Super Soft and Light Chocolate Sponge Cake Recipe

Here is the secret to making a super soft and light chocolate sponge cake, great result every time, truly delicious and when you bite into it, it actually has a super fluffy taste and feel to it. you can serve it plain or drizzled with rich chocolate ganache or fill with fresh whipped or butter cream for a birthday cake.

Ingredients

(A)
• 3 large egg yolks, cold
• 35g, 3 tbsp sugar
• 25g, 4 tbsp corn oil
• 28g, 41/4 tbsp whole milk
• 8g, 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 18g, 21/4 tbsp cocoa powder, sieved
• 45g, 6 tbsp cake flour, sieved

(B)
• 3 egg whites, cold
• 1/2 tsp lime / lemon juice or 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
• 45g, 41/2 tbsp sugar

(C)
• softened butter - for greasing the cake pan
Prepare 6-inch cake pan and using paper rub a little butter and cut a round piece of parchment paper that fit to your pan, Take a small handful of flour and sprinkling it evenly around the inside of the greased pan and remove excess.

Method:
Pre-heat oven, always bake with both top and bottom heat with fan assisted.

1) In a bowl, Add (A) egg yolks, sugar, corn oil, milk and vanilla extract sift in the cocoa powder and cake flour, mix by hand until just combined. do not over mix!

2) In a separate bowl, Whisk (B) egg whites until foamy then squeezing a little lemon juice and add sugar a little bit at a time until to a thick and stiff peak stage, about 3-5 minutes.

3) Using a whisker, and turn the small amount of egg whites into the batter, then turn back the batter into the whites, and the most important part here is not to stirring and carefully folding is gentle mixing technique until just incorporated.

4) To prepare a water bath. Pour enough cold water in a larger pan. water level comes 3cm / 1 inch to reach halfway up the side of the pan. Bake in preheated oven 130°c - 150°c for 60 minutes or until the cake is set in the centre. If your cake had cracks on top, this is absolutely normal, because the cake rise rapidly in high temperature.

If you want the perfect cake without cracking on top, baked at lower temperature 100°c - 120°c for 80 minutes. To make sure your cake to succeed even better. It is best to use an oven thermometer and you'll always have the exact temperature of your oven in mind. 

5) Once cooked, leave to cool at least 10 minutes, until the oven temperature reached 50ºc.

6) Dropping the cake pan from high once to prevent the cake to shrink too much during cooling. Make sure cakes are properly cooled before cutting them.

Helpful Tips:
1) For guaranteed results it's important to follow exactly this recipe and baking at the right temperature is important. It's recommended to use an oven thermometer.
2) Do not bake the cake quickly at a high temperature and don't remove hot cake out of a baking pan. otherwise the cake could fall apart and crack on top. Baking cake at a lower temperature will help the cake rise much higher and bake more evenly.
3) Please understand that everyone's oven work differently. You should also check the temperature of your oven. if not, your cake won't rise well. 
4) You can test the cake by poking it with a skewer, if it's cooked the skewer will come out clean. if not pop it back in the oven and bake until it's ready. 
5) Folding egg whites into a cake batter. Do not stir and never use an electric mixer. 
6) Use a clean, dry bowl, free of yolk and any other oil or grease while beating egg whites. Do not over or under-beat the egg whites.

Recipe Source: JosephineRecipes.Co.Uk