Inspired by MasterChef Australia I made a Layered Sponge Cake since with a vanilla, coffee and chocolate layer, topped with honey frosting.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Layered Sponge Cake ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
I have never taken part in an Aspiring Bakers Challenge before, but when I saw challenge number 18 on Sweet Sam’s blog I knew that the idea I had been playing around with in my mind, needed to take shape on a plate. As it happens, I have been thinking about making a layered cake since I watched an episode of Masterchef Australia last year. I don’t usually make layered cakes, as it is only Dave and I at home, and the cake I make is a simple pound cake (thanks Celia for teaching me this) which stays moist all week. It has a simple ganache frosting and we enjoy a slice a night after dinner. April and May are very short months for me, as we spend a week of each month overseas. This leaves little time for challenges as the only time I can bake is over the weekends. I decided that our last weekend at home this month would be dedicated to packing the toiletries we need for our trip, and baking this cake.
The recipe I have used is a basic sponge recipe. It worked so well with my time constraints as you can get one layer going while the oven heats, and the next two layers started during the baking process. I used a simple whipped cream filling and topping as I wanted to blend the flavours. My idea was for a multi coloured layered cake, with vanilla on the bottom, coffee in the middle and chocolate on the top. I tied this all together by using nutmeg in the cream. The verdict – I would make this again but if I were making it for friends I would double the ingredients for each layer, to make it really stand out (and stand up). However, I made a small layered cake so that it would be finished before we left for Scotland.
Layered Sponge Cake
Ingredients
For the vanilla layer:
- 1 egg
- 30 g fructose
- 5 mls vanilla extract
- 30 g self raising flour
For the coffee layer:
- 1 egg
- 30 g fructose
- 25 g self raising flour
- 5 g finely ground coffee
For the chocolate layer:
- 1 egg
- 30 g fructose
- 25 g self raising flour
- 5 g cacao powder
For the filling and frosting:
- 250 mls cream
- 50 g honey
- 0.625 mls nutmeg
- Cocoa powder for dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180° Celsius
- For the vanilla layer:
- Place the egg, fructose and vanilla into a stand mixer bowl
- Beat on a medium heat until the eggs are pale and more than doubled in size – the longer you beat the eggs, the more air you incorporate into them
- Sieve the flour and gently fold into the egg mixture
- Pour into a lined baking tin and smooth the top with a spatula
- Bake for 10 minutes
- Turn out straight away onto a sheet of baking paper and carefully remove the baking paper from the sponge
- For the coffee layer:
- While your vanilla layer is baking, place the egg and fructose into a stand mixer bowl
- Beat on a medium heat until the eggs are pale and more than doubled in size
- Sieve the flour and coffee and gently fold into the egg mixture
- Pour into a lined baking tin and smooth the top with a spatula
- Bake for 10 minutes
- Turn out straight away onto a sheet of baking paper and carefully remove the baking paper from the sponge
- For the chocolate layer:
- While your coffee layer is baking, place the egg and fructose into a stand mixer bowl
- Beat on a medium heat until the eggs are pale and more than doubled in size
- Sieve the flour and cacao and gently fold into the egg mixture
- Pour into a lined baking tin and smooth the top with a spatula
- Bake for 10 minutes
- Turn out straight away onto a sheet of baking paper and carefully remove the baking paper from the sponge
- Leave each layer to cool completely before assembling
- To assemble:
- Whisk together the cream, honey and nutmeg until thick
- Place the vanilla sponge onto your serving plate
- Use a third of the cream on top of this layer and smooth it off
- Then place the coffee sponge on top of this
- Use another third of the cream on top of this layer and smooth it off
- Then place the chocolate later on top of this
- Use the balance of the cream on top of this layer and smooth it off
- Dust the top with cacao to finish it off
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
My friend Colleen asked me how I got the cream so smooth. I have a lazy Susan in my kitchen and I use it for icing my cakes. The cake plate goes on top of the lazy Susan, and I use my palette knife to smooth the frosting while I slowly rotate the lazy Susan. I keep the palette knife steady and the rotation does the work for me.
I am submitting this recipe to Aspiring Bakers #18: Layers of Love (April 2012) which is being hosted this month by Sam of Sweet Samsations.
Vanilla, chocolate, honey, frosting, sponge, layered, cake – definitely an overload of super deliciousness 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
thank you CCU – it was very delicious 🙂
It seems like you’ve got the only warm weather in Northern Europe from the BBC weather forecast yesterday:)
the weather forecast was wrong! We had 2 days of lovely warm weather and then we had SNOW!
Spectacular.
thanks Sally!
I baked a caked using Splenda this weekend; a recipe from their website. It looked very promising in the oven, rising and rising, so lovely, and then as it cooled it collapsed into a thin sticky mass. It went straight into the bin.
That is so bad! Did you tell them? I had the same problem with another product here and they blamed me, telling me I didn’t have a clue how to use it! Drives me mad 🙂
No, I didn’t tell them. I just took enormous pleasure in tearing up the printed off recipe into squares for grocery shopping lists. 😀
love that idea!
Looks great Tandy – lots of lovely flavours!
thanks Tanya 🙂
This looks wonderful and hope you are enjoying your holiday
thanks so much, and our holiday was very enjoyable 🙂
As I’m reading this, it’s afternoon tea time. How well a piece of that delcious cake would go down right now. 😉 xxx
where was your plate?
This sounds devine! I love the idea of layering vanilla, coffee, and chocolate cakes together. So simple to make and the frosting sounds like a great way to tie all three layers together.
thanks, it was simple and perfect 🙂
This is gorgeous. Now drink some Scotch!
We drank LOADS of scotch – you would have been proud 🙂
It looks delicious and simple too!
it was very simple 🙂
Cakes Cakes Cakes everywhere! It must be cake season!
lots of us doing the challenge it seems 🙂
That looks great! I love how that fading works in the layers! I’m not a huge fan of nutmeg but with the addition of honey I bet it is wonderful! Nice job.
thanks, the nutmeg was quite strong after a few days but I like the heat on my tongue 🙂