When should you take the sponge cake out of the oven?

How to level a sponge cake

Start with the cooled crust on a flat surface. The domed side should face up.
Use your palm to press lightly onto the top of the cake to keep it in place. Use a thin, serrated knife to cut off the dome using a slow sawing motion.
Try to cut as little as possible to maintain the height of your cake. Be sure to keep the knife level.
Use a serrated knife to lift the dome slightly, then place a circle (thin cutting board) under the cut portion to remove the dome.
Set the dome aside for later use (the extra layer can be dried to make pastry crumbs or frozen for later use).

Biscuit secrets

We will tell you how to prepare a sponge cake , from start to finish. And the first thing you need for this is a universal dough recipe. The peculiarity is that it should be maximally saturated with oxygen .

You will need

210 g sugar
130 g wheat flour
6 eggs
2 g vanillin

Separate the yolks from the whites and grind the yolks with 100 g of sugar and vanilla, then thoroughly beat the mass with a whisk - it should increase in volume and turn white .

Beat the egg whites in a dry, clean bowl , gradually increasing the speed. When the whites begin to thicken, add the remaining sugar and continue beating until the foam becomes stiff.

Add a third of the whites to the yolks and mix with a spatula. sift the flour thoroughly (preferably 2-3 times) and add to the yolk and white. Gently knead the dough, add the remaining whites and mix everything again. The dough is ready!

How to cut a sponge cake evenly into layers

And so, finally, sweating from exertion and drinking motherwort to calm down, we took out a beautiful, even, smooth biscuit from the bowl. It's time for another rather important procedure, so catch your breath, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

Have you calmed down? Now let's start cutting the biscuit into cake layers. Stop, just don’t faint, composure, smart advice and some tools will allow you to do this quickly and efficiently. It’s worth mentioning right away that you need to cut the biscuit cold and under no circumstances hot. It will be generally ideal if it sits in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before the “operation”.

Cutting a cake with a string saw

To alleviate the suffering of the hostess, savvy enthusiasts invented such technology as a string saw. It's very simple to use. When adjusting the height of the string, you must set it to the required thickness of the cake.

On some models there are several strings at once in order to get the required number of shortcakes at a time.

The strings do not move, do not slip, are perfectly tensioned and cut amazingly, the main thing is to follow the rules of use.

Set the desired height.
We bring the saw to the biscuit on a smooth, flat surface.
We cut into the baked goods and, making movements as if we were sawing a tree, cut it into several flat cakes.

That's it, now you can coat it with cream and decorate your confectionery delight.

Cutting the biscuit using a knife and a removable ring from the mold

If you are not the proud owner of such a miracle saw, then you can use a knife. For biscuits, they produce special cutters with a long blade, but in the absence of this unit, you can resort to using a device you have at home with the longest serrated blade possible. But this does not mean that you need to take your grandfather’s Cossack sword off the wall and wave it in the kitchen like an ataman; a bread file will do just fine.

We place the biscuit on a dish that matches the width of the mold, under which we place several more flat plates, as a height regulator.
Now we pass the ring from the mold through the cake. Because of the plates, the biscuit will protrude somewhat above the metal sides; if anything, you can also place plates under the dish to make the cake thicker, or, on the contrary, remove it if you want to get thin biscuits.
Using a knife, we begin to cut the protruding part of the baked goods, moving it along the edge of the ring.

Now 1 layer of the future cake is ready. We do the same with the rest of the donut.

You can use special molds for cutting biscuits.

How to cut a biscuit with a thread

The thread is definitely thinner than any, even the sharpest knife, and thanks to this it allows you to make thinner cakes. There is only one condition: the strength of the thread must be excellent, so the best option would be fishing line, nylon or dental floss. We will also need toothpicks to create a level cut.

We stick wooden sticks around the circle of the biscuit at the same height;
From fishing line (thread) we make a wide loop, which we throw over the baked goods so that it rests on the skewers, like a lasso.
By pulling the ends, we tighten the knot, and, plunging into the walls of the donut, the thread cuts it through in a horizontal plane.

You can also use thread to cut the shortcakes using the method with a mold ring and plates, only instead of a knife we will use a fishing line (thread) stretched with both hands and move it through the thickness of the biscuit in a horizontal plane, like a saw.

How to make a sponge cake. Secrets of chef Vladimir Mukhin

Vladimir, how to make delicious biscuit dough? Proportions for classic biscuit dough: for 1 egg, 25 grams of sugar and 25 grams of flour. The result will be approximately 60 grams of biscuit. At first glance, everything is simple: measure, mix, bake. But in fact, in the preparation of biscuit dough there are a number of not obvious things that affect the final result.

For example? Let's start with the products. Flour must be of the highest grade with high gluten. You cannot take the first grade or bran flour. Before cooking, the flour must be sifted. By the way, there is an option for making a sponge cake without flour, from chopped almonds or other nuts. You will get an almond sponge cake.

Let's go back to the classics... For the dough you also need sugar, the most ordinary granulated sugar, fine. It will dissolve better when beaten with the yolks. It must dissolve completely, otherwise grains of sugar will brew, and this will affect the porosity of the biscuit. Undissolved sugar may cause a crunch in the finished product. Therefore, you need to beat well, the yolks until white, the sugar until completely dissolved.

What to beat with and what temperature should the products be at? You need to beat intensively and do it better with a mixer with a spatula attachment. The yolk temperature may be slightly above room temperature. The longer the yolk sits at room temperature, the better. Protein, on the contrary, loves the cold. Therefore, the whites must be beaten with a cold whisk in a cold bowl until fluffy. There is no need for salt, sugar, or lemon juice - these are additives for meringues. For sponge cakes, the whites are whipped without anything else and always separately.

What's next? You need to mix the yolks with sugar, add the sifted flour, mix and carefully fold in the whipped whites. To make the biscuit porous, it is important to mix carefully, by hand. The mass should remain airy.

How can you ruin biscuit dough? For example, overbeat the dough: the longer you beat it, the more rubbery the sponge cake will be. Secondly, the biscuit can be “planted”. There is such a concept in professional chef vocabulary. This means that the protein was not mixed into the dough correctly. When the sugar is beaten with the yolk, then the sifted flour is added and only then the whipped white should be added. It is better to do this manually, mixing very carefully with a spatula. So that the protein is distributed evenly, remains airy, and does not shrink. If the biscuit is planted, it can only be used to make Potato cakes.

What else is contraindicated for biscuit dough? Acid. If there is citric acid in the dough, it will destroy the protein and “seat” the biscuit. The biscuit does not need fat (butter or cream).

What then can be added to a biscuit without harm? Almost any spices. For example, cinnamon, anise, star anise, Indian spices or cocoa powder. The main thing is not to overdo it. If ground cinnamon, then literally on the tip of a knife for one biscuit. Be sure to grind the spices well, mix with flour and sift before adding to the dough. Their set will depend on what the biscuit is needed for. If this is an independent dish, you should stick to the classic version, without additives.

What about more interesting additives? Chocolate, for example. It must be melted, mixed and added when mixing the white with the yolk. Or here’s an unusual additive: matcha green tea. Add to the dough and get a green sponge cake. I prefer adding cloves or cinnamon; they give an interesting taste.

In what form should the biscuit be baked, and with what should I grease it? In a round springform pan with non-stick coating: 24-26 cm is the ideal diameter. With high sides, the higher the dough, the fluffier the sponge cake. If the pan has a non-stick coating, you don’t need to grease it, just bake it. If using parchment, cut a circle the diameter of the bottom of the pan and a high strip, just above the sides.

At what temperature should the biscuit be baked? If you bake in the traditional way in the oven, then for a thick biscuit it is 180 °C, for a thin one - 200 °C.

What is “not traditional”? Steam. My neighbor in the country, an Armenian, cooks this way. And it's really very tasty! This biscuit is much airier. Place a container on a pan of boiling water, pour the dough into it and “bake”. It takes longer to prepare, of course. The time depends on the thickness of the biscuit, but on average it is 40 minutes at 100 °C. You can bake the sponge cake in a convection steamer at 120°C. Sometimes it's worth trying to cook classic things in a different way like this.

Is it a myth that the oven door should not be opened while baking? Believe me, it's not a myth. You really can’t open the oven, otherwise the biscuit will settle irrevocably. The biscuit dough rises due to the protein. It rises, gradually increasing in volume. And you need to be patient so as not to disturb the temperature regime. When the dough has risen, the volume has been fixed, baked at a sufficient temperature, it does not fall.

How long should it take before the oven can be opened? 20 minutes minimum. Then you can start looking, trying, checking readiness. Take a bamboo skewer, lower it into the middle and see: if it’s wet, the dough is still raw, if it’s dry, the biscuit is ready.

How to properly remove a sponge cake from the mold so that it does not fall apart? The finished biscuit must be cooled completely in the mold for 4 hours. Then carefully remove (you can trim around the perimeter with a knife), remove from the parchment and leave for another hour. Afterwards, the sponge cake can be cut, soaked and sealed with cream - this is if the cake needs to be prepared quickly.

When and how to soak a biscuit? Ideal for soaking and gluing yesterday's sponge cake; it will absorb the impregnation better. The finished biscuit can be left overnight in the refrigerator, covered with film or placed in an airtight container so as not to absorb foreign odors. Soak immediately before gluing. A good biscuit can absorb up to 2 liters of impregnation. Therefore, you need to soak it very well: take a spoon or brush and coat each cake generously.

What is the ideal way to soak a biscuit? The impregnation should be cognac. You need to mix 1 part cognac with 10 parts sugar syrup. Mix well and soak the biscuit. Rum, Amaretto liqueur or coffee are also suitable as alcohol. The technology for coffee is the same as for tiramisu. Fresh espresso should be mixed with Amaretto liqueur. Or make lingonberry impregnation: cook fruit juice (according to any recipe) and mix it with syrup.

What kind of cream should I prepare? Buttercream or buttercream will work, as will whipped cream. For a classic cream, you need to beat 100 g of butter with 50 g of condensed milk, add a little 10 grams of cognac. It is good to shade the cream with berries, for example, lingonberries. When the sponge cake is glued with cream, let it soak for 3-4 hours at room temperature. After this, it can be covered with marzipan or mastic, as well as coated with cream on the outside and sprinkled with crumbs. The choice is huge - wafer crumbs, rice chocolate, coconut flakes or almond petals.

Why does the biscuit sag and not rise? ⇑

There are many reasons for sagging biscuit dough, and one of them is poorly beaten eggs. They give the biscuit dough an airy texture. Poorly beaten protein molecules simply will not hold the dough together and it will collapse when brought to room temperature. For whipping, use an absolutely clean and dry container. Well-beaten eggs increase significantly in volume, turning into fluffy white foam.

Tip : If you are not sure of the power of your mixer, you can separately beat the whites to stiff peaks and the yolks until white, and then carefully combine them together.

It’s not enough to thoroughly beat the eggs, gently kneading the dough and adding carefully sifted and oxygenated flour is also incredibly important in making a sponge cake. If you do this too intensely, you will settle the mass.

Correctly mixing the flour should be done using bottom-up movements, as if lifting the flour from the edges to the middle, not for too long. If you separated the whites from the yolks, then you should mix the yolks with sugar and sifted flour, and then carefully fold in the whipped whites.

Classic sponge cake in the oven Important : The dough should be baked immediately after preparation, because otherwise all the oxygen in it will disappear. Preheat the oven and prepare the pan in advance to ensure that the sponge cake bakes on time.

A possible mistake when making a sponge cake could be the temperature at which you bake. Often ovens distort it and overheat, and as a result you bake the sponge cake not at 180°C, but at 200°C.

Remember : Temperature control is very important; if your oven is too hot, even perfectly prepared dough can be ruined.

Experiment based on the features of your oven. A possible solution would be to purchase a thermometer that shows the temperature inside the oven.

Note to the housewife : Under no circumstances should you yank the oven door again while baking the biscuit.

If you open it too early, the dough will collapse and will no longer be airy. During heating, air molecules increase and the biscuit dough expands inside, but opening the door will sharply reduce the temperature, causing the air to compress and cause it to fall. You will not be able to restore its fluffiness even by returning it to a hot oven. To save your biscuit from temperature changes, you should keep it inside the oven for 10-15 minutes after baking.

Secret No. 1: temperature for baking biscuits

It doesn't matter what form you use - that's not the trick. And it certainly doesn’t mean putting the biscuit in a preheated oven . This mistake is very easy to make, and it is because of uneven heating that the sponge cake then turns out to be lumpy . There is a myth that within 10 minutes that the dough is heated in the oven, air will come out of it . It's good that this is just a myth.

The optimal baking temperature is 170–180 degrees for about 40–60 minutes, depending on the oven. If you use our second tip, the cooking time will increase by 5-10 minutes, but this is a small price to pay for the perfect sponge cake .

Secret #2: foil

The best sponge cake will be made when all the dough is baked evenly. And this can only be achieved by placing the sponge cake in a cold oven and covering it with perforated foil. If you have regular foil and not one with a hole, no problem. With the help of a needle you can easily turn it into a perforated one .

So, pour the dough into the mold and cover the top with foil , make holes if necessary and bake.