Halloween Sponge Cake

Hi! Today, I am going to teach you how to make this sponge cake. This is a recipe that I really enjoy making, and I decided to give it my own twist by turning the original cake, which had no icing, into a fun Halloween-style cake. I like making this cake whenever I want to take a break from what I am doing, take some time for myself, or just find something fun and productive to do. Baking gives me a chance to relax and be creative, and the best part is that I get something delicious at the end!

This cake also has a really interesting history. It was first made by a poet named Gervase Markham, and the recipe has been around for more than 600 YEARS!!! That is an incredibly long time for a recipe to still be enjoyed today. Over the years, people have enjoyed this cake in many different ways. Some people eat it as a snack, others enjoy it as a dessert, and for people who are fasting, it can even be eaten as a meal. Even though this recipe is hundreds of years old, I wanted to take the original idea and make it more exciting and modern by giving it a Halloween theme.

So, in this recipe, I will show you how to make the sponge cake and turn it into a Halloween-style dessert. I’ll take you through the ingredients, the steps, and the decorating process. By the end, you’ll have a cake that is not only delicious, but also looks festive and is perfect for Halloween. So, let’s get started!

Ingredients for the cake:

1. 100g cake flour
2. 60g vegetable oil
3. 70g Milk
4. 6 eggs
5. 3 tablespoons of sugar
6. Pinch of Cream of Tartar

Ingredients for the Icing:

1. 120g Heavy Whipping Cream
2. 1 tablespoon of sugar
3. 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract
4. A pinch of salt
5. A bit of Food Coloring if you want color

Tools to make this:

1. Plastic Cup
2. Fluid Measuring Cup
3. Scale
4. Hand Mixer
5. Microwave
6. 2 metal bowls
7. Rubber Spatula
8. Sifter
9. Baking Pan
10. Oven
11. Piping Bag

There are two main steps to creating this sponge cake. For the first part, you will need flour, oil, and milk. First, sift the flour into your mixing bowl. Sifting the flour helps remove any lumps and makes the mixture smoother. Next, heat the oil for 30 seconds before adding it to the flour. Mix the flour and oil together until they are well combined and have a light caramel-like texture. After that, weigh out the milk and mix it into the flour and oil mixture. Continue mixing until everything is combined. At this point, the mixture should look light and slightly clumpy. Once it reaches this texture, you are ready to move on to the next step!

This is the second step, where you will need a pinch of cream of tartar, eggs, and sugar. MAKE SURE THERE IS NO WATER OR ANY EGG YOLK LEFT IN THE BOWL FOR THIS STEP!!! Even a small amount of water or yolk can make it harder for the egg whites to whip properly.

First, crack open all of the eggs and carefully separate the egg whites from the yolks. Put all of the yolks into your flour mixture and mix everything together well. Then, add a pinch of cream of tartar to the egg whites. Using a hand mixer, beat the egg whites on high speed. After 30 seconds, add one tablespoon of sugar. Continue mixing for another 30 seconds, then add another tablespoon of sugar. Repeat this one more time until all of the sugar has been added.

The cream of tartar helps stabilize the egg whites, while the sugar helps create a smooth and stable foam. Keep mixing until the egg whites become light, fluffy, and form soft peaks. Once they reach the right texture, you are ready to combine them with the rest of the cake mixture!

Before you begin this step, preheat your oven to 325°F. Now it is time to combine the two mixtures. Start by adding about one-third of the whipped egg white mixture to the flour mixture. The flour mixture is much heavier, so adding a small amount of the egg whites first helps lighten it and makes it easier to combine with the rest of the egg whites.

Using an up-and-down folding motion, gently mix the egg whites into the flour mixture. Be careful not to stir too quickly or aggressively because you want to keep as much air in the egg whites as possible. Those little air bubbles are what help make the sponge cake light and fluffy!

Once the first portion is completely combined, add the entire flour mixture into the bowl with the remaining egg whites. Again, use the same gentle up-and-down folding motion until everything is evenly combined. Take your time with this step because mixing too much can cause the air bubbles to disappear and make the cake less fluffy. Once the batter is smooth and well combined, it is ready to go into the pan and into the oven!

Now all you need to do is prepare your baking pan. Lightly oil the pan you are using to make sure the cake does not stick after it is baked. Once the pan is ready, carefully pour all of the batter into the mold.

After pouring in the batter, gently pick up the pan and drop it onto the counter a few times. This helps remove any large air bubbles from the batter and allows it to spread out evenly. Just make sure you do not drop it too hard!

Once the oven has finished preheating to 325°F, place the cake into the oven. Give the pan a gentle push to make sure it is positioned properly, then close the oven door. Let the cake bake for about 40 minutes. While it is baking, try not to open the oven door too often because this can cause the cake to lose some of its height. When the 40 minutes are up, carefully take the cake out and let it cool before decorating it!

For the frosting, you will need heavy whipping cream, sugar, vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt(maybe food coloring if you want it to have color). Before starting this step, place your hand-mixer beaters and mixing bowl in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Chilling them helps the heavy whipping cream whip up more easily and become nice and fluffy.

After 10 minutes, take the bowl and beaters out of the freezer and add all of the ingredients. FOR THIS STEP, EVEN A LITTLE BIT OF WATER CAN RUIN IT!!! Make sure your bowl and beaters are completely clean and dry before you begin.

If you want to add color to your frosting, add your food coloring before you start beating the mixture. Add a few drops of your preferred food coloring and gently mix it in so the color is evenly distributed. You can always add more coloring later if you want a brighter color.

Start beating the mixture at a medium speed and slowly increase the speed as it begins to thicken. Be careful because it can get a little messy! You should notice the cream gradually becoming thicker and fluffier. When it starts holding its shape and forming peaks, you know you are on the right track. However, DO NOT OVERBEAT IT! If you continue beating for too long, the cream can separate and eventually turn into butter. Once your frosting is thick, fluffy, and holds its shape, stop mixing. Now put your icing into your piping bag. Your whipped cream frosting is ready to decorate your cake!

Before you start decorating, make sure your cake has completely cooled down. Your cake cannot be hot when you decorate it because the heat can melt the frosting! Once the cake is cool, you are ready for the most fun part—decorating!

This is where you can let your imagination flow and get creative. Since this is a Halloween-style cake, you can decorate it with almost anything you want. You could add skulls, bones, witch hats, candy corn, pumpkins, ghosts, or anything else that reminds you of Halloween. You can also use different colors of frosting to make your decorations stand out and give your cake a spooky look.

There is no right or wrong way to decorate it, so have fun and make it your own! Once you finish decorating your cake, you are officially done. Now all that's left to do is cut yourself a slice and enjoy your delicious Halloween sponge cake!