Low Effort Tray Bake Sponge (Wheat and Dairy Free)

The last few weeks have been unbelievably busy for me. Between work and members of family being ill (and courting a young boy thing) I've been up the walls, and my usual sponge cake recipe is quite bitty and requires a few delicate steps. So, I decided to give a one-step mix a go, and it turned out quite successfully!

The texture is a bit different: it's still light and fluffy, but the crumb is nice and firm, which makes cutting it very, very easy. I was running a youth group today, so I knocked up a nice jam sponge tray bake with chocolate glaze. Each year at Easter, I break all my chocolate eggs into a box and use them for baking with; my mother hates it.

I used the exact same measurements for my usual go-to sponge recipe, but I simply doubled the liquid and used only oil instead of a combination of oil and butter. Instead of cross referencing, though, I'll write it up for you. This is the basic recipe, which is dairy free, but if you combine it with a buttercream for chocolate icing it will obviously no longer be dairy free.

FREE FROM

☑ Soya (check for soya lecithin)
☑ Yeast
☑ Wheat
☑ Eggs
☑ Dairy

CONTAINS
☒ Gluten
☒ Refined sugar products

INGREDIMENTS:

Dry

• 3 ounces (85 grammes) white spelt flour
• 1 ounce (30 grammes) cornflour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) baking powder
• 3 ounces (85 grammes) caster sugar

Wet

• 2 medium eggs
• 2 ounces (55 grammes) sunflower oil
• 2 fluid ounces (60 millilitres) water
• 1 teaspoon (5 millilitres) vanilla essence

METHOD

• Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F, Gas Mk.4, or moderate). Grease a loaf tin and set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, sieve together the dry ingredients. Take a spoonful of the dry mixture and use it to dust the inside of the greased tin. Tip the excess back into the bowl.
• In a jug or smaller bowl, open the eggs and add in the oil, water, and vanilla essence. Beat with a fork until fully combined and pale.
• Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture, and pour in the wet mixture. Using a balloon whisk or the same fork, mix the wet and dry together until you have a nice smooth batter.
• Pour the batter into the tin, and bake in the centre rack of the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown. You will know it's done when it's springy to the touch, and a cocktail stick of knife poked into the middle comes out clean.
• Once cooked, take from the oven and cool in tin for about ten minutes to firm up a little, then take out of the tin to cool fully.

Like my regular sponge recipe, this can be shaken up to change the flavour. You could use coffee instead of water to make coffee cake, or almond essence instead of vanilla, you could add in some grated lemon zest and use lemon juice instead of the water, use brown sugar instead of white to make it toffee flavour, you could swap some of the cornflour for cocoa powder to make it chocolatey. It's really very versatile.

I split mine in half and filled it with raspberry jam, then topped it off with a simple chocolate glaze and sprinkles. My youth group enjoyed it anyway!

THIS TIME IN 2014: No blog
THIS TIME IN 2013: Buttercream Icing: the King of all Icings