My Grandmother's Sponge Cake

"Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? Sponge Bob Square Pants."

No not that sponge...today I want to share with you my grandmother's sponge cake.

I have never made this before and thought it would be a fantastic way to use up the egg yolks I had leftover from one of her other recipes (which I will share next week).

Ingredients

1 2/3 C all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C egg yolks
1 egg
1 1/2 C white sugar
1 Tbsp orange zest
1 Tbsp orange juice, strained
1/2 tsp lemon extract
3/4 C boiling water

In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. According to my grandmother you are supposed to sift these ingredients together (this breaks up the flour and can give your baked good a lighter texture), however I don't have a sifter so I took a fork and fluffed the mixture.

In a mixing bowl combine the egg yolks and egg. Mix on medium until eggs are thick and a wonderful lemon color (this will take about 3-5 minutes).

Add the sugar in batches, mixing thoroughly between each addition.

Turn off the mixer and fold in the orange rind, orange juice, and lemon extract.

The nice thing about fresh squeezed orange juice for recipes is that often there is leftover (however not for long once my 3 kids sniffed it out and consumed it rapidly).

My grandmother's recipe calls for you to sift the dry mixture into the egg mixture...however I just used my trusty fork and sprinkled the ingredients in. You'll need to fold the dry into the egg mixture (this will take a little work but be patient and continue to fold, DO NOT STIR).

When you think all of the ingredients are combined add your boiling water and fold it in quickly. For me this "uncovered" some flour that wasn't adequately incorporated.

Next pour your batter into an UN-greased pan (I used a round bundt pan) and place in a 325 degree over for 1 hour.

Once your done cooking "hang" the cake upside down on a cooling rack for an hour. This will help the cake cool and hopefully easily release from the pan.

I had to take a knife around the edges to loosen it up and only had a minor incident with the cake once it was completely out.

However this has turned out to be a delicious treat and one that is enjoyed by the kids for breakfast with a smear of jam. I could also see this being fantastic with some sort of custard or cream in the middle and chocolate ganache on top.

For my first time out I wanted to make my grandmother's version from this point on though I will play with it and make it my own.

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