Low-Fat or Egg-Foam Cakes

Appears in

Published 2008

About

Most egg-foam cakes contain little or no shortening and depend on the air trapped in beaten eggs for most or all of their leavening. Increasing interest in fine pastries and cakes has led to new appreciation of the versatility of sponge cakes. This chapter includes formulas for a great variety of egg-foam batters. These cakes are used in many of the special desserts assembled.

Egg-foam cakes have a springy texture and are tougher than shortened cakes. This makes them valuable for many kinds of desserts that require much handling to assemble. Most European cakes and tortes are made with sponge or egg-foam cakes. These cakes are baked either in thin sheets or disks or in thick layers that are then sliced horizontally into thinner layers. The thin sponge layers are then stacked with a variety of fillings, creams, mousses, fruits, and icings. In addition, sponge layers in this kind of cake are usually moistened with a flavored sugar syrup to compensate for their lack of moisture.