Passover Sponge Cake

This is the sponge cake that I make every Passover – I first saw it in a cookbook put out by “The Jerusalem Post” about 25 years ago. After having tried many recipes for sponge cake, this recipe quickly became our favorite.

I added one ingredient to the original recipe – (2 Tablespoons canola oil), because this makes for a moister cake.

As in most Passover recipes, this cake uses a lot of eggs. Make sure that they are at room temperature, so that the eggwhites get beaten to the maximum volume.

I always make this cake in an “angel food” cake pan with a hole in the middle and removable sides; if you make the cake in this kind of pan, DO NOT GREASE THE PAN, and then after baking, carefully turn over the pan, while the cake is still hot, and sit it on top of a can or jar, upside down, so that the cake does not “sink”. After it is completely cool, turn it over. If you are using an American “angel food” pan, then it will have “legs” and then you don’t need to place it on a jar or can – you can place the pan, on its “legs”, directly on the table or countertop, till it cools. 

When serving, remove the sides of the cake pan, by carefully running a small, sharp knife around the sides, to loosen the cake. You can also carefully slide a small sharp knife around the bottom of the cake and remove the center part of the pan – but I often choose not to risk  breaking it – and leave the center in, at the expense of aesthetics…..

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 9 eggs, separated
• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup potato starch
• 1/2 cup matza meal (if you have matza cake meal, which is finely ground, that is definitely preferable)
• pinch of salt
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 Tablespoon lemon rind
• 1/4 cup orange juice

Preparation:

1. In clean mixer bowl, beat egg whites will stiff.
2. In separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar till light and fluffy; while beating, add the two Tablespoons canola oil.
3. Add matza meal, potato starch and salt.
4. Add lemon juice and rind, and orange juice.
5. Fold in the beaten egg whites.
6. Bake in “angel food” pan (tube pan) with removable sides, at 180 C (350 F) for 45 minutes, or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
7. Invert cake pan, upside down, on jar or can, or if using the type of angel food pan with “legs”, invert it directly on counter top. Leave it like this till it is cool.
8. To serve, remove sides of pan, by carefully running a small sharp knife around the sides of the rim of the cake, to loosen it from the pan..

TIP: It is advisable to prepare this cake several hours before serving.