Whisked Sponge Cakes

Whisked cakes are the lightest cakes of all; certainly the fatless whisked sponge deserves its usual description of ‘featherlight’. This soft-textured, delicately flavoured cake has no added raising agent, relying simply on the volume achieved by beating eggs over a pan of hot water. Because of this, it is vitally important that the eggs are fresh so that they whisk better, and that the flour is thoroughly sifted to make it as fine as possible so it can be folded very gently into the eggs without breaking down the air bubbles. Substitute 25g (1oz) of the flour for an equal amount of cornflour to make it even finer.