Sponge Cake (Pâte à Génoise)
A classic, leavener-free French pâte à génoise perfected for Japanese-style strawberry shortcakes. This recipe uses the traditional whole-egg warming method to create an incredibly soft, velvety, and moist crumb structure that holds up beautifully to fresh cream and berries.
Ingredients
- 3 pc large whole eggs
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 90 g cake flour or pastry flour sifted twice
- 30 g unsalted butter melted and kept warm
Makes: 6inch round
Instructions
Prep & Mixing
- Line a 6-inch round cake pan with parchment paper on both the bottom and the sides. Preheat your oven to 330°F (165°C). Sift your cake flour twice to ensure there are absolutely no lumps.
- Melt the unsalted butter completely (either in a small bowl placed over hot water or in the microwave). Keep it warm to the touch, but not scalding hot.
- In a large, heatproof mixing bowl, combine the whole eggs and granulated sugar. Immediately give them a brief whisk by hand so the sugar doesn't sit and "burn" the egg yolks.
- Place your mixing bowl over a wide pot of gently simmering water (around 150°F / 65°C), ensuring the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer on high speed, whip the eggs and sugar. Once the mixture warms up to 95°F–100°F (35°C–38°C), remove the bowl from the heat and continue whipping on high.
- Whip for roughly 10 minutes until the batter becomes thick, pale white, and voluminous. When you lift your beaters, the batter should fall back into the bowl in a thick ribbon that holds its shape in a visible "figure 8" for several seconds before slowly melting away.
- Turn your mixer down to its lowest speed and gently whisk the batter for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. This stabilizes the foam and pops large air pockets, evening out the bubble sizes for a perfectly smooth cake texture. Switch to a rubber spatula.
Folding & Baking
- Add your sifted flour in 2 to 3 separate additions, sprinkling it lightly across the surface. Use a gentle folding motion—cutting down through the center, sweeping across the bottom of the bowl, and folding up over the top. Repeat until the flour is completely incorporated.
- Take a large spatula-full of your main batter and stir it directly into the warm melted butter. Mix quickly until smooth, then immediately pour this lightened mixture back into the main bowl. Fold everything together with quick, decisive strokes until completely uniform.
- Pour the smooth batter into your prepared 6-inch pan. Lift the pan about 5 inches above your counter and drop it flat against the surface once or twice to release large air pockets. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Check for doneness by pressing lightly on the center; it should spring back resiliently.
- Immediately upon removing the cake from the oven, drop the pan from 5 inches high onto your counter to release trapped steam. Remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely on a wire rack with the parchment paper still attached.
Notes
The Golden Rule of Sugar: Do not reduce the sugar amount! Sugar acts as a structural stabilizer by binding with the water in the eggs to create an elastic foam. Reducing it below 50% of the egg weight will cause the bubbles to collapse, resulting in a dense, hard cake.
Pro Storage & Slicing Tip: Once cooled, wrap the sponge snugly in two layers of plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator or at room temperature for 24 hours before slicing. This redistributes the moisture, making the sponge incredibly soft and much easier to handle. For perfectly clean layers with zero crumbling, pop the wrapped cake into the freezer for 45 minutes before slicing with a serrated knife.