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Chocolate Sponge Cake featuring cacao powder, loads of eggs, and homemade organic cake flour is naturally yummy and nutritious. Because of its semi-sweet nature and high content of eggs, it is an excellent hearty breakfast or snack choice.
To my pleasant surprise, it also helps me regulate weight. It appears the minimally processed raw cacao powder boosts metabolism besides its anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory features. Please note cacao powder is different from conventional cocoa powder, read on to learn how.
Why you should use Cacao Powder instead?
Both the conventional cocoa powder and cacao powder are from cacao beans, which are the seeds of the fruit from cacao trees. These ancient tropical plants are native to South America. People in the Amazon area have been cultivating cacao trees since 5,000 years ago.
In a nutshell, when processing cacao beans using high temperatures, they become Cocoa Powder. When processing cacao beans at extremely high temperatures, their color turns darker and becomes Dutch cocoa powder.
What I am using in this recipe is a new trend called cacao powder, made from raw fermented cacao beans milled using low temperatures.
Minimally processed wholesome Cacao Powder is a powerful anti-aging superfood. It is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory ingredients. It also helps effectively regulate blood sugar, and blood pressure and boosts metabolism. If you are fond of dark chocolate like me, then this dark chocolate sponge cake featuring organic cacao powder is a perfect hearty breakfast item.
A cup of homemade Chai Tea, coupled with this sponge chocolate cake is my kind of breakfast.
How to Make a Smooth Fluffy Chocolate Sponge Cake?
Tip No.1 is the optimal ratio among key ingredients for a yummy Sponge Chocolate Cake
The ratio of eggs, cacao powder, flour, milk, and oil is essential. I’ve tested extensively to reach an optimal balance of being healthy and tasty. Here is what I finally landed on – 6 large eggs to pair with 35 g cacao powder, 100 g homemade cake flour, 80 g avocado oil and sugar respectively, and 100 g whole milk
Tip No.2 is to beat a perfectly fluffy & stable meringue
A perfectly fluffy & stable meringue is the key to any sponge cake. I use 1 tbsp white vinegar to help the beating process and also adopt a three-staged mixing to maximize the egg white beating:
A Stand Mixer is a handy kitchen appliance that makes the beating process easier. The three-stage mixing are:
- Stage One – 2 minutes at medium-low speed, add 1/3 of sugar/salt at the end of this stage. The goal is to mix everything well and get ready for the serious work.
- Stage Two – 4 minutes at medium-high speed, add the remaining sugar/salt along the way. This is the serious beating stage, the meringue should look exploding, dewy, and stable.
- Stage Three – 2 minutes back to medium-low speed. This is to wind down and get rid of large bubbles formed during the high-speed beating process.
Tip No.3 is to dissolve the cacao powder in milk first
Sift the cacao powder twice to ensure it is smooth and airy and then mix it with the milk. Use a silicone spatula and an egg whisk to blend the two. The tension of cacao powder’s tiny particles initially makes it hard to dissolve in the water, you might see small bubbles formed as a result of the tension on the surface of these particles. Nevertheless, keep mixing and folding until the outside force finally breaks down the tension.
For best results, I recommend heating the cacao powder/milk mixture just a little bit while mixing using a silicone spatula, just before it reaches a boil. You will notice the color turns bright and enticing. Remember not to overheat and over-dry the mixture.
OK. Here is the important thing to remember. After you heat the cacao powder & milk mixture, you must let it cool down to room temperature before you mix it with the egg yolks. This is because the residual heat may cook egg yolks and turn them into small chunks. For this reason, I suggest doing this step first.
Tip No.4 is to mix the chocolate cake batter ingredients in the correct sequences and techniques
For making sponge cake, the sequence and technique to mix the cake batter are as critically important as the ingredients themselves. Below are my tested & proven summaries. Follow these steps, you will have a fluffy and smooth Chocolate Sponge Cake effortlessly.
Last but not least is some Baking Tips
Bake the cake in the middle rack and add a stainless steel baking pan filled with the water in the lower rack. The moisture helps make the cake smooth and soft.
Remember not to open the oven during the baking if you can. Otherwise, the cake may deflate. After removing the cake from the oven, shake abruptly to release the steam. As soon as the baking ware is OK to touch, remove the cake from the baking ware to cool. This will prevent the condensation from happening in the bottom of the cake.
Enjoy a naturally yummy superfood Dark Chocolate Sponge Cake! Perfect for snacking or breakfast.
Chocolate Sponge Cake {Superfood Snack} Recipe
Chocolate Sponge Cake featuring cacao powder, loads of eggs, and homemade organic cake flour is naturally yummy and nutritious. Raw wholesome minimally processed cacao powder is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflamatory ingredients. It also effectively help regular blood sugar, blood pressure and boost metabolism and immune systems.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 35 g cacao powder, raw wholesome minimally processed
- 100 g homemade cake flour
- 100 g whole milk
- 80 g avocado oil
- 80 g cane sugar, organic unrefined
- 4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp salt, such as Himalayan pink salt
- 3 tsp white vinegar
Instructions
- gather ingredients. Measure and add the sugar and salt in a bowl, and avocado oil in a large glass mixer.
- Sift cake flour and cacao powder twice respectively. This is important for a fluffy smooth sponge cake.
- Add the double-sifted cacao powder to the saucepan holding the milk, fold, and mix until combined smoothly. Turn the heat to medium while continuing using folding motion to combine, cook for about 30 seconds or the chocolate mixture's color gets darker and the texture becomes silky smooth. Do not overheat it.
- Set the chocolate mixture aside, until it fully cools to room temperature.
- Separate the egg white from the yolks. Add the egg whites to the stand mixer, along with 3 tsp white vinegar, and add the egg yolks to another mixer. Turn the power to medium-low (4 out of 10) and mix for 2 minutes, sprinkle about 1/3 of the sugar & salt, turn the power to medium-high (6 out of 10) and mix for 4-5 minutes, or till the egg whites explode, form the peak and become stable, sprinkle the sugar/salt along the way. Turn the power back to medium-low and continue to mix for 2 minutes. The last 2 minutes are to wind down and get rid of the possible bubbles trapped during the high-speed mixing process.
- Use a hand-held mixer to mix the egg yolks until smooth and set aside.
- Warm the avocado oil in the microwave for about 30 seconds and then add the double-sifted flour to the bowl, add half first, and use the silicon spatula to fold into the oil. Use a fold, and drag to draw a straight-line motion to combine flour and oil until smooth.
- Add about 1/4 of the egg yolks to the flour/oil batter, use the same fold, drag & draw a straight line motion to combine. Then add the room-temperature chocolate mixture to the mixer, and use the same technique to combine until smooth. Continue to combine the rest of the egg yolks with the batter until everything is smooth.
- Add some of the meringue to the batter, and use the same technique to combine until smooth. Repeat until all the meringue is in.
- Set the oven to "bake" and preheat to 350 F.
- Line a 9x13 inch glass baking ware with unbleached heavy-duty parchment paper, and pour the batter from high to the baking ware. Gently shake to remove the bubbles.
- When the oven is ready, fill a stainless steel baking pan with water, place it on the lower rack, and then add the chocolate sponge cake batter on the middle rack. Bake for 40 minutes. If you use a muffin pan or other smaller baking ware, it will take less time, about 30 minutes.
- All done. Turn off the oven, remove the baking pan from the oven, shake it to release the steam, and cool on a wired rack.
- As soon as the baking ware is OK to touch, remove the cake from the baking ware to prevent condensation cumulation.
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Nutrition Information
Yield 12 Serving Size 2 squaresAmount Per Serving Calories 130Total Fat 7.4gSaturated Fat 1.2gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 6.2gCholesterol 1.3mgSodium 47mgCarbohydrates 15gFiber 12gSugar 7.4gProtein 1.8g
Nutrition calculation is provided by"NutritionValue.org" to the best of my knowledge. Nevertheless, I use lots of homemade, all natural, unprocessed, unrefined raw & wholesome ingredients which are not always readily available in the referenced source. Therefore the calculation may not always be accurate.
