Classic Vanilla Sponge (Eggless)

Start by sifting the dry ingredients in a bowl. Simply place on top, a sieve that fits the mixing bowl perfectly. Next add the dry ingredients one by one and then start sifting. To speed up the process tap the sieve continuously while slowly shaking it. Once done, discard any left over big particles (try pushing them down using a spoon first, as sometimes they form big lumps due to exposure of moisture. Thus pushing them down make help lower the waste). Mix all the sifted dry ingredients and move on to the next step.

The second step is to add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Start by gradually pouring the room temperature milk in, add little by little and keep whisking it. Once smooth, add the rest of the ingredients and whisk again to get rid of lumps and to incorporate everything nicely.

Next, start by preheating your oven to 180 deg. Celsius. Then remove your cake tin and grease it on all sides with melted butter to prevent it from sticking. Then dust some all-purpose flour on top and nicely coat it to ensure that the cake gets de-molded with ease. People usually mess up with coating the tin most of the times. You are supposed to add some all-purpose flour and slightly tilt the pan and keep rotating in order to coat the base and the edges. Then shake off the excess. Next, pour your prepared batter into the tin and tap 2-3 times against the kitchen platform to remove any air bubbles.

Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Check the cake every 7-8 minutes. Once it is about 15 minutes, remove it and insert a toothpick. It should come out clean but not bone dry (which means your toothpick should still have a few crumbs on indicating that it is still moist inside). If there is a lot of crumbs on the toothpick, bake the cake for an additional 5-7 minutes. Then leave it to cool for up to 15-20 minutes. Once cooled, dust icing sugar on top and drizzle over some *chocolate ganache and serve.

*To prepare the chocolate ganache, melt some chocolate (milk/dark/mix of both), cream and butter together in the microwave or using a double boiler. Once cooled down, transfer to a piping bag or simply use a spoon to drizzle it on top.