Orange and White Chocolate Sponge Recipe

I have one final recipe for Easter, a classy and very showy sponge cake that, despite its appearance, is easy to make.

This cake can be served as either a teatime cake or as a dessert cake (it's delicious served with cream). The batter also works very well as a cupcake.

Orange and White Chocolate Sponge

Serves: 8–10

Today we have a very elegant cake for the end of the Easter period. This is no more difficult to make than any other sponge cake, yet it looks decadent and indulgent.

Ingredients:

175g (6 oz) butter, softened
175g (6 oz) golden caster sugar
finely-grated zest of 4 oranges
juice of 1 orange
4 eggs, separated
100g (4 oz) self-raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
100g (4 oz) ground almonds

For the Filling and Topping:
200g (7 oz) white chocolate
200ml (4/5 cup) crème fraîche
chocolate curls, to decorate

Method:

Cream together the butter, sugar and orange zest until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Now add the egg yolks, one at a time, beating thoroughly to combine after each addition.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold lightly into the creamed mixture. Now fold in the almonds and the orange juice. Add the egg yolks to a clean and dry bowl then beat until the whites just hold their shape. Fold the whites into the cake batter in three lots, using a large metal spoon.

Divide the resultant batter between two 20cm (8 in) diameter sandwich tins that have been greased with butter and lined. Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180ºC (350ºF, Gas Mark 4) and bake for about 30 minutes, or until browned on top and a skewer inserted into the centre emerges cleanly.

Allow to cool in the tins for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling and toping, chop the white chocolate into small pieces then melt either in the microwave or over a pan of barely-simmering water. Set aside to cool then whip the crème fraîche until thick. Fold this into the melted chocolate then use half this mixture to sandwich the two cakes together.

Spread the remaining chocolate mix over the top of the cake, decorated with chocolate curls and serve.

For more classic cake and baking recipes, see the Celtnet cake baking recipes and information pages.

UPDATE! My new recipes book eBook: Cupcakes, Muffins, Fairy Cakes and More — Baking Secrets has just been published in an edition for Amazon Kindle!

This recipe and over 360 other recipes for cupcakes, muffins and other small cakes can be found in this eBook.

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Every classic and traditional cupcake and muffin style is dealt with in the book and you get over 60 recipes for different types of icings and frostings. The ebook is everything you need to successfully bake cupcakes and muffins. You also get a chapter covering different muffin and cupcake styles from across the globe. Get you copy today and help this blog and the Celtnet Recipes website keep going.