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Making a sponge cake, is sugar really necessary |
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#1 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,989
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Making a sponge cake, is sugar really necessary
Is it essential to add sugar?
Can I just add a little sugar? I backed pineapple turnover cake for Christmas for friends,they loved it but it's just too sweet for me. To make pineapple cake you need to put butter and brown sugar in the tin then lay the pineapples, which will be the top when you turn it over. So for the sponge can I just add two table spoons of sugar instead of 125g of sugar 125g flour which I normally do when I bake sponge cakes. Is it absolutely essential to add so much sugar for a sponge cake? I can't find anything on the internet about this please help. |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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I don't think it is essential. You can flavour it in other ways. It sounds like your are on the right track.
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#3 |
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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Quote:
I don't think it is essential. You can flavour it in other ways. It sounds like your are on the right track.
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#4 |
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Join Date: Feb 2012
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Quote:
Thanks, I was worried the cake won't be a sponge cake if I don't add any sugar, I guess it's the self raising flour and baking powder that makes a sponge cake?
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#5 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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Quote:
Thanks, I was worried the cake won't be a sponge cake if I don't add any sugar, I guess it's the self raising flour and baking powder that makes a sponge cake?
A sponge rises due to the air bubbles in the batter expanding when heated - the main raising agent is bicarbonate of soda mixed with cream of tartar (which btw will already have been added to self-raising flour) this creates carbon dioxide when beaten into a fluid, i.e. the cake batter, and the bubbles expand when heated. As hundreds of thousands of these mini-airbags inflate, so your cake rises. The eggs and sugar within the flour set as the cake cooks, which provides a structure around the air bubbles (like the chocolate in an Aero bar). If the structure is not strong enough, then the cake may rise up as the air bubbles expand, but then sink down again in the second half of cooking, or when taken out of the oven. It's worth a try for the sake of a few eggs and some flour, but I think you might end up with something that resembles a Yorkshire pudding at best, or quite a heavy cake. |
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#6 |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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Would be interested to hear how it goes if you give those recipes a try.
The orange and almond cake has 250 grams of sugar in, plus the natural sugar in the oranges, so hardly low sugar. With the sugarless one, they say they use it as a sponge/bread pudding! |
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#8 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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I have a coffee and walnut cake recipe that has no sugar in it. I side eyed it but tried it anyway and it worked surprisingly well. So I say go for it.
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#9 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,989
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Quote:
You might find that the sponge is heavy, and possibly hardly a sponge at all.
A sponge rises due to the air bubbles in the batter expanding when heated - the main raising agent is bicarbonate of soda mixed with cream of tartar (which btw will already have been added to self-raising flour) this creates carbon dioxide when beaten into a fluid, i.e. the cake batter, and the bubbles expand when heated. As hundreds of thousands of these mini-airbags inflate, so your cake rises. The eggs and sugar within the flour set as the cake cooks, which provides a structure around the air bubbles (like the chocolate in an Aero bar). If the structure is not strong enough, then the cake may rise up as the air bubbles expand, but then sink down again in the second half of cooking, or when taken out of the oven. It's worth a try for the sake of a few eggs and some flour, but I think you might end up with something that resembles a Yorkshire pudding at best, or quite a heavy cake. Quote:
Absolutely, I've made flapjack without adding brown demerara sugar and people loved it. It's great to experiment to see what works. Let us know how it turns out.
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Brilliant, thank you.Quote:
Would be interested to hear how it goes if you give those recipes a try.
The orange and almond cake has 250 grams of sugar in, plus the natural sugar in the oranges, so hardly low sugar. With the sugarless one, they say they use it as a sponge/bread pudding!
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#10 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 3,199
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Well if you pull it off, put it on You Tube, and it will probably get millions of hits by dieting cake eaters!
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#11 |
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Join Date: May 2006
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Peter CJ has explained it well...it's the combo of everything working together to make the right chemical reaction that makes a sponge cake a sponge cake, and each component is as important as the others. I still would be interested to know the results if you do experiment with reduced sugar though.
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#12 |
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Join Date: May 2005
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I have been eating no sugar for a year now and can categorically say don't try a traditional sponge cake without sugar. It is not a sponge and we know it and not even very nice. There may be recipes out there that do work but just taking one of the main ingredients out won't leave you a happy cake eater.
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#13 |
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Join Date: May 2007
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Quote:
I have a coffee and walnut cake recipe that has no sugar in it. I side eyed it but tried it anyway and it worked surprisingly well. So I say go for it.
Thanks
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#14 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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Quote:
Can you please share the rewcipe? My mother has recently been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, so I'm always on the lookout for good sugar free recipes.
Thanks ![]() http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.c...cake-with.html Ingredients: 100 grams of ground almonds 100 grams of walnuts 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon of melted butter 2 tablespoons of double cream 1 tablespoon of instant coffee 100 grams of clotted cream Method Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the eggs, cream. Place 1 tablespoon of instant coffee in a cup and pour some boiling water over the coffee, keep water to a minimum, just enough to melt the coffee. Then add the dry ingredients and mix. Microwave in a 700watt for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and cut in half. Spread on clotted cream and add walnut halves. Serves four to six, around five carbs per portion. |
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#15 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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It's not mine, I got it from these folks. I hope you like it.
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.c...cake-with.html Ingredients: 100 grams of ground almonds 100 grams of walnuts 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon of melted butter 2 tablespoons of double cream 1 tablespoon of instant coffee 100 grams of clotted cream Method Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the eggs, cream. Place 1 tablespoon of instant coffee in a cup and pour some boiling water over the coffee, keep water to a minimum, just enough to melt the coffee. Then add the dry ingredients and mix. Microwave in a 700watt for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and cut in half. Spread on clotted cream and add walnut halves. Serves four to six, around five carbs per portion. A cake like that is a more viable proposition than a sponge - it should have lots of flavour and texture due to the nuts and fat content. The calories in the fat will probably equal those in the sugar that is left out, but if calories are not the issue, it looks good. |
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#16 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,989
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Quote:
Peter CJ has explained it well...it's the combo of everything working together to make the right chemical reaction that makes a sponge cake a sponge cake, and each component is as important as the others. I still would be interested to know the results if you do experiment with reduced sugar though.
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I have been eating no sugar for a year now and can categorically say don't try a traditional sponge cake without sugar. It is not a sponge and we know it and not even very nice. There may be recipes out there that do work but just taking one of the main ingredients out won't leave you a happy cake eater.
![]() In future I'll certainly be reducing the sugar level in my mix batter. ![]() ![]() Quote:
It's not mine, I got it from these folks. I hope you like it.
http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.c...cake-with.html Ingredients: 100 grams of ground almonds 100 grams of walnuts 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 large eggs 1 tablespoon of melted butter 2 tablespoons of double cream 1 tablespoon of instant coffee 100 grams of clotted cream Method Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Melt the butter I used a Pyrex jug, add the eggs, cream. Place 1 tablespoon of instant coffee in a cup and pour some boiling water over the coffee, keep water to a minimum, just enough to melt the coffee. Then add the dry ingredients and mix. Microwave in a 700watt for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and cut in half. Spread on clotted cream and add walnut halves. Serves four to six, around five carbs per portion. ![]() Thank all for the replies.
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#17 |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 962
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So what was your final recipe for the pineapple turnover cake?
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#18 |
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Sat at computer with heatin on
Posts: 45,573
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it looks and sounds tastelessly bland, sorry
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#19 |
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Inactive Member
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,989
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Quote:
So what was your final recipe for the pineapple turnover cake?
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it looks and sounds tastelessly bland, sorry
![]() 1/4 cup butter 3/4 cup light brown sugar 10 tablespoon pineapple juice 1/2 sliced pineapples 1/2 cup butter 1+1/2 cups self raising flour 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 table spoons of sugar 1/2 cup cold milk It looks great and taste delicious, the brown sugar and butter makes a wonderful sweet caramel sauce,(this is where the sweetness from the cake comes from) with the pineapple and cherries, you can't go wrong, You do not need to add much sugar in the batter mic for this particular cake.
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#20 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 962
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Thanks! I haven't done pineapple upside down cake for ages, now I think I'll have to give it a go again soon.
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#21 |
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Central Belt
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I enjoy eating scrapings from the mixing bowl.
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