Time Travel Kitchen
Strawberries, Cream and a 1933 Recipe for Sponge Cake
If you want to bake something delicious over the long weekend, make this sponge cake recipe from 1933.
The ingredients are few—the cake contains no butter or baking powder—it’s the eggs that give it its lift. A “feathery light” and “fluffy mixture” are some of the lovely descriptions in the recipe instructions. Recipes for Sponge Cake date as far back as the Renaissance, when they were more biscuit-like. If you’ve ever watched the Great British Bake Off, you are no doubt familiar with Mary Berry’s famous Victoria Sponge recipe. The ‘Queen of Cakes’, it was Queen Victoria’s favorite tea-time treat and contains baking powder. Other Sponge Cakes include Génoise, Pan Di Spagna, Swiss Jelly Roll, Angel Food and Chiffon.
The great thing about Sponge Cake is that it makes a terrific base for your choice of fillings and toppings, or with just a dusting of confectioners sugar.
The strawberries are so beautiful right now I decided to make a version of a Swedish Midsummer Cake. Sponge Cake layers are simply slathered with whipped cream or a whipped cream and sour cream mixture and topped with the strawberries. My Mom is of Swedish descent, so it felt special to make it and the name conjures images of sweet summer.
The recipe is from All About Home Baking published in 1933 by General Foods Corporation and is used with the permission of Reily Foods Company, owner of Swans Down©️Cake Flour and I thank them for it.
Note: I used a stand mixer and an 8” cake pan.
One of the really nice things about sharing these recipes is hearing about your experiences of making them. My dear friend, Gretchen (@Gretchenpea on Instagram) made the 1927 recipe for French Vanilla Ice Cream I posted a few weeks back. She told me it was fantastic, and judging by this picture she sent me, it looks it — Thanks, Gretch!
Thanks for traveling with me again this week. If you make the Sponge Cake or any of the posted recipes, I’d love to hear about it.
Have a great weekend!
All the best,
Jolene
Photos of Cake: Jolene 📸
That cake is so pretty!
There's an entire episode of "Curb your Enthusiasm" devoted to Sponge Cake. "It's like a delicious sponge"! At the end of the episode an oversized garbage bag of thrown away Sponge Cake saves someone's life after they fall from a balcony only to land on the cushiony confection!!🤣🤣. But I digress. Ya know last week you mentioned something interesting regarding the particular Banana Bread you made. That it wasn't overly sweet. It's kind of ironic that as a genuine sweet tooth, I tend to appreciate "sweets" when they aren't too "sweet"??!! There's more going on than just sugar. And when I think of some of the "yummier" Sponge Cakes I've enjoyed, they too weren't too sweet. The picture of the uncut cake is gorgeous. If I ever fall from a daunting height I hope it's that very cake that is there to break my fall 🤣. The pic of the slice of cake is ever more tantalizing. And while we're at it, your pal Gretchen's Ice Cream looks amazing!! Good stuff as always Jolene. Always love to hear the historic origins. See ya next week!🙋♂️