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Pan di Spagna Recipe (Italian Sponge Cake)
Italian Sponge Cake (Pan di Spagna) is a basic preparation of Italian pastry. Thanks to its particular soft and spongy texture it's the ideal base for the preparation of classic layer cakes.Its preparation is very simple, however for its perfect success it's very important to respect the doses and methods of preparation. The ingredients of the authentic Italian Sponge Cake recipe are just 3: eggs, flour and sugar.
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 150 g granulated sugar - ¾ cup
- 75 g flour - ½ cup
- 75 g potato starch - ½ cup
- ½ lemon zest - or 3 drops of vanilla essence (optional)
Instructions
- First, preheat the oven to 170°C (340°F).Then sift together the flour and the potato starch in a bowl. Mix them well and set aside.
- Place the eggs and the granulated sugar in a planetary mixer. If you want to flavor the sponge cake, now add 3-4 drops of vanilla essence or the grated rind of ½ lemon. This is optional, dependig on the recipe you are going to make with the sponge cake.
- Whip at moderate speed. If you have an electric mixer graduated from 1 to 10, the correct speed is 6.
- Beat the eggs with the sugar for 15/20 minutes until the mixture has become light and fluffy and has doubled its volume.
- When the eggs and sugar are ready, puffy and frothy, turn off the mixer. Take the sifted flours and add them a little at a time to the cream of eggs and sugar. Mix RIGOROUSLY BY HAND and slowly making movements from the bottom up, so as not to disassemble the mixture.
- As soon as the flours are completely amalgamated to the cream, set aside and carefully cover a springform cake pan of 22 cm (9 inch). with baking paper.
- Pour the mixture into the cake pan and finally use a spatula to level the surface. DO NOT BEAT THE CAKE PAN on a surface to level it, otherwise it will disassemble.
- Bake the Pan di Spagna in a preheated oven at 170°(338 F) for about 50 minutes. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN FOR THE FIRST 40 MINUTES! Then you can check the cooking with a toothpick. Stick with a toothpick the center of the sponge cake: if it comes out dry it means that it's cooked.
- Once cooked, remove the sponge cake from the oven. Leave it in the cake pan for about 15 minutes before unmolding. Then let the sponge cake cool completely before using it for your recipes.
Nutrition
Serving: 100gCalories: 179kcalCarbohydrates: 34gProtein: 5gFat: 3gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 102mgSodium: 45mgPotassium: 143mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 149IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 24mgIron: 1mg
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