Nancy Blitzer's Classic American Sponge Cake

By norsegal8

My friend Nancy has been baking for family and friends for over 40 years. This perfect sponge cake is her creation and is so pure and simple it needs no adornment. Nancy serves it plain with tea or sometimes toasted for breakfast. This cake contains no sodium and only 226 mg cholesterol.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 1 1/3 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 6 large eggs, separated
• 3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Details

Servings 10

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Use an angel food pan, ungreased.

In a small bowl combine the water, vanilla and lemon zest.

Remove 1 tablespoon of the sugar and reserve to beat with the whites.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour and 3 tablespoons of the sugar.

In a large mixing bowl beat the yolks and the remaining 3/4 cup sugar on high speed for 5 minutes or until the mixture is very thick and ribbons when dropped from the beater. Lower the speed and gradually add the water mixture. Increase the speed to high and beat for 30 seconds. Sift the flour mixture over the yolk mixture without mixing in and set aside.

Beat the whites until foamy, add the cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form when the beater is raised. Beat in the reserved 1 tablespoon of sugar and beat until very stiff peaks form when the beater is raised slowly. Add 1/3 of the whites to the yolk mixture and with a large skimmer or rubber spatula fold until incorporated. Gently fold in the remaining whites in 2 batches.

Pour into the pan. It will be a little bit more than 1/2 full. Run a small metal spatula or knife through the batter to prevent air pockets. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean when inserted in the center. Invert the pan, placing the tube over the neck of a soda or wine bottle to suspend it well over the counter and let it cool completely in the pan (this takes about 1 hour).

Loosen the sides with a long metal spatula and remove the center core of the pan. (To keep the sides attractive, press the spatula against the sides of the pan and avoid any up and down motion.) Dislodge the bottom and center core with a metal spatula or a thin, sharp knife. (A wire cake tester works well against the core.) Invert onto a greased wire rack and reinvert onto a serving plate. Wrap airtight.