Sponge Cake and Salmon

Amy and Doug are joining us for dinner tomorrow.  We are just having burgers on the grill, pasta salad and strawberry shortcake.  I decided to make an almond sponge cake to house the ice cream that will be topped with strawberries and whipped cream because I love almonds and strawberries together.

I adapted a recipe for Sponge Cake that I found in Better Homes and Garden, New Cookbook, Limited Edition.  I wanted to make individual sponge cakes so I used my Wilton Dessert Shell Pan to bake the sponge cake.  The recipe is large enough to make 18 individual shells.

The egg yolk mixture will be lemon colored and thick.

The egg white should be beaten to stiff peaks.

Be careful not to over mix when folding the two batters together.

Almond Sponge Cake

adapted from Better Homes and Garden

6 eggs

1/2 c. orange/pineapple juice

1 t. almond extract

1 c. sugar

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 t. cream of tartar

1/2 c. sugar

Separate eggs.  Allow the whites and the yolks to stand at room temp for 30 min.

In medium bowl of stand mixer affixed with the paddle attachment, beat egg yolks for 5 minutes on high speed.  Yolks should be thick and lemon colored. Add juice and almond extract, beat on low speed until combined.  Gradually beat in the 1 c. sugar, increase the speed to medium and beat until mixture thickens and and doubles in volume.  Reduce speed to low and add flour, 1/4 c. at a time until just incorporated.  Set aside.  

In large bowl of stand mixer affixed with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites and cream of tarter until soft peaks form. Gradually add the 1/2 c. sugar and beat at high speed until stiff peaks form.

Fold 1 cup of the egg white batter into the egg yolk batter.  Add the egg yolk batter to the remaining egg white batter and fold just until combined.

Pour into Dessert Cup Pans that have been treated with baking spray.  Do not over fill the cups or you will have muffin tops.  Bake in an oven that has been preheated to 350* for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, let cool slightly and turn out of pan onto a cooling rack.  Print Recipe

This was my first batch.

As you can see I had overfilled the cups.

This first batch also cooked for 17 minutes and got a little too brown for sponge cake.

They still tasted good though.

The second batch was much better.

Fill the dessert cups just under the top and bake for 15 minutes.

I set these aside for tomorrow night's dinner and started on tonight's dinner.  We had Cedar Planked Salmon, Baby Red Potatoes tossed with butter and parsley, tomatoes and Garlic Green Beans.