Sponge Cakes with Mascarpone Cream and Berries

Making sponge cakes is a pleasure. The recipe is simple and the ingredients are easy to find, so they are practically a standby treat for unexpected guests. You can buy everything at the nearest store, even mascarpone, which stopped being exotic long ago. You will need a mixer with whisk beaters. Crack the eggs into the mixer bowl, add the sugar, liquid vanilla to taste and flavoring essence. My daughter and I added “rum” and “lemon”.

Beat the eggs with the sugar until you get a thick foam. Add 0.5 cup of sifted flour (65 g) and a scant teaspoon of baking powder (4 g), available at the store. Keep mixing. The batter should be as thick as heavy sour cream. If needed, add a little more flour. Add a scant tablespoon of odorless vegetable oil, so the batter does not stick to the mold.

Preheat the oven to 180-190°C. Grease silicone molds with cavities of a suitable size with a little vegetable oil. By the way, the molds are flexible and awkward to hold in your hands, as the cavities deform and the batter spills. So put them on a baking sheet right away. Pour the batter into the cavities a little more than halfway, because it rises a little as it bakes.

Put the molds in the preheated oven. The pieces are small and bake in about 20 mins, but you must check for doneness. Just pierce the sponge with a toothpick. If no liquid batter sticks to it, the cakes are ready.

While the sponge bakes, make the cream. It is extremely simple with a mixer, cream cheese and powdered sugar. Put the mascarpone in the mixer bowl, add the powdered sugar, a little vanilla and Cointreau. If you like, add a few drops of lemon juice. Mix until smooth. The cream must not be runny, or the cakes will leak or turn soggy. Refrigerate the finished cream while the sponge cools.

Carefully cut the cooled cakes in half horizontally, so you get two “pucks” of equal thickness. You can glaze the top halves right away, and spread the cream cheese filling on the bottom halves. It is important that the sponge cools completely.

In a cup, mix 1 tbsp of powdered sugar (9 g), a few drops of lemon juice and 0.5 tsp of milk. Stir well. The glaze should barely run off the spoon. To thicken it, add more powdered sugar, and to thin it, add milk or lemon juice by the drop. Lay the top halves on a plate and pour the glaze over them. By the way, you do not need to cover them completely. Stripes or dots are enough. The glaze sets quickly.

You can spoon the cream onto the bottom halves, or, much more conveniently, use a piping bag with tips. You may have some cream left over, and you can simply eat it. If the cakes are solid, spread the cream in a layer. If they have a hole in the middle, like mine, pipe the cream in a ring.

For convenience, lay the bottom halves on a flat-bottomed plate before adding the cream. Once the cream is on, cover each bottom half with a glazed top half and press down lightly and carefully. Refrigerate the cakes for a few minutes, because the cream softens very quickly.

Decorate the dessert however you like. You can dust it with powdered sugar or cocoa, or grated chocolate. You can buy ready-made colored sugar sprinkles. But I like it best simply to arrange fresh berries on top of the glaze.

If you like, make a different cream. For example, mix raw or boiled condensed milk with custard cream or softened butter. If you want, the layer of cream can be very thick, literally as thick as the sponge halves. In that case the cream should be firm enough and set well in the cold.