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Basic Whole Wheat Sponge Cake (with vanilla icing)

You can make this fluffy and airy sponge cake in an oven or a microwave.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Microwave Cooking Time: 6 minutes
Servings: 1 cake (20 x 5 cm)
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

For the sponge cake:
  • 1½ cups whole wheat flour (Weizenvollkornmehl)
  • 1 tsp baking powder (Backpulver)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda (Kaiser Natron)
  • 1/8 tsp (about a pinch) salt
  • 1 cup raw (unprocessed) sugar (rohrzucker)
  • 1/2 cup ghee (substitute butter on room temperature)
  • 3 medium eggs
  • a pinch of vanilla (substitute: 1 vanilla pod/ 1 tsp vanilla essence)
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
For the vanilla icing:
  • 400 grams Whipping cream (Schlagrahm- 32% Fett)
  • 1 pouch/ 8 grams/ 2 tsp cream stiffener (Sahnesteif)
  • 1/2 cup icing sugar (puderzucker)
  • 1 pouch/ 8 grams/ 2 tsp Vanilla sugar (vanillinzucker)

Equipment

  • Hand mixer/ stand mixer
  • cake tin (20 cm) / microwave safe glass bowl (20 cm)
  • Big sieve
  • Spatula
  • Mixing bowl

Method
 

For the sponge cake:
  1. If baking in an oven: set it to preheat at 180° Celsius.
  2. Line your baking tin/ microwave safe glass bowl with parchment paper on the bottom and on the side. Cut into a circle to cover the bottom, and cut into strips to cover the sides. Spread some ghee/butter to facilitate the parchment paper sticking to the tin/bowl.
  3. Take a big sieve and add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into it. Sift it together into a bowl to make your dry mixture. Set aside.
  4. In a stand mixer bowl/ big mixing bowl add ghee/butter and sugar. Beat for about 2 minutes until creamy. Scrape down the sides in between for even mixing. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat for another 3-4 minutes, until everything is well combined and the mixture is fluffy.
  5. Add in the dry mixture, a little at a time and carefully fold it in. Do not mix rigorously as it will break the air bubbles and your cake will become dense.
  6. When the batter is evenly mixed, add the lemon juice. Mix just until combined and transfer quickly to the lined tin/ glass bowl.
If baking in oven:
  1. Bake at 180° Celsius on 3rd (from top) rack for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
If making in microwave:
  1. Microwave on high for 6 minutes or until the batter is not wet and wobbly anymore.
  2. If the batter is still wet after 6 minutes, microwave for an additional 30 seconds and check again.
For the vanilla icing:
  1. Pour the whipping cream in your mixing bowl and add the cream stiffener. Beat for just 15 seconds.
  2. Add the icing sugar and vanilla sugar and beat it just until firm peaks are formed. Stop immediately at this point and do not overmix, otherwise the cream will separate and it will turn into butter.
For assembly:
  1. Carefully cut off the top layer of the cake in a straight and even layer.
  2. Add some cream on the top and spread it evenly all around using a cake spatula or a flat spatula. You can cover the sides as well or leave them uncovered.
  3. If making a layered cake, just add sponges on top and continue covering with cream.
  4. Decorating option 1: Evenly spread the cream on top and leave the cake looking neat.
  5. Decorating option 2: Create a pattern on top of the cake with the back of a spoon. Put the spoon lightly on the cream and lift to make small peaks all over.
  6. Decorating option 3: You can use a piping bag to create a design on the cake. Add decorative elements like sprinkles, cherries or shaved chocolate to decorate the cake further.

Notes

  • The above measurements are for making one cake of 20 cm x 5 cm. Double all the ingredients if you are making 2 cakes. Triple them for making 3.
  • For an extra moist sponge you can drizzle your sponge (after baking, before icing) with a few teaspoons of orange juice. It works well if you are planning to frost the cake with whipped cream or chocolate. It balances the sweetness and fat by providing some acidity, while keeping the sponge moist.
  • The cake from the microwave will have a lighter color as compared to the one baked in the oven.
  • Whole wheat cake is crumbly in comparison to refined one. Put a thin layer of cream/icing on the sponge first, to seal in the crumbs and refrigerate for 30 minutes. After it sets, continue covering the cake with the rest of the icing. Consume within 2-3 days.
  • Whole wheat cake would not rise as much as the refined flour one.
  • Because of the whole wheat and raw sugar, this sponge cake gets dark in color while baking. Do not confuse the dark color with burning. The cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.