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Light and fluffy sponge cake, mounds of whipped cream, and generous drizzles of caramel sauce. Evil, pure evil. That is how my boss described the caramel-sponge cake that I made for our office bake-off, to raise money for Jeans for Genes.
Prior to the day, I wasn't sure what to make and bring. I didn't want to go for anything too common, like a standard Swiss roll or carrot cake. (I'm glad I didn't, as other people brought them!) Having said that, I didn't want to make anything too weird and challenging.
In the end I chose a recipe I'd had my eye on for a while, but never tried - Donna Hay's caramel sponge cake recipe, from Modern Classics 2. It ticked all the boxes - cheap and quick to make, a little different, but not inaccessibly so. I never used to be good with whipped sponge cakes, but buoyed by the success of my recent Swiss roll, I thought it'd be alright.
The cake is a very simple sponge - just whipped eggs and sugar, with flour and melted butter folded through. The volume decreased a little as I folded the flour in, but it didn't seem to affect the finished product too much. I must say it smelled a little eggy after being baked, but I had a sneaky taste test (scooped some out of the middle with a teaspoon), and it tasted like normal cake. Next time I might use some vanilla extract to counter the egginess.
While the cakes were cooling, we went out and watched I Love You Phillip Morris at the MIFF. It was awesome - mega-love for Rodrigo Santoro and Ewan MacGregor! I assembled the cake after we came home. (See, this is why I needed a cake that could be made quickly!)
The caramel sauce itself is very easy, no scary spluttering sugar required. It's just cream and brown sugar...
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Then I had to whip the cream. I was in a mad rush, as it was already midnight by this stage, and I still hadn't packed my bag for the next day or cleaned anything up, and in the distraction I, er... whipped the cream quite a bit more than I normally do. Oops.
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I was scared it had turned to butter, but I tested it and it seemed fine. Just. (Do we see a theme here?) This was lucky, as it was 12:30am and I didn't have any more cream. Phew!
Anyhoo... assembling the cake is easy, as it looks better a little messy. I think you're aiming for the "billowing clouds" look with the cream, and the "Jackson Pollock" look with the caramel.
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Repeat with the next sponge cake, and you are done!
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The next day, I carried it on the tram all the way to work, and luckily, it arrived unharmed. We had about 15 cakes all up, and mine came 2nd and was auctioned for $40. Yay! My boss (who judged the bake-off) described the cake as pure evil. It tastes all light and fluffy, but definitely packs a mega calorific-bomb. I recommend small slices, if you can restrain yourself! I think of this cake as an easy crowd-pleaser.
And yes, that means that someone actually beat me in a bake-off! Yeah, I was shocked too. (Just kidding!!)
Don't forget to enter the draw to win your very own Panasonic Lumix TZ10! Just leave a comment on my post here. The competition closes this Friday!