Old School Buttercream Cake Slices

Back to basic baking....simple old school sponge cake! Thanks to my friend for sharing her recipe. She used to blog too but a pity she had ceased to do so. She's a really talented home baker/cook and I learnt a lot from her too! I really love this sponge cake which is moist and tender, goes very well with the silky swiss meringue buttercream. Being too ambitious I've baked three flavours sponge cake, plain, chocolate and strawberry. They are so so pretty after decorating! 

3 flavours basic sponge cake...plain, chocolate and strawberry

Ingredient (9" shallow square pan)

• 60gm cake flour
• 1.5 tbsp corn flour
• 1/2 tsp double action baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 3 egg yolks*
• 2 tbsp +1 tsp milk 
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp corn oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste*

*Note : For chocolate sponge, reduce cake flour to 50gm and add cocoa powder 10gm. For strawberry sponge, omit vanilla paste and replaced with 1/2 tsp strawberry emulco. Use large size eggs.

Meringue

• 3 egg white*
• 60gm fine sugar
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Method

1. Sift cake flour, corn flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Whisk egg yolks until creamy and light. Add in milk, oil and vanilla paste. Whisk well. 
3. Add in flour mixture and whisk till mixture is smooth.
4. Using a electric whisk, beat egg white and cream of tartar till foamy. Beat in sugar, in three additions, gradually till firm peak forms. Fold in 1/3 of the meringue into egg yolk batter. Mix well.
5. Pour the mixture into the balanced meringue and fold gently till well combined. Pour the mixture into a lined 9" pan and spread out evenly. Tap the pan lightly to remove excess air bubbles. Bake in preheated oven at 160 deg cel for 25-30 mins. Remove cake from pan and allow to cool completely on wire rack before frosting.
6. To assemble the cake : Trim the cake edges. Slice the cake into half and sandwiched with buttercream. Frost the surface with buttercream and chill in fridge for 30 mins for ease of slicing. Cut into slices (about 5-6 depending the size you preferred) and decorate as desired with piping gel, sprinkles, melted chocolate and buttercream.

For 4 eggs recipe :

Ingredient

• 80gm cake four
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 3/4 tsp double action baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 4 large eggs, separate
• 50ml fresh milk
• 50ml rice bran oil
• 1/2 tsp ovalett (optional)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 70gm fine sugar
• 1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Recipe modified from Nasi Lemak Lover

Chocolate Swiss Meringue Buttercream

Ingredient

• 100gm egg whites
• 135gm sugar
• 227gm salted butter, soft but still cold, cut into small cubes
• 45gm melted dark chocolate (*omit chocolate if making plain one)

Method

1. Lightly whisk egg whites and sugar in a mixing bowl, place over a pot of simmering water.
2. Whisk mixture till sugar is fully dissolved and temperature reaches 70 deg.
3. Remove from heat. Using a electric whisk, beat the meringue on high speed till stiff peak formed, thick and glossy.
4. At this point, the mixing bowl should be cool to the touch but still slightly warm at the bottom.
5. Place the bowl of meringue on top of a large bowl filled with some ice cubes and water.
6. Beat and add in butter cube one by one, ensuring that each addition is well incorporated before adding the next one. 
7. Mixture will looks curdle at one point, continue to beat till mixture is creamy and satiny.  Beat in melted chocolate till well combined.