Edmonds actually has an entire (small) chapter dedicated to sponge. I opted for the "three minute sponge" because it seemed the quickest and easiest option. It seems to have come out pretty well. Quite plain, but I didn't mind that since I just wanted it to go into a trifle anyway. If I was making it to have on its own I might add vanilla or some other flavourings.

Three Minute Sponge

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 50g butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Directions

1. Combine flour and sugar.
2. Break in the eggs, followed by the melted butter and milk.
3. Beat hard for 3 minutes.
4. Fold in baking powder.
5. Grease and flour your tin(s)¹.
6. Gently pour the batter into the tin(s). If baking in two smaller tins, bake at 350°F (180°C) for 15-20 minutes. If baking in one larger tin, bake for 20-25 minutes.
7. Leave to cool in tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool.

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Variations

Lemon Sponge

I had some lemon zest and juice left over from another recipe, so I decided to give this lemon variation a go. When baked in two 20cm round tins as directed, the layers come out quite thin, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, just something to be aware of. Given that I was baking it in the two smaller tins, I went with the original oven temperature of 190°C. This was fine, but my sponge did come out a bit dry. I think I'd try baking it at 180° instead next time.

Once the cakes had cooled, I whipped some cream with a bit of vanilla, icing sugar, and some more of the left over lemon zest and put that and some jam between the layers. I'm honestly not entirely sure what kind of jam it was. At first we thought maybe it was red currant jelly from my dad becuase it was clearly homemade and seemed to be fairly tart. But it doesn't look red enough to be red currants. It's got more of a purplish cast to it. So... I'm not sure what it was, but it sure was tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 3 large eggs
• 50g butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Filling

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 7 tsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 1/4 c. jam (currant, raspberry, or whatever else you think would go nicely)

Orange Sponge

I haven't tried this variation yet, but I figured I might as well add it to the post. I think I'd be tempted to try adding a little frangelico or something similar to the whipped cream for this one and then omit the jam and replace the icing sugar on top of the cake with a dark chocolate drizzle. Cranberry preserves could also be an interesting option for the filling.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. soft (cake/plain/standard) flour
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. orange zest
• 3 large eggs
• 50g butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. orange juice
• 2 tsp. baking powder

Filling

• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 Tbsp. frangelico
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp. icing (powdered/confectioners') sugar
• 75g dark chocolate, melted

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¹ Edmonds calls for this recipe to be baked in two 8" (20cm) round tins. I opted to bake mine in one 9" (23cm) square tin. This was fine but, if I were to do it again, I'd reduce the oven temperature slightly as the edges came out slightly overdone. ^Back