Egg Yolk Sponge Cake
A community recipe by mcbabycakesNot tested or verified by Nigella.com
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Preheat oven to 180°C-if your oven is quite hot try 170°C. Beat egg yolks and hot water till creamy then gradually add the sugar and beat till thick and pale. Add salt and vanilla. Fold in the flour and milk alternately till combined. Pour into a greased and lined 20cm round tin and bake for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Cool on wire rack. Split cake in half then fill with jam and whipped cream then dust with icing sugar. Turn the oven down a bit if it's browning too fast.
Introduction
This is my Nan's recipe and is very easy and I think it's the best sponge cake recipe. It's great to use up egg yolks after making a meringue or friands. I mostly double the recipe to make a big cake but you could bake in two tins and freeze one for another day.
Ingredients
Serves: 4
- 3 egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons hot water
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- ½ cup self-rising flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons milk
Method
Egg Yolk Sponge Cake is a community recipe submitted by mcbabycakes and has not been tested by Nigella.com so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe.
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Show more commentsI’ve made this loads now. I read through some comments about adding extra flour. Instead I added desiccated coconut to it and substituted the milk for coconut milk. I then topped with dairy free cream mixed with strawberry jam and fruit pieces. Went down a treat with young and old.
I used double the recipe and lemon juice instead of water for a change, and baked at 170 for 15 minutes. I love the stickiness of the cake and it's a great way to use the spare yolks after making angel cake or pavlova.
I baked this cake at 175 for 35 minutes - sliced it horizotally and spread marmalade and lemon icing on the inside and lemon icing on the top and called it a Lemon drizzle cake - Only problem - everyone ate it in 5 minutes, so next time I`ll double the quantity. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe!
My oven is very temperamental yet it cooked this cake wonderfully. Everyone's loved how light and fluffy it was. I used soft light brown sugar and it gave it a gloriously caramel chewiness, also added a little vanilla essence. Definitely a keeper! Also, I converted this to dairy & gluten free by using Dove's self-raising flour and half a teaspoon of xanthum gum & rice milk instead of milk. It was delicious with some dairy free toffee caramel sauce sandwiched in the middle.
Fantastic recipe - can be substituted for gluten free flour and rice milk to make dairy free too.
I had 6 leftover egg yolks and thought I'd make this cake into cupcakes. I'm glad I read the comments first but still, I found they turned out dry. Not that I won't give this another try, but for me this recipe needs some tweeking
I have tried this cake twice now and it collapses every time I make it. Could someone clarify the weights of the sugar and flour? I've tried using a small mug as a cup (not sure what kind of cups is meant) but I think they're the wrong size. The mixture looks like the recipe says it should but the cake turns out badly. Can anyone suggest anything?
I made meringue using 6 eggs and I hate waste food. I began researching online and found this recipe. I am not a very good cook/baker but I baked it in 20 inches round cake tin and only used milk instead water. It was sublime!! And sooooo easy to make! It rose very well. Made it with whipped cream, icing sugar and strawberry/raspberry coulis xx
I did 1.5x the recipe with 5 medium egg yolks to represent 4.5 egg yolks & 45ml water, 45ml milk, etc... you do the math.. I did a 6" cake tin. It didn't go anywhere near half the tin. Texture was bad. I've baked lots so it's got nothing to do with oven or technique - i followed exactly. Btw, the instructions were vague too. Perhaps switching to whole fat milk is better than using 45ml water. and whisking egg yolks above simmering hot water is more efficient for fluffy cake. i added baking powder for the extra oomph. but still the results were not desirable. This recipe works for cupcakes.
I was totally amazed at the end result of this recipe. I thought it would be flat as a pancake beacuse I couldn't get any volume when I was beating the yolks and sugar. I doubled the recipe put it in two tins and thought 'this will be a waste of time' but no, they both came out beautifully, rose perfectly and tasted great. Needs plenty of jam and cream though!
I couldn't give the dog 12 egg yolks left over from Angel Food cake so tried this recipe and quadrupled the ingredients. I have to admit I chucked egg yolk and hot water in to a kitchen aid and whizzed on full speed for good couple of minutes before trickling in the sugar. Then folded in the flour and milk.. The volume was huge! What to do with it all? Some of the batter went into 24 cupcake cases. And baked at 170 for about 18 minutes This worked OK and tasted fine if a little too sweet. They sort of collapsed back on themselves when cooled and had a slightly chewy texture. The rest of the mixture I turned out into lined swiss roll tins and cooked for about 10 minutes. Once golden on top I flipped them out onto baking paper and cover with damp kitchen roll until cool. I then filled these with a mixture of whipped cream and a good dollop on home made lemon curd to counteract the sweetness in the cake, before rolling up into a roll. Tasted fabulous! I will do the swiss roll thing again next time I have left over egg yolks but probably cut back on the sugar by a quarter
Very good recipe. I make gluten free bread just about every week and I don't like to add yolks so I have lots in my freezer. I made this and my little one said it tasted like custard cake. I do agree is does not make a large 8 inch so I use a 6 inch casserole. I steam mine as I live in a very hot area and don't wish to turn the oven on.