The Best Passover Sponge Cake

The Best Sponge Cake

Happy new week! And Happy Passover to everyone out there who is still celebrating all the way through this coming Saturday. Today I have a very special treat for you. Instead of sharing a recipe of mine, my beloved mother has guest written my blog post for today. Are you ready? Here we go!

Hi, everyone.  This is Anita, Mir’s Mom, and I’m writing my first-ever (and probably only-ever) guest blog for Just About Baked.  I actually don’t love baking, and I’m not much good at it.  I’d rather practice the piano. However, I just finished baking an amazing cake and thought that it was time for our family to share the recipe with the world.

When you grow up in a Jewish family, you know that at the end of the Passover Seder meal each year, you will receive a slice of sponge cake.  And you know that no matter who baked it that year, it’s gonna taste more or less like, well, a sponge.

The Best Sponge Cake

But not this sponge cake.  This one tastes like a luscious slice of heaven with a bit of crunchy sugar on top.

When I met my wonderful husband (Mir’s Dad), I was invited for a meet-the-folks dinner.  The dessert was this sponge cake, which my future mother-in-law (Mir’s future grandmother) used to bake not only at Passover but all year round.  Yes, it’s that good.

The Best Sponge Cake

It’s so good in fact, that my MIL used to bake a dozen at a time. She gave them out as gifts to family members, friends and neighbors.  She never measured ingredients, though, so the way I learned to bake it was by watching her carefully and copying every step.

The Best Sponge Cake

No one can resist this cake. When Mir’s biggest  brother was three or four years old, he spied a sponge cake on the table, awaiting dinner.  And every time he passed it, he snatched a little bit from the bottom.  My MIL noticed the growing hole and observed with a smile, “What happened to the cake?  I think we have a mouse.”

The Best Sponge Cake

This cake isn’t easy to make, and it also takes the better part of an hour.  But it’s worth the trouble. When you savor it, think of Mir’s grandmother—a tiny lady with curly white hair, who loved everyone she knew and baked them all cakes.

 

The Best Passover Sponge Cake

Ingredients

9 jumbo eggs
3/4 cup matza cake meal (note: not regular matza meal)
1/4 cup potato starch
1 and 1/4 cup sugar plus a bit more
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons sweet red wine (unsweetened grape juice also works)
1 and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 325.
  2. Sift together the matza cake meal and potato starch. Mix together the vinegar, oil, lemon juice and wine.
  3. Prepare 3/4 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of sugar in separate cups.
  4. Separate 8 eggs (into 2 large bowls) and then throw the 9th egg whole into the yolk mixture.
  5. Beat the yolks at high speed until they’re frothy. Add 3/4 of a cup of sugar to the yolk mixture at low speed. Add the cake meal/potato starch mixture to the yolks at low speed. Finally, add liquids to yolks at low speed.
  6. Unplug the mixer and rinse the beaters. Beat the egg whites at high speed. Add 1/2 cup sugar slowly to the whites. Beat the whites mixture until there are soft peaks, but not stiff peaks.
  7. Gently fold the whites (don’t stir them, or the cake will fail) into the yolk mixture. Pour 1/3 of the batter into an ungreased tube pan and sprinkle some of the cinnamon mixture on it. Pour another 1/3 of the batter into the pan and sprinkle some of the cinnamon mixture on it. Pour the remaining 1/3 of the batter into the pan. You will have 3 shallow-looking layers.
  8. Lance the batter in five places with a spatula and sprinkle the top lightly with sugar.
  9. Bake for exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes.
  10. While the cake is baking, don’t let anyone jump on the floor and DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR (doing so will cause the cake to fail). Remove the cake and immediately turn it upside-down on a wine bottle.
  11. Leave it to cool upside-down overnight.
  12. To remove the cake from the pan, turn it right-side-up and then cut carefully around the outer and inner sides with a sharp knife. Then do the same with the bottom. Use a gentle sawing motion and don’t press.Then lift the cake out and place it on a cake plate for everyone to admire.
  13. Store in an airtight container to prevent the cake from hardening.
http://justaboutbaked.com/the-best-passover-sponge-cake/

 

Mir

I fulfill many roles in life: wife, mother, teacher, everlasting learner. This site is dedicated to one role that expresses my creativity in ways that I find consistently challenging and rewarding: baker. Inventing new ways to enhance food, especially if that food involves chocolate or peanut butter (or both!), is a passion of mine. I look forward to sharing my ideas with you.

This Post Has 27 Comments

  1. Manali @ CookWithManali

    So nice to meet you Anita! 🙂 and thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe with us, the cake sounds delicious!

    1. Mir

      Thanks, Manali. It’s one of my favorites!

  2. Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy

    Hello Mir’s Mum 🙂 Happy Passover 🙂
    You have shared a delicious looking recipe – I love a simple sponge cake.

    1. Mir

      Sometimes simpler is better!

  3. Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice

    What a wonderful post! Thank you for sharing, Anita! This sponge cake looks absolutely delicious. Wish it was my breakfast this morning!
    Gayle @ Pumpkin ‘N Spice recently posted…Cranberry Mushroom Spinach Salad with Lemon Basil VinaigretteMy Profile

    1. Mir

      A pleasure, Gayle. The cake does make a scrumptious breakfast!

  4. Megan - The Emotional Baker

    Hi Anita (& Mir!) This was such a fun post! I loved reading about this Sponge Cake and will have to try it in the near future 🙂
    Megan – The Emotional Baker recently posted…Lemon Poppyseed LoafMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Thanks, Megan. I look forward to finding out more about baking emotionally! 🙂

  5. Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary

    Well helllllllo Anita! And Mir (of course)! SO fun that you let your Mother take the JAB reigns, Mir! Love this post!! This sponge cake looks absolutely delicious, and the crunchy sugar on top has my heart going pitter-patter!! Not sure if you guys are up for adopting into the family, but if so I’m always looking for a second family… and cake as gifts. 😉 Hope you guys have a wonderful Passover! Cheers! <3
    Cheyanne @ No Spoon Necessary recently posted…Arugula Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes & BurrataMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Cheyanne, you’re welcome to join us anytime!

  6. Shashi @ RunninSrilankan

    Thanks so much for this gorgeous Sponge, Anita – and Mir! Even though I’m far from being 3 or 4, my grown self would probably pinch a bit of this sponge cake everytime I walked by it just like Mir’s brother did! My mom hardly ever measures her ingredients either – but you have done a phenomenal job replicating this!
    Shashi @ RunninSrilankan recently posted…Lemon Blueberry CookiesMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Thanks, Shashi. I can’t imagine baking without measuring, but for the really skillful, it certainly works somehow!

  7. Kate @ Framed Cooks

    Anita!! First of all, you have the best daughter ever…she makes us delectable recipes and is such a great supporter of her fellow bloggers. And second, I love this sponge cake – I don’t think I’ve ever made one before, so I’m going to try yours! 🙂
    Kate @ Framed Cooks recently posted…Coconut Rice PilafMy Profile

    1. Mir

      So sweet of you, Kate! I hope the cake works for you!

  8. Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust

    Okay, how awesome is it that your mom wrote a post? And I’m sad I can’t have a meal with you this week because this cake? Holy cow, I want a huge slice!
    Dorothy @ Crazy for Crust recently posted…French Silk BrowniesMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Thanks, Dorothy. I’ve heard amazing things from my daughter about your blog. Best wishes!

  9. mira

    Hello Anita! And Hi Mir! Such a great idea to have your mom write a post for your blog! Happy Passover! This cake looks perfect! Pinning!
    mira recently posted…Crepes With Whipped Chocolate Coconut CreamMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Mira, this was actually my idea, because Mir was overwhelmed with making 80 matza balls for Seders. Moms always want to help out . . . . Cheers!

  10. annie@ciaochowbambina

    Hi Anita!! Such a thrill to meet you!! And can I say, I adore your daughter! Reading her blog always brightens my day and this post is no exception! This sponge cake looks and sounds divine! I have a feeling if I put the cake out, the little mouse in my house (who goes by the name of Dom) will find his way to it as well! 😉 Thank you for sharing such a special recipe!
    annie@ciaochowbambina recently posted…Orange Scented Chocolate Chip Cannoli Cream Dip with Pizzelle ChipsMy Profile

    1. Mir

      That’s so nice of you, Annie. I hope that Dom (a bigger mouse) likes this cake as much as our kids do!

  11. David @ Spiced

    Well, hello there, Mir’s Mom! Nice to meet you! So a mouse problem with the sponge cake, eh? I can’t imagine why. This sponge cake looks incredible! I think I might need to test out this cake…you know, just to see if a mouse shows up here in our house, too. Hope you make another appearance soon, Ma Mir! 🙂
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Grilled Coconut Lime ShrimpMy Profile

    1. Mir

      Thanks, David. I hope you enjoy the cake!

  12. koby Handwerger

    MM!! yummy!

    1. Mir

      Then you should’ve eaten more, my lovely son.

  13. Michele @ Alwayzbakin

    What a sweet story! I hope you and your family had a very happy Passover! This cake sounds fabulous. Family recipes are the best. 😉
    Michele @ Alwayzbakin recently posted…May The 4th Be With You Cheese CrackersMy Profile

    1. Mir

      They really are. Thanks, Michele!

  14. audrey

    The cake is now in the oven. I just wanted to point out that you neglected to specify in your directions to add the cinnamon to the bowl that contains the 1/2c of sugar. I figured it out, but someone who doesn’t bother to read carefully will probably not take notice.

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