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24 Comments Delicious and special; this rose water sponge cake recipe has it all. It’s fluffy, it has crunch from the pistachio, sweetness from the whipped cream and the combination is just heavenly.
Rose water sponge cake
I gotta be honest here; a sponge cake is usually not my go to recipe when I want to bake something. I love a cake that is a bit more firm. So I had not made many sponge cakes (this was probably my second sponge), when I saw this Donna Hay sponge cake recipe. Again, this was part of the Donna Hay challenge where I attempted to make all the recipes from one single Donna Hay magazine (and failed)
Now in general I find a sponge cake some what boring. It’s fluffy yes, but that’s about it.
Mini spring form
I decided to make this sponge cake in mini tins. That just seemed the right thing to do for a two person cake. I used 6 mini tins for this recipe. Obviously you can also use a larger springform pan but keep in mind that the total baking time also changes if you do. I used 6 inch pans. Make sure to cover the springform pans with parchment paper to be able to get them out properly.
It’s best to use a stand mixer with a large bowl for making this. You can use an electric hand whisk but it needs to mix a really long time for the right fluffy end result and using the food processor just makes things easier.
Making the sponge cake
You start by mixing the eggs with the sugar and the rose water (a bit of vanilla extract is also delicious) and let the machine turn on high speed for about 12-15 minutes until it is tripled in size and has become pale and fluffy. At this point you sieve half of the flour over the mix and fold it in gently. You want to preserve as much air as possible. Repeat with the other half and then add the melted butter (and cooled). Divide the cake batter over the 6 prepared cake pans and place in the preheated oven.
In the small tins it needs roughly 16-18 minutes to bake. The sponge cake should spring back lightly when you touch the top of the cake but make sure the middle of the cake is cooked. You can also tell because it will come away from the sides a little bit. Remove the cakes from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
Finishing the cake
Now it’s time to finish the cake. You whip the cream with another dash of rose water until soft peaks. You could consider slicing the cake in two and filling it with cream but because they are so small I opted to just cover the the top of the cake with blobs of cream and add the toppings. I chose for pomegranate and pistachio but you could also use fresh strawberries or you can even decorate the sponge cake with fresh edible roses. Dust it with a little sieved icing sugar for looks.
Also check: pomegranate panna cotta with yogurt
Rose water sponge cake with pomegranate
Ingredients
- 100 gr flour
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 110 gr sugar
- 1,5 tsp rose water
- 75 gr unsalted butter melted and cooled
- 125 ml double cream
- 1/2 tbsp icing sugar sieved
- 1/2 tsp rosewater extra
- 2 tbsp pistachio
- 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
Equipment
- 6 springform pan small, 10 cm
How to make the rose water sponge cake
- Preheat the oven to 180˚C (350˚F). Grease 6 small cake tins (preferably with anti stick layer) with some butter and dust with flour, set aside until use.
- Put the eggs, sugar and rose water in a bowl of the mixer and whisk at high speed for about 12 to 15 minutes until it becomes very pale and has tripled in volume. Sieve half of the flour over the mixture and fold this in carefully with a large metal spoon.
- Repeat with the remaining flour. Add the butter and fold again until well incorporated. Divide the mixture across the baking tins and bake for 16-18 minutes or till the spongecake spring back when lightly touched and come away from the sides a bit. Remove from the tins and leave to cool completely on a wire rack covered with a teatowel.
- Put cream, icing sugar and the extra rosewater in a bowl and whisk till soft peaks. Divide the cream over the cake and add the pistachio and the pomegranate on top.
- Serve immediately
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
This looks so beautiful. What would be the cooking time for one large sponge as opposed to mini sponge cakes? Would this work. Can’t wait to try this recipe!
He Jacqui. You can for sure bake one large sponge of this. However since I haven’t tested it you’d have to check on the baking times. My guess would be around 45 minutes or so.
Thank you for your reply. The English version is a little askew.
Warm regards from Canada,
Rosemary
I was hunting for a rose water cake and found you. This looks great. Would you be so kind as to confirm the amount of rose water this calls for please.
He Rosemary, well I think I added about 1-2 tsp. rose water tends to get too overpowering if you use too much so a hint of it is usually enough. But it’s a personal preference really. But if you haven’t used it before start with one tsp to see if you like it.
This is absolutely stunning. It’s so fluffy, and love the flavour profile on it. Amazing.
Thanks so much Kim!
So fragrant and fluffy! This cake looks heavenly.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks Rosa!
What gorgeous mini cakes! And the topping of pomegranate arils and pistachios is stunning!
Thanks so much Liz.
What a beautiful cake! Sounds delicious, too!
Thanks Geneviève! It was absolutely delicious. Much more than i had ever imagined it to be…
I prefer a cake with some substance too but if it’s got cream, I’m there with my empty plate waiting for a piece. This looks so pretty.
Absolutely amazing cake! It’s just perfect!
I love your photos and your lovely cake, too. It must have been delicious as rosewater gives a twist to any cakes. I’d like to taste it 🙂
Beautiful photos Simone, I love the forks, so stylish. Is there anyway to sign up to your English posts’ RSS, I tried but I end up with Dutch versiosn
He Magda, yes you can! I’m realizing that the link on the page is probably the wrong one ( will work on that) but if you use http://feeds.feedburner.com/simoneskitchen/RzYd you get the English feed!
Absolutely amazing cake! Beautiful!
Thanks so much Mila!
So crazy pretty Simone! Please may I have a (BIG) slice…? 🙂
Janie x
Ofcourse you may! I made enough… 🙂
Simone, that looks lovely. Almost too beautiful to eat!
Thanks so much Karin!