Lessons in Baking: Sponge Cake

I got it in my head to re-read Anne of Green Gables (and I can't wait until I can introduce Sophie to this classic, and one of these days I'll make it to Prince Edward Island...) and man they ate a lot of cake at the turn of the century. (Also, fruit preserves which somehow I'm now feeling like I want to attempt) so I got it into my head to try making a sponge cake.

Well, a sort of a sponge cake, I should say.

As of January 2nd this year, AJ and I are on health journeys, so I thought I'd try out a sugar-free sponge cake, by replacing the sugar with applesauce. I've eaten cakes like this before and even though you may notice the difference, it's negligible and still delicious. But, maybe it affected my sponge cake.

One thing I learned is that the secret sauce of a sponge cake appears to be the whisking of the egg whites. That. Took. Forever. So long, I'm questioning if I actually did it right.

I may have messed up when I combined the ingredients with the egg whites. The recipe called for folding them in together, but when I poured them into the cake pans, there was such an obvious difference, I poured them back into the bowl and stirred them together with a whisk, which really muddled them together and I'm wondering if that didn't take away some of the sponginess.

They came out looking decent, although I sorta wish I had one deeper cake pan rather than the two shallow ones, and when I cut it, it looked kindaaaaa spongey.

Overall, it wasn't a total waste, but it was a bit of a fail. The interior was a bit damp and there wasn't too much flavor, it could have benefitted from either some actual sugar or maybe even more flavoring. If the texture was fine, eating it with more flavorful sides, like berries and cream or maple syrup would've made it more tolerable.

We made it through one of the cakes and AJ took the other to his lucky (or unlucky) coworkers.

Looking forward to trying again soon!

Lessons in Baking: Turkish Yogurt Cake

I don't know where I come up with these inklings for what I try, but I saw a recipe for a Turkish yogurt cake and decided to try it over the weekend. I think I was intrigued to work on a cake that wasn't flour based.

I noticed too late that I didn't have whole milk Greek yogurt and only non-fat but at that point, whatever.

It came out fully rounded but sunk to
a bit of a bevel shape after a few minutes
but from the recipe photo, I guess that's
sorta how it's supposed to finish

It was really interesting to see the texture and how it came together, especially with the bubbly egg whites.

In the end I'm not sure if I didn't let it cook enough, because I think it was supposed to be browned on the entire top surface and when we finally cut into it, it was harder to cut cleanly the lighter it was.

In the end though, it was really good! It actually had a texture like cheesecake and it's been a nice, light snack, and a great way to use up a lot of Greek yogurt if it's going to go bad soon. This also had lemon zest which gave it a great citrus flavor, but I would love to try with some other flavors next time (vanilla? almond? raspberry?) I'll keep you posted!