Since I was a child, I’ve always associated sponge cakes with birthdays. If our birthday happened to fall on a weekday, instead of baking, mum would buy us delicious passionfruit sponges from our local Freshwater Creek Cake Shop on her way home from work. They were so tangy and creamy and just so, so good! Now, living in Melbourne, I have less opportunity to buy and indulge in a Freshwater Sponge. I had never found this to be too much of a problem, but when one particular friend’s birthday came around and she mentioned sponge cake, I hit wall.
Having such a nostalgic feeling about something that is REALLY good just the way it is, makes a Freshwater sponge cake super hard to replicate. It was this that made me come up with my own sponge cake. I would even say, it is just as good as the sponge cake of my childhood.
Although this cake does not use passionfruit, I find the blueberries provide an equally as delicious but slightly different take. Using cooked, unsweetened blueberries adds a slight tartness which really cuts through the creaminess of the mascarpone. At the same time, the raw blueberries also contribute both sweetness and freshness to the cake.
Additionally, the mascarpone cream makes this cake super indulgent and makes it just a little bit more special than your regular sponge cake. It is also worth noting that using fresh vanilla adds SO much more flavour than if you just use regular vanilla essence. I highly recommend spending the few extra dollars and splashing out on a vanilla bean. Instead of discarding the bean once you have scraped out the seeds, toss it into a jar with some sugar and you will soon have yourself an aromatic jar of vanilla sugar. This can then be used instead of regular sugar next time you decide to make something sweet.
I still cannot believe that I am FINALLY jumping into the deep end and starting a blog! Although I have recently learnt, that blogging is a lot harder said than done, I am really excited to be publishing my first post at long last. As I am new to this whole blog thing, feedback would definitely be appreciated! Please comment or go to my contact page if you have any suggestions or recipe requests. For more information about myself and why I am here, you can read all about it in my about page.
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup Sugar
- ¾ Cup Corn Flour
- ¼ Cup Plain Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Crème of Tartar
- ¾ Teaspoon Bicarb Soda
- 1 Tablespoon hot water
- 100ml Thickened Cream
- 50g Caster Sugar
- 1 Vanilla Bean
- 250g Mascarpone
- 150g Frozen Blueberries
- 250g Fresh Blueberries
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease and line two 20cm sponge tins.
- Sift the flour, corn flour, bicarb soda and crème of tartar together.
- In a separate bowl, using in an electric mixer, beat the eggs until they become light and fluffy (8-10 minutes). Slowly and gradually add in the sugar.
- Gently found the sifted dry ingredients into the egg mixture. When combined, very gently fold in the hot water.
- Divide the cake mixture evenly between the two prepared tins. Bang the tins 2-3 times on the bench to prevent any large air bubbles before placing in the oven for 20 minutes.
- To make the mascarpone cream, combine the thickened cream and sugar in a bowl of an electric mixer. Gently slice the vanilla bean lengthways and scrape the seeds into the cream. Put the rest of the vanilla bean aside for later. Whisk the cream mixture on high until light and fluffy. Gently fold in the mascarpone.
- Place the frozen blueberries and vanilla bean with 1 tablespoon of water in a small saucepan over a low heat. Gently simmer until berries become juicy and saucy. Remove from heat and put aside to cool. When ready to use, remove the vanilla bean.
- Top one layer of sponge with ½ of the mascarpone cream filling and place ¾ of the blueberry compote in the middle before topping with the other layer of sponge. Place the remaining mascarpone cream followed by the blueberry compote and then fresh blueberries on top.