Today, August 23rd, is National Spongecake Day.

Spongecakes are cakes made with flour, eggs and sugar that have a foam structure similar to a sea sponge, hence the name. The oldest recorded recipe for a spongecake dates back to 1615 in England. Baking powder is used in the batter method to provide the foam, whilst in the foam method the air is added by whisking the mixture instead.

One of the most famous spongecake recipes is that of the Victoria sponge, named after Queen Victoria, which consists of two spongecakes with cream and jam (jelly) sandwiched between them and then dusted with icing or caster sugar.

Image: By Phil Parker from UK (Cake !) [CC BY 2.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons