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Dessert

Sponge Cake Roll

A sponge cake roll made from beaten eggs, sugar, flour, cream of tartar, soda, baked quickly, rolled while warm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Sponge Cake Roll

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat four eggs separately.

  2. Add one teacupful of sugar, one teacupful of flour, and one teaspoonful of cream of tartar; mix into the flour mixture.

  3. Dissolve one half teaspoonful of soda in a little water.

Bake and roll

  1. Bake quickly in a biscuit pan.

  2. Turn the cake out onto a damp towel.

  3. Put the cake in dressing and roll while warm.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

633Calories
20 gProtein
12 gFat
109 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Vehling, Joseph Dommers, 1879-1950. fmo. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

  5. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Beaten eggs trap air, giving the sponge its light, airy structure.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps give the sponge a tender crumb.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets.
Cream of tartar
Acidifies the batter, stabilising the beaten eggs and helping the cake rise.
Soda
Reacts with the acid in the batter to produce gas, aiding rise and lightness.

The step that matters

Roll while warm. A warm sponge is pliable enough to roll without cracking; once it cools it becomes brittle and splits. Rolling in a damp towel keeps it from sticking and cracking.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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