A basic sponge and how to batch for variety

Every now and again, to save time and money on energy. I batch bake sponge mixtures to make a variety of desserts and fill my freezer.  Some of the sponge mixture I will cook in cake tins, some I will cook as cup cakes. and some I will cook as tray bakes.  Some of these I will make into cakes for desserts, and some I will cut into squares to use as sponge puddings.  I divide the big mixture into 4 or 5, and will flavour the various mixtures before they are cooked.  Some times I colour them too.

This recipe is based on a plain Victoria sponge cake. A small cake will need two eggs.  To make more sponge you just add more eggs, weigh them and then add the other ingredients accordingly.   The weight of the other ingredients depends on the weight of the eggs. I will often use 8 or 10 eggs and make 4 or 5 sponges at once.  The method is the same even if making just one cake.  If I make a cake I usually prefer a thicker sponge to a thinner sponge and so I usually use one cake tin and divide the cake in half (like the picture).  This makes more room in the oven as well.

Ingredients

Eggs

Butter of margarine

Sugar

Self Raising flour

Possible flavourings

orange zest for orange flavour

lemon zest for lemon flavour

Add sultanas for fruit sponge

Add chocolate chips

Dissolve a tsp of coffee in a tiny amount of coffee powder for coffee flavour

Add almond essence for an almond flavour or other flavours of essence, for example strawberry

Add cocoa for a chocolate cake (I usually replace for a bit of the flour)

Method

1.  Pre heat the oven to 160C (fan oven)
2.  Weigh the eggs in their shells and take note of the weight and then put them to one side.
3.  Weigh the sugar out to the noted weight.
4.  Weigh the butter or the margarine out to the noted weight.
5.  Whisk the sugar and the butter together in a bowl until the mixture becomes pale.
6.  Weigh the flour out to the noted weigh and sieve.  Put to one side.
7.  Break the eggs into a jug and whisk with a fork.  Add the eggs slowly to the sugar and butter mixture
8.  If the mixture starts to split or curdle add a spoon full of flour and continue to add the eggs slowly.
9.  Add the rest of your flour and fold it in gently with a metal spoon so that you do not knock all the air out of the mixture.
10.  Divide your mixture up (6 eggs divide into 3, 8 eggs divide into 4 etc) and add flavour as required.
11.  Place into baking  tins (or cup cake cases) and cook for about 20 minutes until a skewer can be inserted and come out clean, or until  the  sponge springs back when touched . If you have made a thin sponge cake or cup cakes check at 15 minutes.
12.  Cool the sponges on a cooling rack.

I also decorate the sponge in different ways.  Some times I will put butter icing on top of a tray bake.  Other times I will cut it up in to squares and freeze to use as puddings with custard (add jam when reheating for a minute in the microwave for jam sponge, syrup for treacle sponge, or serve with compote etc).  Some times I will freeze round cake sponges to use another time, some times I will fill them with butter icing and freeze in slices.  Cupcakes I will ice or freeze plain to decorate with icing later.  Freezing slices of cake or cup cakes stops me being tempted and eating a whole cake.  I just get the slices out of the freezer the night before I want them.