Six eggs; the weight of the eggs in powdered sugar; half the weight of the eggs in prepared flour; one lemon, juice and rind.
Beat whites and yolks separately and very light. When the yolks are smooth, beat in the sugar, then the juice of the lemon in which the grated peel has stood fifteen minutes or more, then been strained out through a cloth. Now stir in the whites, and last of all, the prepared flour as quickly and lightly as will suffice to mix all into a light batter. Butter a mold and bake it, covering with paper as soon as it has puffed up to the desired height and is crusted over. Test with a straw to see if it is done, and bake steadily rather than fast. there is no better receipt than this simple one for sponge cake. A little practice will soon make you an adept in preparing it.
This recipe for Sponge Cake was taken right out of the Ladies' Home Cook Book 1898. Below are notes from our kitchen.
Notes:
This is a very nice recipe producing a fine sponge cake. Though it contains the whites of eggs whipped to a meringue consistency it is far from angel's food. It is more moist, does not rise as much, and melts in your mouth more readily than angel's food.
If using a scale, I recommend simply following the weights of the ingredients as given above. If using measuring cups, after the six eggs and the lemon, approximate measures are: 3 cups powdered sugar, 1 1/8 cup flour.
When grating the lemon, grate the peel on the star part of your grater. This is the part that is prickly when you touch it. Grate just the yellow skin of the lemon, not the white rind. You will need to turn the lemon often to get most of the yellow peel. After this is done, cut the lemon in half and squeeze the liquid thoroughly from the lemon. Don't worry if seeds drop into the liquid because you'll strain them out later. Let set for fifteen minutes, then strain into the yolk and sugar mixture.
As you put the eggs whites and then the flour into the mix, make sure to carefully fold the ingredients into the batter instead of stirring it in. If you simply stir things together, you'll break down the egg whites, resulting in a cake that will not rise.
Cover with baking paper when the surface is golden, this halts the surface browning, then bake for about 10 minutes more.
325 degrees for about 35 minutes.