sponge – jam – cream layer – fruit

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It’s summer.

This year there is a real summer – seems so at least (until now). The sun is blazing, there is rain every now and then meaning that in the garden and anywhere else all is green and thriving. Sometimes it’s hot and humid – my better half & I are not so fond of it. Anyway … what to cook & bake?

I suddenly remembered my sponge approach & imagined some cake w/ a very light airy sponge, some fresh cream layer & fruit – fresh fruit. It should be the perfect match of a sweet treat & a refreshing little something for an espresso or a dessert.

… & it had to be a fast project!

So I started w/ my sponge. (I always rely on the sponge recipe in Lorraine Pascale’s Baking Book.)

A sponge is versatile. You create the sponge: maybe a rectangular one or a round on depending what your plans are. The most intriguing fact is that you only need very few ingredients which – usually – are in your pantry resp. fridge.

When working w/ sponge a nice jam makes always an excellent team member. (It doesn’t matter if home-made or store-bought …) Best is a jelly w/o any annoying pits.

A cream layer: this makes the whole approach elegant & irresistible. If you plan to serve the sponge cake at once you may rely on whipped cream – if you plan to enjoy the sponge cake for some days you better rely on mascarpone, buttercream, cream cheese, custard … whatever. It’s simply to prevent a sodden sponge.

… & finally you may add fresh fruit (or any processed fresh fruit).

Let’s start – what do we need?

For the sponge:

• eggs
• flour
• sugar – always icing sugar(!).

For the cream layer:

• mascarpone
• Greek yoghurt
• sugar
• lemon zest.

… & for the fruit I opted for raspberries – jam (w/o any pits) & fresh raspberries.

Starting line:

• Preheating the oven to 170° C w/ fan.
• Lining a baking tray w/ baking parchment.

Whisk together the eggs & the sugar w/ your handheld electric mixer until very foamy. I added also some vanilla extract & a pinch of salt.

Then fold in warm water (1 tbsp), sift in the flour & mix w/ a spoon. Carefully. Pour the mess into the prepared baking tray & let it bake for about 15 min. Then let it cool down on a cooling rack & remove the baking tray after about 5 min. Peel off the baking parchment when at room temperature. (It’ll need about 15 min overall.)

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In the meantime grate the lemon zest & knead the mascarpone w/ a fork until lemon zest & sugar are well combined. Add the creamy yoghurt & mix w/ a spoon.

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Now it’s time to assemble the sponge cake.

Put the sponge upside down on a board. Add the raspberry jam. I used a store-bought jam w/o any pits.

Afterwards spread the mascarpone mess. Be careful – no mixing of the raspberry jam & the cream! (Even I managed it …)

Finally cut off the edges to create a smart rectangle. The sponge cake so far was about 1.5 cm high – a flat cake.

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I cut it into 3 parts; then I cut each into 4 parts. So I had finally 12 pieces.

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I arranged some pieces of the sponge cake on a plate. To fill the plate I cut a piece into smaller pieces … I added fresh (cleaned) raspberries on top. It’s up to you how many raspberries you like to add for decoration.

What to do w/ leftovers?
I stored the pieces in a container & put it in my fridge. If it’s hot a cool sponge cake is excellent. The sponge itself will get a little more dense, but due to the mascarpone there wasn’t any soggy mess next day or so. We enjoyed these little sweet delicacies especially w/ our after-dinner espresso.

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Enjoy!

(information on equipment)