STRAWBERRY ‘SHORTCAKE’ WITH CHIFFON SPONGE

I love life. I write, cook, garden, sing, play D&D and bake. So my website is going to do more than talk about my writing. It’s going to feature my exploration of life. Baking gives me great pleasure—the kind of immediate satisfaction authors don’t often get from long process of selling manuscripts for publication. I turned to baking to get that feeling of accomplishment and give some pleasure to the people I love.

For strawberry season, I tried baking my first sponge cake. This required several nights of research to learn the techniques. I warn you: this recipe is not for beginners. You have to know several techniques to do it well. I have included a description of each below. The sponge is not too sweet, so it pairs well with ripe strawberries.

We got our strawberries for this from Stoltzfus Farms at the Central Market in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We live downtown, ten minutes’ walk from the market. Elmer is our spinach-guy.

The Central Market in Lancaster PA – Photo by T. Fox Dunham

THE SPONGE

A sponge cake is a type of ‘foam cake’. There are several types, and they are known for being spongy (as the name implies), airy and light. The structure of a sponge cake builds on eggs and don’t use butter or leavening agents. This also makes them delicate, temperamental and in need of a patient and loving hand with the spatula. When assembling the batter, the ingredients need to be folded in by hand and just enough to evenly mix. Though you need to make the egg yolks and the egg whites in the mixer, use your hand when mixing the wet and dry ingredients to fold in air. That’s where the sponge comes from.

THE HISTORY OF SPONGE

The recipe for the sponge cake—cakes leavened with beaten eggs—probably started in Renaissance Spain. The earliest example of a recipe is found in a book by English poet, Gervase Markham: The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman (1615), though it isn’t the sponge we love today. Using eggs as a leavening agents became popular in the mid-18th century, which is when the sponge evolved.  

TYPES OF SPONGE CAKES

There are several types of sponge made all over the world. The Spanish introduced mamón to the Philippines, which is typically baked as cupcakes known as torta, cake rolls called pianono and loaves known as taisan. Angel food cake can be traced back to 18th century American cookbooks. Americans, especially Bostonians, can also take credit for the Boston cream pie. French pastry chefs added butter creating Genoise cake, which is more of a sponge and butter cake hybrid (also Mary Berry’s favorite type of sponge. I owe a lot to her and episodes of GBBS.) Joconde cake is a relative of Genoise with almonds and is used more for decoration. Pão-de-Ló is a Portuguese variation flavored with citrus peel. Jewish families eat Plava during the holiday of Pesach. Victoria sponge cake is made through creaming butter. Queen Victoria enjoyed it with afternoon tea. A variation is a stiffer cake called a Madeira. And of course, you have devil’s food cake, which uses chocolate and a creaming method, Swiss rolls (which I’ve made a lot of) and trifles, which use layers of fruit, cream and sponge that need to be spooned out.

WHAT MAKES CHIFFON DIFFERENT?

Chiffon cake is one the lighter and airier sponges but also tastes more like butter cake. The texture feels like a cloud. Now unlike butter cakes, chiffon cakes use oil plus whipped egg whites and sugar known as meringue to add the air. The high oil content remains at room temperature, and that makes this cake moister. Baking powder to give it the texture. It’s also a healthier alternative because it doesn’t have saturated fats. Baking is also more delicate and precise, and the cakes have to bake in taller pans then rest upside down right out of the oven. Chiffon needs to cling to the sides, so you don’t grease the specially fluted angel food pans you use.

My plan was to make strawberry shortcake for my in-laws when they visited. It’s the height of strawberry season, and I got my strawberries from a Mennonite produce vendor at the Lancaster Central Market known as ‘Elmer.’ We get our spinach from him too. It was my first-time making sponge, and my wife wanted it a specific way. She’s used to the yellow cake shells you get at the supermarket. This is also a kind of yellow-cake sponge, so I wanted something light and airy to go with the summer vibe. I picked chiffon, and it really paid off.

For my recipe, I give credit to the myriad recipes available. When I bake something new, I research many of them and include several components. This is one I’ve designed using many different aspects.

Your mission making chiffon: PROTECT THE AIRY TEXTURE!

FOX’S RECIPE FOR CHIFFON SPONGE

DRY INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (240 grams) cake flour
• 1 ½ cups of sugar (300 grams): Divide into 1 cup and ½ cup (You pour the 1 cup into the egg yolks and ½ a cup into the egg whites.
• 2 teaspoons (8 grams) baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (used for stabilizing the egg whites.)
• Lemon rind (amount variable depending on your tastes.)

WET INGREDIENTS

• 8 large eggs: (separated into yolks and egg whites when cold but then warmed to room temperature. You will only need 7 yolks.)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml/grams) vegetable, corn, canola, or safflower oil. (Most recipes recommend safflower oil.)
• 1/2 cup (120 ml/grams) water
• 2 teaspoons (8 grams) pure vanilla extract

WHIPPED CREAM AND STRAWBERRIES

• 2 cups (470 ml/grams) of cold heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons (8 grams) of pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract (if you’re inclined)
• 2 pounds of fresh strawberries.

NOTES ON THE INGREDIENTS

Cake flour is finely milled from soft winter wheat so it will enhance the texture. You can use regular flour, but cake flour improves it.

You can also use most cooking oils but I hear safflower oil is better. It has a higher smoking point, neutral flavor and adds moisture to the cake.

EQUIPMENT

You need an angel food cake pan. It’s fluted in the middle, completely smooth on the inside and for the best results, used one made from aluminum. It’s usually about 10 inches in diameter and can have three feet on the top or a removable bottom.

DO NOT GREASE OR FLOUR OR SPRAY ANYTHING ON THE INSIDE. I know this goes against all your baking instincts, but the sponge has to be allowed to expand by gripping the sides of the pan.

You can also use cake pans to make layers or a springform pan, but the fluted angel food cake pans work best and are traditional for making a tall sponge like chiffon.

Mixer or hand mixer.

Several metal, glass or ceramic bowls. Plastic bowls can harm the egg yolks and whites.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F
2. Prep dry ingredients: In a bowl, mix your cake flour, baking powder and salt. Add lemon rind, say about two teaspoons for a hint of lemon. Then sift it. Sift it twice if you like. It helps create the airy effect. This recipe is all about making a soft fluffy texture.
3. Grind your sugar: Prep your sugar by grinding it down in a food processor. Ninjas work well. But don’t grind it so much it becomes powdered sugar. Powdered sugar loses its crystalline structure and no longer dissolves as well in fluids. Grind it until the sugar feels softer, finer but not flour-like powder. This helps preserve the soft airy texture of the chiffon sponge.
4. Separate your eggs: Separate eggs when cold. Use three bowls so you won’t contaminate the egg whites if you break the yolk. Even a few drops can ruin it. Never use plastic bowls as residual oils can contaminate the separated eggs. There are devices that aid the process but basically, crack the egg, have a bowl underneath, then pass the whole egg between both halves of the shell. Eventually the heavier egg white will break off and fall into the bowl below. Then drop the yolk into a different bowl. Add the egg white into a third bowl and start again. Use separate bowl hygiene! 7 egg yolks. Egg white from 8 eggs. Get rid of the last yolk. Once you’re done, let the egg whites and yolks warm to room temperature, say about 30 minutes for the safest results.
5. Whip your egg yolks: Make the egg yolks first. Using the whisk attachment on a mixer or hand mixer, start on a low speed and gradually turn it up. The egg yolks will grow in volume. When they start to look thick after a couple of minutes, slowly pour in one cup of your prepared sugar while mixing. Let it mix a while longer. When it’s done, it will look thick and light yellow much like cake batter. You can create a ribbon effect by dipping the whisk into the mixed yolk and lifting it out. Thick ‘ribbons’ will ooze off the whisk.
6. Get the dry ingredients wet: Add the oil, water and vanilla to the dry ingredients then mix in the sugared egg yolks. Just combine the ingredients. Don’t overmix.
7. Whip the egg whites: There’s a small range between undermixing your egg whites and overmixing. This is something you need to practice. I’ll include a video link to youtube to help. Watch lots of videos. You need to make meringue. Mix your egg whites with a whisk attachment until they start to look foamy. Then add the cream of tartar. This will stabilize the structure. Next, increase the speed on the mixer. When the eggs start to look more like foam, slowly pour in the half cup of prepared sugar while mixing. Turn up the speed on the mixer and whip the egg whites until you can make thick peaks by dipping in the whisk attachment. Pause and try it with the whisk attachment. If the peaks collapse into liquid, you need more time. But do not overmix it! It doesn’t take long for the egg whites to go from stiff peaks to soapy bubbles. If the egg white foam looks chunky, no longer smooth, it’s ruined. Start again or it’ll have a bad texture.
8. Fold in the meringue: Be gentle. Take a rubber spatula and fold in the egg whites into the batter. Don’t do it all at once. Take a third of the meringue and fold it into the batter in slow motions until all the white has blended into the yellow. Then do it twice more. The color should lighten. Use your spatula for this. Stir it too hard, and the chiffon will be hard and chewy. You want to keep the air.
9. Fill the fluted pan with batter: Don’t grease your fluted pan. Don’t flour it. You want the chiffon to catch hold of the aluminum and cling to it. It’s one of the ways it gets its light structure. After you fill it, drop the pan a few times on the counter so any large air bubbles escape. Bubbles are the enemy. Then smooth out the top with a rubber spatula to prevent cracks.

BAKING WITH A BAIN-MARIE (water bath)

Your goal baking the chiffon cake is to keep it from collapsing. This is delicate and careful work. Use the lowest part of the oven you can. You want more heat coming up from the bottom.

By Mathieu MD – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39690443

10. Bake the cake: Use a water bath when baking for best results much like you would with a cheesecake. If your pan is not a solid piece, wrap it in tinfoil to make it watertight. Place the batter-filled fluted pan into a roasting pan or whatever you have that can hold water. The idea is that the water bath will steam in the over around the cake and help cook it. This is mostly used for custards but it’s quite effective with chiffon sponge. Before putting it in the oven, boil water on your stove. The secret here is to add boiling water to the pan as soon as you put it in the oven, otherwise, you lose time and steam while the oven heats the water. When the water boils on the stove, put the pan with the unbaked cake into the oven and then add the boiling water to the roasting pan until the water covers 2/3rds of the fluted pan. Then push it into the oven and close the door. Bake at 325 for about 55-60 minutes. Don’t open the oven door or you’ll let all the steam out.

Now my first time, I didn’t let it bake long enough and it didn’t cling to the sides when I took it out. I only did about 52 minutes, and I should have added 10 minutes to the bake until the outside was a nice brown. I’m lucky it didn’t collapse. Thankfully, I used a water bath.

11. Cool the cake: When you take the fluted pan out of the oven, you need to immediately turn it upside down to let it cool for 10-15 minutes. You cool it upside down to help keep it from deflating. You want airflow under it to help it cool, so don’t just place it flat on the counter. Many fluted pans have little feet. You can also use a sturdy “GLASS” bottle to balance the flute pan, but make sure it is stable. You place the upside down flute pan onto the neck of the glass. If a cooling rack has an inch of space under it, you can also place the flute pan on it.

12. Remove the pan: After about 10-15 minutes, remove it from the pan. If it’s stuck, use a plastic butterknife along the side or tap it. I hear you want to let it cool in the pan but not entirely or it can get stuck. After 10-15 minutes, the structure should be stabilized.

Now, hold your breath. If the cake doesn’t collapse, you’ve done it through careful technique.

13. Make the whipped cream: Chill the mixing bowl before you make the whipped cream. Putting the metal bowl from your mixer into the freezer works very well for this. Then pour in 2 cups of heavy cream and add 4-6 tablespoons of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Add a little almond extract for a nice flavor, like 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon if you’d like. Start mixing on low then gradually turn up the speed. Slowly turning up the speed on the mixer helps to stabilize the heavy cream so it doesn’t melt back into liquid when stored. Stop mixing when the cream looks creamy and foamy-thick. Go too long and the liquid will separate. It will look like cottage cheese if ruined.

You’ll need some of the whipped cream for the strawberry filling and some to serve.

14. Prep the strawberries: Cut up strawberries into little chunks then mix about a third into some of the whipped cream.
15. Add the filling: Cut the chiffon cake about 1/3rd down, slicing off the top. It’s best to use a wire slicer for this. The cake is sticky and will stick to the flat surface of a knife. My wire slicer worked quite well.

16. Build a thick layer of the strawberry-whipped cream on top of the bottom layer: Keep it even, about an inch then place the bottom half into the refrigerator for about thirty minutes so it chills. Then take it out and replace the top half.

Serve with more strawberries and whipped cream.

My sources: When I bake something new, I read myriad recipes and watch several videos youtube. There are many little tricks and nuances to pick up. I assembled this recipe from assimilating directions from several professional bakers. I based it on the recipe from the Joy of Baking.

This cake was a great success for my family and wonderful to serve during strawberry season.