National Sponge Cake Day

Sponge cake, celebrated today with National Sponge Cake Day, is a light cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar. It usually also contains egg yolks, although some versions don't, such as angel food cake. The earliest recipe for sponge cake written in English is found in The English Huswife, a book by poet Gervase Markham that dates to 1615. This sponge cake was thin and crisp, more like a cracker than a modern sponge cake. Bakers began using beaten eggs as leavening agents in the mid-nineteenth century, which led to the modern sponge cake, believed to be one of the first cakes without yeast.

Basic sponge cakes are made by whisking egg whites and caster sugar, and then folding in flour. Whisking the egg whites makes them stiffer and creates air bubbles. This aeration, along with heat, causes the cake to gain volume and rise. Sometimes baking powder is also used as a leavening agent. Fillings, frostings, fresh fruit, and custard sauces are added for flavor and are soaked up by the sponge.

There are many variations of sponge cakes. Mamón is a sponge cake from the Philippines that may be baked into cupcakes, loaves, or cake rolls. Angel food cake, dating to nineteenth-century America, doesn't have egg yolks or butter, is leavened with egg whites and baking powder, is baked in an ungreased pan, and is cooled upside down. Boston cream pie is a yellow sponge cake that is layered with pastry cream and glazed with chocolate. Génoise is a French sponge cake that resembles pound cake. Joconde sponge cake is a thin sponge cake made with ground almonds. Pão-de-Ló is a Portuguese sponge cake flavored with lemon or orange peel. Plava comes from Jewish cuisine and is usually eaten during Passover; it is often flavored with lemon zest and almond essence. A swiss roll is a thin sponge cake spread with a layer of filling and then rolled. Variations of it are the Yule log and jelly roll. Victoria sponge cake, or Victoria sandwich cake, is a small sponge cake named after Queen Victoria.

How to Observe National Sponge Cake Day

Enjoy sponge cake! Make your own or pick one up, perhaps from a bakery. There are many variations you could try:

• angel food cake
• Boston cream pie
• Génoise
• Joconde sponge cake
• Mamón
• Pão-de-Ló
• Plava
• swiss roll
• Victoria sponge cake

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