Photo of Soaked Citrus Sponge Cake by WW

Soaked Citrus Sponge Cake

5
Points® value
Total Time
35 min
Prep
25 min
Cook
10 min
Serves
8
Difficulty
Difficult
This light-as-air cake is soaked with a lemony-lime syrup to give it a fresh citrus zing.

Ingredients

Calorie controlled cooking spray

5 spray(s)

Egg, whole, raw

3 medium, raw

Caster Sugar

75 g

Lemon

1 medium, finely grated zest and juice, keep separate

Lime

1 medium, finely grated zest and juice, keep separate

Plain White Flour

75 g, plain

Salt

1 pinch

Icing Sugar

25 g

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/190°C/375°F/fan oven 170°C. Spray a 20cm (8 inch) round loose-bottomed cake tin with low fat cooking spray and line the base with a circle of greaseproof paper.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and half the lemon and lime zest together using a hand-held electric mixer until very thick, light and airy. This will take about 5 minutes. Gently fold in the flour and salt using a large metal spoon. Transfer to the cake tin and level the surface.
  3. Bake the cake for 10-12 minutes until firm, yet slightly springy to touch. Put the cake, in the tin, on a wire cooling rack.
  4. Put the lemon and lime juice into a small saucepan with the remaining zest. Add the icing sugar and heat gently until dissolved. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat. Slowly spoon this syrup over the cake whilst the cake is still warm. Cool in the tin, then remove carefully. Serve when cold.

Notes

Just use 2 small lemons instead of the lemon and lime combination, if you prefer.With whisked sponges, it is vital to whisk the eggs and sugar with a hand-held electric beater for about 5 minutes until really thick and foamy, so that the beaters leave a trail for a few seconds when lifted from the mixture. Next, the flour must be folded in very gently so that the air is not lost. When whisked sponges are baked, they will only rise a little, as the volume should already be there. It is also important that the sponges go into a preheated oven.