Grandma’s Sponge Sandwich sponge cake recipe

Photography Cath Muscat

I love to bake for the people I love, and nothing brings a bigger smile to my girls’ faces than sharing my mum’s sponge cake – a perfect Mother’s Day recipe. Mum is letting me share our foolproof family sponge cake recipe for what is simply the best sponge cake, in my humble opinion. Don’t tell anyone – it can be our little secret!

How to make sponge cake, by my mum:

SIMPLE SPONGE CAKE RECIPE

Ingredients
3 large eggs (or 4 small)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup maize cornflour
3 tbsp hot milk 
1 tbsp butter
Whipped cream
Jam of your choice
Blueberries or other berries, for decoration, optional

Method

1 Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

2 Cream eggs and sugar with vanilla essence at high speed until fluffy and sugar has dissolved and it’s light and thick.

3 Sift flours together and fold into egg mixture with a fork. 

4 Heat milk and butter until butter melted and fold into mixture (gently with a fork).

5 Butter and lightly flour 2 x 20cm sponge tins and pour in mixture equally.

6 Bake for 25-30 minutes at 180 degrees, or until mixture comes away from the sides of the tins. Shake gently to loosen, turn out onto a rack and allow to cool.

7 Once cooled, spread each layer with jam, add a thick layer of whipped cream to the bottom layer and sandwich them together. Top with berries to serve.

While I am partial to a cheat (confession: I’ve been known to pick up a tray of freshly baked cookies from the corner cafe on occasion), this recipe is quick enough to do on a weeknight, ready to share with mum in the morning. This easy sponge cake recipe is so simple and adaptable, too. Here’s a list of easy ways to change the topics for a new twist:

• Add strawberries for a simple strawberry sponge cake

• Love passionfruit sponge cake? Include a layer of passionfruit seeds in between the layers to add a dash of tartness

• Custard sponge cake: just replace the cream