Somewhere under that wonderful ganache sits a gluten-free vanilla sponge cake. Oh, and a chocolate whipped cream. And, let me tell you, it’s amazing, and I don’t think anyone would be able to tell it’s gluten-free.
Let me tell you a story before I launch into the details of this cake: when Downton Abbey was on locally on our PBS station, right before it every week, they ran The Great British Baking Show. And every night, we’d watch, mouths watering, as the bakers would create amazing things as part of the competition. Frequently, there were cakes or cupcakes, and most of these were sponge cakes of some sort.
Jenni would tell me I needed to make one or more cake from each week. And I said “Sure,” because, why not? But I’ve never, ever, made a sponge cake.
Now, for ages, I’ve watched for great recipes online, both gluten-free and non-gluten-free, and I’ve collected a relatively large number of recipes in my folder in Evernote. And I occasionally make them. At least, I’ve promised myself to make them and try them. Someday.
Last week, during a stop at a gluten-free blog I follow, they posted this cake: a vanilla sponge cake with whipped cream and chocolate ganache. I’m the chocolate lover in the house. But it also had a sponge cake…and a gluten-free sponge cake, at that. So what better time to make it then now?
So after looking over the recipe a couple of times late this afternoon, I decided to make it: it looked pretty easy, wonderfully chocolatey, and a nice test to see if I can make a good gluten-free sponge cake.
You can find a link to the recipe here. Of note, though, is that I did not use their gluten-free flour blend: I used the America’s Test Kitchen blend, mostly because I already had some mixed, but also because for the most part, I’ve found their blend to not turn out gritty or grainy in whatever I’m baking.
And how does it taste? Amazing. Rich. Chocolatey. With a soft, airy cake that takes all that chocolate so well. Now, I just need to learn to cut the cake into straight, even layers…