Pumpkin Sponge Cake

 

Ingredients:
(A)
4 egg yolks (72g), room temperature
30g caster sugar
20g coconut milk
1/4 tsp salt
50g  rice bran oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
70g mashed pumpkin
105g plain flour
10g rice flour
1/4 tsp (2g) baking soda

(B)
4 egg whites (147g), room temperature
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
50g caster sugar

• Line the base of a 17.5 cm/7 inch square pan.  Preheat oven to 170 deg C.
• Sift plain flour, rice flour and baking soda twice.  Set aside.
• Mix coconut milk with salt.  Set aside.
• With a handheld mixer, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick.  Then beat in oil, followed by coconut milk and vanilla extract.  Add in mashed pumpkin and stir to combine.
• Gradually add in flour mixture and stir gently to incorporate.  Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites on low to medium-low speed until foamy.  Add in cream of tartar and beat on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add in sugar (at the side of the bowl and not dumped in the centre) and increase mixer speed to high, continue beating until stiff peaks form.
• With a silicon spatula, fold 1/4 of the meringue into the flour mixture to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining meringue in 3 batches.
• Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until cake is done.
• Immediately after removing the cake from the oven, drop the pan from a height of about 20 cm (this is to prevent the cake from shrinking).
• Leave the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan.  Cool the cake on a wire rack.