it comes out clean it is ready, if not, leave it five more minutes and check again.

Step 6

Remove from the oven, wait five minutes, unmold and let cool on a wire rack.

If it is a plate that we are going to use for a gypsy arm, we roll it hot, wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and let it cool rolled. When it is cold, unroll it carefully, fill it with the cream you like and decorate it to taste or bathe it with chocolate.

Notes

It is a very simple and quick cake to make at any time, because the necessary ingredients are commonly used in almost any home. In addition, as it does not contain oil or butter or fats of any kind, it is a cake that is very light.

In confectionery it is, precisely because of its lightness, one of the most used cakes as a base for cakes, as it can be filled with almost anything without the result being excessively heavy.