Orange Spongecake

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From: Mastering the Art of French Cooking • Print this Recipe

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Note: The original recipe calls for the orange buttercream, but I was out of eggs so just coated the cake in the orange syrup described here. The orange syrup was lovely, but do what sounds good to you!

Ingredients:

For the Cake

• A round cake pan, 9½”
• Electric mixer
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• Grated orange rind
• ⅓ cup orange juice
• Pinch of salt
• ¾ cup cake flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar

For the Orange Buttercream

• 6 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1⅔ cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• Orange zest
• ¼ cup orange juice
• 1 tbsp orange liquer (I didn’t have this and it turned out OK)
• Cold water

For Orange Glaze

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup water
• ¾ cup orange juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

For the Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Grease the cake pan and measure out ingredients
3. Gradually beat the sugar into the egg yolks.
4. Continue beating until the mixture thickens to form ribbons, about 2-3 minutes
5. Add orange zest, orange juice, and salt
6. Beat for a moment or two until the mixture is light and foamy
7. Beat in the flour
8. Beat the egg whites and a pinch of salt together in a separate bowl until soft peaks are formed
9. Sprinkle on 1 tbsp of sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks are formed
10. Stir ¼ (one fourth) of the egg whites into the batter, then delicately fold in the rest
11. Immediately turn into prepared cake pan, and run the batter up to the rim all around
12. Bake in middle position of preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. The cake is done when it has puffed and browned, and shows a faint line of shrinkage from the edge of the pan.
13. Let cool for 6-8 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan, reverse the cake on a rack. Then flip the cake back over.

For the Orange Buttercream

1. Place all the ingredients (except cold water) in a saucepan and beat with a whisk over low heat. The mixture should thicken “like honey”. When it is cooking properly, the bubbles that first appeared on its surface as it heated will begin to subside.
2. Set the saucepan in cold water and beat for 3-4 minutes until filling is cool.

For the Orange Syrup

1. Combine the sugar and ½ cup water in a small saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil; stir until sugar has dissolved.
3. Combine juice and cornstarch in a bowl; pour into sugar syrup.
4. Simmer gently until thick, 6 to 8 minutes. Add butter; stir until it melts. Serve warm.

Note: The 6-8 minute time is from Martha Stewart’s recipe. I have literally no idea how she gets all that water out in 6-8 minutes, but for me I had to simmer the syrup for closer to 30-40 minutes. I did use a pretty small saucepan, so was trying to prevent it form boiling over, but still.