Prize-winning Gluten-free Sponge Cake

Total Time: 33 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 18 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups cornflour, make sure it is gluten-free (cornstarch)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder, gluten-free
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups whipping cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup strawberry jam, warmed
• 250 g strawberries, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 180c (350f). coat 2 spring form pans with baking spray, then line with baking paper. the baking spray helps keep the paper from moving around.
• 2 in a microwave bowl or small saucepan, place the sugar and water. bring to a boil. stir every now and then to dissolve the sugar.
• 3 beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until stiff. slowly drizzle in the hot sugar mixture with the mixer running. then beat really hard for 3 minutes. mix in egg yolks and vanilla.
• 4 sift together cornstarch, baking powder and salt. carefully fold these into the egg mixture. pour into prepared pans.
• 5 bake 18-20 minutes. as soon as you remove them from the oven, drop the pans from knee height, square on the floor - seriously! this is a strange sponge making trick that 'shocks' the cake and stops it from deflating.
• 6 then immediatly turn sponges out onto a wire rack or baking paper to cool upside down.
• 7 beat cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. warm jam for a few seconds in the microwave.
• 8 place one sponge on the serving plate. spread first with jam, then whipped cream.top with strawberry slices. then put second sponge on top. dust with icing .