Funny story, a few weeks ago I was tasked with baking a cake for a baby shower. I figured I’d just make my standard birthday cake recipe- a vanilla cake made with Einkorn flour and a simple buttercream frosting. But, when I opened up my cookbook the pages stuck together. I was halfway through the recipe, painstakingly folding nearly a dozen egg whites into a custardy mixture before I realized my mistake. But you know what? I’m so grateful for these sticky pages because this Einkorn Sponge Cake was the PERFECT Spring dessert!
This cake recipe is adapted from one of my staple cookbooks, Einkorn by Carla Bartolucci. The super simple buttercream recipe is mine. And though I used homemade Strawberry jam for the filling, made with honey, you could easily grab a small jar of any fruit jam you like at the store! This would be super tasty with raspberry as well.
Einkorn Sponge Cake with Lemon Buttercream
DifficultyHard
Servings12-16
Prep time45 minutes
Cook time35 minutes
Total time59 minutes
I never meant to make this cake, but boy am I sure glad I did! It’s light, airy, bright and perfect for Spring. It’s also fun to make but even more fun to eat! Go make this delicious cake today!
This recipe is adapted from the recipe for Sponge Cake from the Jovial Einkorn cookbook. The filling and frosting are my own.
Ingredients
Cake
- butter, for greasing the pans
- 240 grams all-purpose einkorn flour
- 10 ea large eggs, separated, room temperature
- 300 grams maple sugar
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 ea lemon, zested
Filling
- 1 pint strawberry jam
Frosting
- 8 oz grass-fed butter, softened
- 1 lb powdered sugar
- 1/2 ea lemon, juice
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or dash of vanilla extract
- handful cherry blossoms, for decoration
Instructions
Cake
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place an 8-inch cake pan on top of a piece of parchment paper. Trace around the edge of the pan with a pen, until you have a complete circle. Repeat for all three cake pans. Rub the bottom and sides of the three pans with butter and place your parchment paper circle inside the pans at the bottom. It should fit the space perfectly.
- 2
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add egg yolks, 200 grams of the sugar, the salt and lemon zest and whip on medium-high for 3 minutes or until thick and pale yellow. Pour the mixture into a large bowl.
- 3
Thoroughly clean and dry the mixer bowl and whisk. Add the egg whites to the bowl and beat on medium for 1-2 minutes or until the whites hold soft peaks. While the mixer is running, add remaining sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Should take a few minutes.
- 4
Fold a third of the whites into the yolk mixture. Sift the flour into a small bowl, then sift and fold half the flour into the yolk mixture. Fold in another 1/3 of the whites, then the rest of the flour, and finish with the rest of the whites.
- 5
Pour the batter into the cake pans. Bake for 35-37 minutes until the center of the cakes spring back when you press on them. Mine took exactly 35 minutes. Do not open the oven to peek while the cakes bake! The cake will rise in the heat and deflate a little once out of the oven. Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Frosting
- 1
Add 8 oz. of softened grass-fed butter, 16 oz. powdered sugar, lemon juice and vanilla to your mixer bowl and attach the whisk attachment. Whip until smooth. Do not frost your cake until it is entirely cool!
- 2
To frost your cake: Using an offset spatula, spread a tiny dot of frosting on the cake stand or plate you plan to use. Stick your first cake on top of the frosting. This will secure your cake. Then add your strawberry jam on top of the first cake and spread evenly. Add your second cake on top, slicing off the very top to make it flat if needed. Spread another layer of strawberry jam and add the third and final layer.* Make sure your final layer has a flat top.
Fill a tall cup with hot water and set it next to your cake stand or plate. You will use this to clean off and heat your offset spatula so you can make the frosting smooth. Place a large glob of frosting on the top layer of cake and smear to cover the cake. Then grab smaller globs of frosting and smear them on the sides of the cake. You don’t have to precise with this, just get it covered. Once the coverage is how you like it- I like mine pretty rustic and sometimes do a “naked’ cake- you can heat your spatula in the hot water and smear it smooth. Smooth out all frosting as desired.
Once your frosting is done, top with edible flowers. I used cherry blossoms from the trees in our orchard. Now…ENJOY!
*I actually just did two layers for the cake pictured and then frosted the third for my kiddos. They didn’t mind a bit!
Notes
You could easily half this recipe and just slice your cake in half to make the layers, but my motto is always “Go big or go home,” at least when it comes to cake!
Keywords:Einkorn, Spring Cake, Spring Desserts, Healthy Sweets, Sponge Cake, Cake, Lemon, Strawberry
