TABELIA

AUTHENTIC RECIPE

Gâteau de SavoieSavoy Sponge Cake

Savoy Sponge Cake
Difficulty★★★☆☆ Prep25 min Cook35 min servings4

A light Savoy cake made by separating and whipping yolks and whites independently, then baking a fat-free batter. Said to originate at a 14th-century banquet of the Counts of Savoy, its cloud-like texture depends entirely on whipping and folding the meringue. With no butter in the batter, the egg flavor shines directly, and a dusting of icing sugar completes it. The separated-egg method, a fundamental pastry technique, becomes a dessert in its own right.

Recipe developed and reviewed by the Tabelia Editorial TeamUpdated
100/ 100

AUTHENTICITY SCORE

Authenticity Score

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Ingredients (4 servings)

  • EggsSeparate yolks and whites; bringing to room temperature helps them whip4
  • Granulated sugar for the yolks100 g
  • Granulated sugar for the meringueStabilizes the meringue bubbles20 g
  • Lemon zest, Japanese-grown and unwaxedGrate and add to the yolk mixture1 lemon, zested
  • Cake flourSift together with the cornstarch50 g
  • CornstarchReplacing half the flour with starch is key to lightness50 g
  • SaltAdd to the whites to help whipping1 pinch
  • Unsalted butter for the moldFor greasing the mold15 g
  • Granulated sugar for the moldCoat the buttered mold; forms a thin sweet outer crust15 g
  • Icing sugar for finishingSift over with a tea strainer after cooling10 g

Method

15 min

Butter and sugar the mold

  • 1 Begin preheating the oven to 170°C.
  • 2 Meanwhile(While it heats.) Brush 15 g mold butter evenly inside a deep 18 cm diameter mold; a kugelhopf or chiffon mold is also suitable. Coat throughout with 15 g mold sugar and tap out excess.
23 min

Separate the eggs

  • 1 Separate 4 eggs into yolks and whites.
  • 2 Yolk in the whites prevents meringue from forming, so separate 1 egg at a time into a small bowl before transferring.
36 min

Whip the yolks until pale

  • 1 Beat the 4 yolks with 100 g yolk sugar thoroughly in a bowl until pale and thick, falling from the whisk in overlapping ribbons.
  • 2 Grate and mix in the zest of 1/2 lemon.
46 min

Whip the meringue

  • 1 In another clean bowl, whip the 4 whites with 1 pinch salt. Once white foam covers the mixture, add 20 g meringue sugar in 2 additions while continuing to whisk.

Ready when

It is ready when the whisk lifts straight, stiff peaks.

56 min

Combine flour and meringue

  • 1 Sift 50 g flour and 50 g cornstarch together into the yolk mixture and mix until no dry flour remains.
  • 2 Add 1/3 of the meringue and whisk thoroughly to loosen the batter.
  • 3 Add the remaining meringue in 2 additions, folding broadly from the bottom with a spatula. Stop as soon as white streaks disappear. Overmixing collapses the air bubbles and prevents rising.
635 min

Fill the mold and bake

  • 1 Gently pour into the mold and bake at 170°C for 30–35 minutes.
  • 2 It is baked when well risen, uniformly golden and a skewer comes out without batter attached.
  • 3 Do not open the oven during baking.
  • 4 The cake would collapse.
725 min

Unmold and cool

  • 1 Leave in the mold for 5 minutes to cool slightly, then unmold and cool completely on a rack.
82 min

Finish with icing sugar

  • 1 Once completely cool, sift 10 g icing sugar evenly over the cake through a tea strainer.
A view of Mont-Cenis, Savoie
Mont-Cenis, SavoieFrance Photo: Florian Pépellin · CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized; display cropped)

About this dish

The origins of gâteau de Savoie are said to date to the 14th century. Its founding story tells of Amadeus VI, Count of Savoy, asking his cook to make a sweet as light as a cloud for a banquet welcoming the Holy Roman Emperor.

In Alpine Savoy, it has long been loved both for special occasions and as a home snack. The butter-free batter has disadvantages for keeping, but allows egg flavor to stand directly, and its freshly baked lightness is considered irreplaceable.

Still made in Savoy homes and pastry shops, it appears at any time of day: breakfast, afternoon goûter or dessert with fruit and cream.

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