Babe, the best sponge maker

Sponge cakes of all flavours and types are a constant delight in my family – all through my childhood and adult life. My mother, Babe, was the expert sponge maker. She had plenty of practice cooking for her nine siblings and the large extended families (Lulham and Gooley) in the Richmond River district of NSW.  Living on dairy farms (around Casino at Codrington, Gundurimba and Coraki), eggs and cream were freely available.

Babe (Bridget Gooley, 1906-1993)

Babe also learnt more about cooking from her work, in 1924-1929, when she cared for children who were boarders at the Roman Catholic Convent, Ballina. She learnt there how to use wisely the substantial amounts of donated goods (often dairy products and eggs). Some in the family thought Babe would be become a nun but she had other plans and later went nursing at the Maclean Hospital, in the nearby Clarence River District. There she met Albert Ascoli (1912-2001) who had eights siblings, so more extended families (Ascoli and Schipp) for Babe to care for.

Babe and Albert married on 22 February 1936, at St Mary’s Catholic Church, Maclean. In their 57 years of married life, they welcomed many families and friends into their homes and lives. Babe’s cooking was the heart of that hospitality.

Back to sponges. Eggs were the basis of Babe’s sponges that were different flavours of vanilla, chocolate, orange, coffee, or lemon. She must have made 100s (or even 1000s) of sponge cakes over her life, especially after she obtained the modern Sunbeam mix master in the mid-1950s that allowed those eggs to be beaten to perfection. Apart from cooking for her family, Babe also participated in many community fund raising events when she cooked for cake stalls, fetes, raffles, weddings, buffets for balls and dances.

I remember my delight (and my mother’s horror) when I won a raffle, at a euchre card game night, of her prized chocolate and cinnamon sponge (two high sponges filled with chocolate cream, with rich chocolate icing, and decorated with walnuts). As a primary school kid I had quietly bought my raffle ticket and said many prayers to win that cake. I also remember afterwards the laughter and joy of our family eating that cake.

I do not have an exact recipe written down for Babe’s sponges, as I had watched and helped her so often that that vison is clear in my head. The flours were sifted two to three times; eggs beaten well and sugar slowly added; other items (e.g. flours and spices) were added with the lightest touch; pans were buttered and floured (always with the same flour that was used in the recipe); the oven door was never opened during cooking (except for a quick check, towards the end of the 15 minutes when the cake was pricked with a small millet straw to check it was cooked)..

Babe’s sponges were often filled with fresh cream and strawberries. But she also used a “mock cream” of equal parts of butter, sugar and milk (all mixed and combined into the lightest filling) that she used if transporting her cakes. That fresh cream did tend to move around in that hot weather.

Babe with granddaughter (Joanne) and birthday
sponge cake, Flynn, 1974.

When I left home (in the 1960s, aged 18 years to go nursing) I did jot down the ingredients for that Chocolate and Cinnamon Sponge. It is still one of my favourites but nothing beats the taste or delight of that raffle cake won and eaten with my family in the 1950s.

RECIPES

Chocolate and Cinnamon Sponge

4 or 5 large eggs

Three quarters cup castor sugar

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons cocoa

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter (melted and added to milk)

1 teaspoon cream tartar

Half teaspoons baking soda.

Three quarters cup milk or cream

This was the only sponge recipe that Babe added a little butter to. She said it was due to the cocoa which could dry out the cake.

Vanilla Sponge Cake

The nearest and best recipe I can find in my cookbooks, that is similar to Babe’s plain vanilla sponge is in Julie Goodwin’s cookbook, Our Family Table.  

Sponge Cake, Goodwin, J., 2010. Our Family Table. Publisher Random House Australia Pty Ltd. North Sydney, page 147.

Gluten Free Sponge Cake

The sponge recipe above can be adapted to be gluten free. Use rice flour or corn flour instead of self raising flour. Add 1 teaspoons baking powder to flour mixture. Substitute strawberry jam instead of cream. Top or fill with lots of strawberries or raspberries. This cake will have a crunchier texture than a traditional sponge but still tasty.

A gluten free sponge, birthday cake.