Servings: 4 Prep: 15 min Cook: 20 mins Total: 35 mins
So … I’m not much of a low-carb baker. My strengths lie more in a world of bacon and broccoli and less in the world of stevia and coconut flour. Even in the time before time I was skilled in pasta and pizza, but far less so in cake and cookies. There are a wide variety of culinary disciplines and … “baking” was just never really one of them. (that said, I was a professional baker for a year and AM quite good with yeast leavened flour based doughs, but … that’s ancient history)
Ahem! In one of my many attempts to gain an understanding of coconut flour, I decided to try for a standard white cake. My hope was that I could come up with a light cakey-like pastry, with which I could do many things. The end result was light and tasty, but not quite as stable as I’d hoped. It rose, but just as quickly fell, when taken from the heat. Re-dubbed “Sponge Cake”.
I am absolutely certain that this would be absolutely yum with something like 4 of these baked, and then stacked with jam and berries between them, or a spiced cream cheese spread, or a wicked yum cinnamon butter and an orange cream cheese frosting!
I think this is a stellar starting point for something wonderful. Expect me to grow this into something over time. For now, because I wasn’t sure what to do, I chopped it up and put it into a bowl with strawberries and vanilla pudding. A great way to go, but … there’s always room for improvement (and Jell-O) apparently!).
Sponge Cake
Print RateIngredients
- 4 large whole eggs room temperature
- 1/2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tbsp 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 dash salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
- Grease a pan. I used a standard loaf pan, but might suggest this would work well in a cake pan, if you want a fairly thin, tasty, cakey disc of some sort.
- Separate the eggs into 4 yolks and 4 whites.
- Whip the egg whites with the lemon juice, until firm peaks can be formed. Set aside.
- Whisk together the sweetener, coconut flour, salt, vanilla and egg yolks. Once it's a nice consistent lemon color, gently fold in 1/4 of the egg white mixture. Once the first 1/4 has been folded in, fold in another 1/4 of the egg white mixture. Continue adding portions of the egg whites, while folding, until you have a large delicate cloud of light yellow eggs.
- Pour your egg cloud into your prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Top, cut, stack, etc. It's up to you!
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Sounds like this diced would make a lovely trifle with whipped coconut milk and berries! Thanks for the recipe! Will keep in mind. 🙂
sounds and looks YUM! … maybe add some xanthan gum for stability, say a 1/4 tsp or something and build up??
Heather, that’s precisely what I used it for! Would also make for a good tiramisu! Nikki … clever idea! I like it! I’d bet that would work, actually! Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Fantastic!I intend to add almond extract to this and serve with berries!
Throw a little Crème Anglais on it, too, Autumn! YUM! 🙂
I just made this (to use as layers for tiramisu), and it turned out very eggy in texture… it is more like a sweet quiche than a cake. When I was making it, it seemed like it was low in coconut flour, based on recipes I’ve made in the past, but I hoped the whipping would do something to help stabilize it. Did you find the texture to be eggy?
Hi Erica. From what I’ve seen, the typical amount of coconut flour is about 1 tbsp per egg. I’ve seen some recipes that have 2 eggs per tablespoon. I agree that 4 definitely takes it into a strong eggy territory. I don’t remember thinking it was very "eggy", but … based on the color of it and the fact that it’s mostly egg, it stands to reason that it is. I just happen to really love the taste of sweetened eggs, so it’s not something I’m particularly sensitive to. All this said, my hope when I started it was to arrive at something more like an angel food cake, but … it fell and turned into the rectangular sponge you see in the photos. As a recipe, it’s technically a bit of a disaster, but … I actually happened to like the taste and texture of the final product, so I threw it on the site with some disclaimers. I might suggest looking at the Vanilla One Minute Muffin. That might get you a bit closer to what you’re looking for. Keep me posted if you come up with any new tricks or discoveries!
Many thanks for all your wonderful recipes! I’ve actually made this twice in the last two days. The first time I turned it into a layer cake using coffee flavoured frosting. Whilst yummy it was very eggy in flavour and texture, so today I made a few changes. I added 4 tbsp of coconut flour as opposed to 1, as well as half a tsp of xanthum gum and a tbsp of da vinci vanilla syrup. It had a much sweeter flavour and the coconut was more prominent but was still pretty eggy. I turned it in to french toast which was perfect, but I’m wondering if you have any suggestions? With a little tweaking I think this could be my perfect base recipe for both cake and french toast! Maybe cooking it for longer on a lower temp to dry out the moist eggy texture in the middle?
Laura, as with the previous commenter, I suggest taking a look at the Vanilla OMM. Take that for a drive. I use that batter for everything from muffins, to pancakes and french toast. It’s super versatile. Give that a shot and let me know if it suits your needs. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks 🙂 I will most definitely be giving that a try! I’m loving trying out all of these recipes 🙂 although I may well stick to this recipe for french toast, I made it in a round cake pan and cut in to 4 large wedges. For the amount of carbs and calories it made delicious french toast!
Fantastic, Laura. If you’re happy … I’m happy! 🙂
Hi DJ Just looking at this and would it work as a sponge that you roll with a jam in it and a glaze on the outside?
Hi SarahMoon … yep! I used this recipe to make a big jellyroll, on a silicone mat. Then, I slathered jam all over it, rolled it up and sliced rings. Then, because I’m nuts, I lined a big bowl with the rings and then filled the bowl with 2 types of homemade sugar-free ice cream. The end result was a BEAUTIFUL layered two town ice cream cake, with spiral rings on the surface. Lovely AND tasty! 😉
I keep seeing all of these low carb recipes using coconut flour. I have to ask, does the end product taste like coconut? Everything looks so good but i can’t stand the smell or the taste of coconut. Thank you
—Reply posted by DJ on 3/24/2015
Hi Mari, I get asked this a lot and I never know how to answer it. I mean … coconut flour is made from 100% flour, so it just stands to reason that it tastes like coconut. That said … it tastes like coconut in the same way that standard flour tastes like wheat. Coconut flour has its own unique taste that I find perfectly delicious and pleasant in sweet tasting items, but in savory items, the same taste is a bit of a distraction. I think if I were to enjoy a chocolate muffin which has been made with coconut flour, I personally wouldn’t think anything of it, nor would my mind jump to “coconut”, however … I also like the taste of coconut and don’t seek it out, to see if its there. If you’re super sensitive to the taste, then …. you may taste it. I can’t really know that. Sorry!
might I suggest adding baking powder to make if rise. However I’m sure we can find plenty to do withe the recipe just as it is. Love your posts.
—Reply posted by DJ on 12/16/2015
I don’t think that baking powder would make a difference, really. The issue is largely one of structure. Baking powder would give it more “lift”, but without the internal structure of something to hold it all together (usually it’s the gluten in wheat flour that supports a lot of the structure) … it would just deflate, creating essentially the same thing. What it really needs is some structure … maybe some xanthan gum, perhaps? I may revisit this idea, some day. In any event, thanks for the kind words. I hope this helps to explain a bit further …
Thanks for the fine effort on the sponge cake. Do you have anthing in your bag of tricks i.e. Low carb smoothie? Thanks.
—Reply posted by DJ on 8/7/2016
Hi Debbie … LOADS! Just look around the website. Check out the beverage section for a few different smoothies. Welcome to my website! Please let me know if you have any further questions. Happy to help. Thanks! 🙂
That has Trifle written all over it!