The Best Sponge Cake: Soft and Moist - Simply Trini Cooking (2024)

Christmas season is really in full swing now and all I could think of is sponge cake. At home, my wife and mother are really cooking up a storm. Of course, I'm in the thick of it all, taking out the photos and doing up the posts and multitasking 101 things all at the same time. Since I last posted the black cake I decided to just put up as many of the recipes I have, just waiting to be posted. It will be a little tiresome but It will be done. As promised here is the sponge cake recipe ahead of time, but yuh know yuh boy have to talk a little bit about sponge cake.

Not a Regular Caribbean Sponge Cake

As a child growing up, sponge cake was just the usual dessert you would get in your party bag (a brown paper bag) at a birthday party or class party. It would be mixed up with the popcorn and other sweets that were in the bag by the time you reached home but you didn't mind and ate it anyway (Sponge cake and popcorn; what an interesting taste that was!) Sponge cake was just the Mr. Regular of this spongy goodness for me; nothing extraordinary.

Then everything changed when I met my then fiancé and tasted her sponge cake. All I could say from then on was that all sponge cake were not created equal. Even the, run off the mill, box cake wasn't tasting like hers. This delicious dessert had a milkiness that was just different and mouth watering. Every time, she made it, it was never enough...Long story short, the recipe is here on the blog for everyone to enjoy and share with their families and friends.

Trinidad Sponge Cake Recipe

SPONGE CAKE

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla essence or almond essence
3 cups flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon (optional)
1 tsp. nutmeg (optional)
½ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup evaporated milk

Direction:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cream sugar and butter until smooth.

Beat the eggs. Add one at a time. Mix the lemon juice and milk.

Fold in a ⅓ flour and a ⅓ liquid, repeat. Beat in the vanilla essence.

Pour into greased pan and bake in a 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven until it leaves the sides of the pan.Alternatively,test with a thin knife; insert in the centre of the cake, if it comes out clean then it is done.

I have come to the end of another wonderful post. See you soon. Bye!

Additional Notes:
Some people have a lot of trouble following the steps for this cake, so I have attached this note for those readers who might need additional information. This recipe is a basic sponge cake recipe. I believe if you prepare this recipe according to the directions you should get a smooth, almost milky, spongy cake. Believe me, it does come out spongy, I've used this recipe many times and it has never failed.

Everyone has different expectations and preferences for a sponge cake - some people like it VERY light, some like it looking very yellow, others like it white, some like it without much spice. That is the beauty of cake making, you can make any recipe very close to what you want it to be. You just have to know the mechanics of pastry baking.

There will have to be some adjustments in the recipe ingredients, but you can get it the way you want it. If you don't like too much spices, don't add it. If you want a more yellow cake, I usually make sure to use butter, not margarine, and if you have access to creole eggs (common fowl eggs), that will be better. Just remember, some creole eggs are smaller, so you might have to use additional eggs for your cake. Also, choose your baking pans carefully.

Also, make sure the sugar and butter is beaten until it its very light and fluffy. You can get a lighter batter by folding 1 to 2 tablespoon of warm water into the batter immediately before spooning it into the baking pan.

In future, we will post more cake recipes for you to show the many different textures of this delectable dessert and some guidelines in baking cakes. We thank you all for your encouraging comments. And for those who seem to be having trouble, we encourage you to always follow the directions and take care in how you prepare this dessert. A good cake cannot be rushed.

If you like this recipe and others from this site, you might be pleased to know that we now have Simply Trini Cooking Cookbook. It is available in Amazon. and has over 600 Caribbean recipes you will enjoy making in your home.