Ginger Sponge Cake - An Heirloom Recipe Series

Extra Food Chat with Kath

Oct 07, 2023

double layer ginger sponge cake with cream vase of daffodils behind cake

Welcome to another Heirloom Recipe on Extra Food Chat with Kath!

This Ginger Sponge is an adaptation of two recipes I found in my Grandma’s collection. I made a Ginger Fluff for the Recipes in the Mail Afternoon Tea back in August, and it got me thinking that I needed to revisit the Ginger Sponge recipe I’d created from Grandma’s recipes.

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Ginger Sponge or Ginger Fluff? I’m not sure if there is a difference between the two, or if it’s really the same thing with a different name. Either way, it is a great cake to have up your baking sleeve. It’s a bit of a twist on the classic sponge cake, and the addition of spices to the mix gives the cake more flavour in its own and less need for flavourful toppings like fruit or jam.

I first discovered the recipes my Grandma had written down for both a Ginger Sponge and a regular Sponge when I was putting together recipes for my cookbook Everyday Bakes. I’d never tried a Ginger Sponge before, and I didn’t recall ever seeing my Grandma make any kind of sponge. But it seemed like a good idea, since I love ginger (and sponge cake is always a good idea!).

The recipe written down for a Ginger Sponge, to me looks slightly less of a sponge cake than a traditional sponge due to the fact the butter and sugar are creamed at the beginning of the method, plus the addition of milk. This is why I used the other recipe my Grandma had written down for a more traditional sponge to create an actual Ginger Sponge. I really wanted the cake to be a sponge cake, not a butter cake, but I should go back and see how the original Ginger Sponge Cake recipe turns out when made exactly as written.

Next to the recipe title, seems to be someone’s name, maybe Norah? I have no idea who Norah was. I’m thinking it could have been someone at a church cooking class or similar, where people may have shared recipes. Grandma never really spoke of the places she got recipes from, and I was unaware of so many of these recipes when she was alive I didn’t really have the chance to ask.

I know she attended classes or talks at her church, as when she was dying the Minister of her church came to visit her in the nursing home while many of us were there. He spoke to us about her involvement in the church community and how she would attend classes on learning about other cultures and religions. I assume there were some of these classes about recipes and food at some point (maybe more when she was younger) as there are a few notebooks like those with these two sponge cake recipes in, that have a random selection of recipes.

The recipes haven’t all been written at the same time, the state of the books (possibly indicating their age), the style of Grandma’s handwriting and what she used to write down these recipes with (either pencil or pen, some even look like an ink based kind of pen, that makes me think those recipes might have been recorded when she was still at school) indicates they are from different times in her life.

The more traditional Sponge Cake recipe written in pencil, is fast becoming difficult to read and the bottom of the page is well worn. I don’t know if that means this notebook is older than some of the others, but that’s my guess. Since I don’t recall Grandma making these specific recipes, I’m going to assume the wear and tear comes from age rather than lots of use in the kitchen (though it’s possible she used them earlier in life pre Grandchildren).

The state some of these handwritten recipes are in, and the fact that I know so little about most of them, makes me even more keen to test them out and record them. Maybe this version of Grandma’s sponge cakes can become a new family favourite either in my family or yours, and new memories and stories can be created around them.

Ginger Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

6 eggs, at room temperature

150g caster sugar

200g self raising flour, plus extra (for tin)

1.5 tbsp cornflour

3 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground cardamom

Butter, for greasing the tin

Ingredients for the Filling/Topping:

300 ml pouring cream

Seeds of one vanilla pod or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius and lightly grease two 18-20cm round springform or loose bottomed cake tins with butter, then dust with some flour and tap off any excess.
In a medium bowl add the flour and spices, then and sift over the cornflour. Whisk to combine and set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the eggs on medium-high speed. Gradually add the sugar whilst the mixer is running. Whisk for about 5 minutes, or until the egg mixture has doubled in size.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and using a large metal spoon fold in the flour mixture in about three stages. Carefully fold in, working as quickly and gently as possible to ensure the flour is combined but the mixture stays nicely aerated.
Pour the batter evenly between the two prepared tins and gently smooth the top of each. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the sponges have risen and spring back when gently touched.
Allow to cool in their tins for a few minutes, before removing and allowing to cool on baking paper lined wire racks.
Once the sponges has cooled, place one on to a serving plate or cake stand. In a medium bowl (or use your stand mixer again), whip the cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread half the cream over the first sponge, and top with the second sponge. Top the top of the second sponge with the remaining cream.

Serves 8 (generously). Filled sponge is best served the day it is made, however leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days