beating "whole-egg" vs. "divided-egg" to make sponge cake
carol
i've noticed 2 ways in making a basic sponge cake:
1) One is to beat WHOLE EGGS + sugar over double boiler until ribbon
stage;
2) the second is to beat egg yolk + sugar till ribbon stage, then last
step is to fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.
For these 2 methods, both are to incoporate air into eggs to create the
sponginess of sponge cake.
but which of these 2 methods would create a SPONGIER [fluffier] method
[provided that the same recipe is used for both methods]?? the WHOLE-egg
beating method?? or the separated-egg beating method???
please share your thoughts with me by directly e-mailing to
car...@hotmail.com
thanks a lot!
carol
A. Sharp
When you divide the eggs and whip the whites separately,
this is the technique for a "chiffon" cake. The texture isn't quite the
same as in a sponge cake; I think the chiffon is a little lighter, but
not as spongy. Strictly a matter of taste; depends on the cook's
goal for the outcome.
A. Sharp
ax...@pge.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In article <366346...@HOTMAIL.COM> carol
Jeff
>Carol,
>
> When you divide the eggs and whip the whites separately,
>this is the technique for a "chiffon" cake. The texture isn't quite the
>same as in a sponge cake; I think the chiffon is a little lighter, but
>not as spongy. Strictly a matter of taste; depends on the cook's
>goal for the outcome.
> A. Sharp
> ax...@pge.com
I think a sponge cake also uses the separated egg technique, by
whipping the egg whites separately. The genoise usually employs the
whole egg and sugar technique, combined over a double boiler and
whipped to the ribbon stage. The genoise is also referred to as a
"sponge-type" cake because like the sponge cake, it relies only on egg
foam as its leavening agent. Nowadays, some cake recipes also combine
the two techniques, by separating the eggs, then heating the yolks and
sugar and beating them to a ribbon, and then combining them w/ the
whites that have been whipped to the firm peak stage. I've made both
sponge and genoise cakes and see very little difference in them. The
sponge cake is drier because it has less fat in it, whereas the
genoise is slightly richer and has a nuttier taste because of the
butter (which is sometimes browned slightly), that is added to it. As
for the chiffon, it is a lttle richer in texture because of the
vegetable oil added to it, so it usually does not require any imbibing
liquid of any sort; furthermore, it usually has baking powder in it.
For me, the sponge and genoise are virtually interchangable. When I
am in a hurry, I prefer to make the genoise; that way I won't have
have to deal with separating the eggs and beating them separately, and
there is less mess to deal w/ in the end.
Jeff