Sponge Cake With Passionfruit Icing

This is a true family favourite and the cake I ask to have made for my birthday! It sounds like a really simple cake, but it tastes beautiful and whenever we have family gatherings and a range of desserts on offer, this cake is the first thing to go. You have to be quick at these gatherings or you miss out. To my mind this is the best sponge cake ever. It is light and fluffy and when filled with whipped cream, there is simply nothing better. I’m not really sure what makes it so special and so different to other sponge cakes – perhaps it’s the custard powder that gets added. Although this is a simple cake, it can at times be frustrating to make. You can cook the cake mixture perfectly and set it out of the oven to cool only to have the middle sag on you for what seems to be no good reason. So it can be frustrating, but when it works it is all worth it – trust me on this.

Ingredients:
Cake
• 3/4 Cup Caster Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Cornflour
• 2 tbsp Custard Powder
• 1/2 tsp Bicarb Soda
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 4 Eggs Very important for them to be at room temperature - leave them out of the fridge overnight
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence

Icing
• 3 small Passionfruits You can use canned if not in season, but fresh is best
• 2 cups Icing Sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp Butter
• Milk just a dash

Cream Filling
• 600 ml Thickened Cream Depending how thick you like your cream filling, you may use less
• 1/2 tsp Vanilla Essence
• 2 tbsp Caster Sugar Depending on how sweet you like the mixed cream, add more or less

Instructions:
Cake
1. Preheat oven to 180° C (fan forced)
2. Sift cornflour, custard powder, bicarb soda and cream of tartar. Set aside. Sift them at least 4 times. They can be sifted together and don't need to be sifted separately
3. Warm the mixing bowl (usually with hot water). Not sure if this is essential, but that's how it's been handed down.
4. Separate egg whites and yolks for all 4 eggs
5. Beat egg whites in a bowl with mixer
6. Add castor sugar and mix through
7. Add splash of vanilla essence and mix through
8. Add yolks and mix through
9. Once mixing is done, fold through the mixture of cornflour, custard powder, bicarb soda and cream of tartar. Do not use mixer for this step.
10. Grease bottom and sides of 2 x 23cm springform cake tins. Line top and sides with grease proof paper
11. Split cake mixture evenly between the 2 cake tins and bake for 20 minutes.
12. Once done set cakes to cool in cake tins for about 10 minutes before setting them out on to wire racks to cool completely
Cream Filling
1. Beat the thickened cream with a mixer
2. Add Vanilla Essence and mix through
3. Gradually add the castor sugar and keep mixing until firm and peaks maintain their form
4. Spread cream mixture evenly onto one the cooled sponge cake layers
5. Place the second layer on top
Passionfruit Icing
1. Add butter to a medium mixing bowl
2. Add a dash of milk and stir with spoon
3. Halve the passionfruits and scoop contents into the mixing bowl. Continue stirring with the spoon
4. Sift in icing sugar into the bowl. Start with about one cup of icing sugar and add as required to get the level of consistency that you prefer. Continue stirring and adding icing sugar as required.
5. With a spoon spread the passionfruit icing sugar mix over the top of the cake. Spread to the edge so it runs down the side providing a very nice finish
6. Place in refrigerater to let the icing set

For pictures and more follow the link below:
Sponge Cake With Passionfruit Icing

bon appetit