Spongy Cake

I like this recipe because:
a. It doesnt use any butter, so it does not require any waiting time for the butter to soften.
b. It takes only 15 to 20 minutes in the oven, so it's perfect if you're in a hurry.
c. It's not too sweet.
d. It's spongy and springy and yummeh.
e. because it's spongy and fluffy and springy, it's very versatile. You can choose to make one bulky round cake (just bok sebijik) or a flat sheet cake, or a thin flat sheet cake that is cut in half then made into a sandwich cake with cream/fruit/cream+fruit filling, or made into a swiss roll with cream or jam filling. Once, I halved the recipe and used it as the base for a no bake cheesecake - yummeh!

I am reluctant to categorize it as an 'Easy Peasy' recipe though, because it does require a little bit of effort in seperating the eggs and beating the egg whites till stiff. But believe me, it's worth the effort!

Spongy Cake

Ingredients
4 eggs, seperated
1 cup castor sugar
1/3 cup water (or milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method
Pre-heat oven to 180deg C (350 deg F).
Line baking tray with ungreased parchment paper or greased waxed paper.
Beat egg whites till stiff.
Beat together egg yolks and sugar till creamy and pale yellow.
Beat in water and vanilla.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt, then gradually beat into yolk mix.
Carefully fold in egg whites till well mixed.
Pour into baking tray (spread evenly to edges if making a flat sheet cake).
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes (up to 20 minutes if making a thick round cake), or until cake is firm to the touch or toothpick comes out clean.

The one pictured above was a flat sheet cake, which I cut into 2 squares. I whipped up about 2 cups of cream with 5 tablespoons of icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla, mixed half with sliced peaches (from a can), sandwiched them in between the cake, then covered the cake with the leftover cream. I also put some peaches on top as decoration.
I made it for a guest who didnt appear, but the cake didn't go to waste coz my kids ate the cake up within 24 hours. (okay okay, I confess, I ate some too!!)(okay okay, I confess, 'some' is actually an understatement!)

Note: You can add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the flour if you want to make it a chocolate sponge cake. Or add any kind of flavour or coloring as you like. I'm thinking, pandan (screwpine) would be nice, kan? Hm.. maybe I should bring back some pandan essence the next time I go home.