Biscuit Joconde Sponge

I'm sharing how to make an amazing biscuit Joconde sponge to complete your special cake. It is lightly chewy, tender, and moist. The beautiful texture goes perfectly with sophisticated cakes such as opera cakes, mousse cakes, and other layered cakes.

📌 Why You'll Love This Recipe

• I can not rave enough about the texture. It is soft, slightly chewy, and incredibly moist. It has an enchanting texture that is not too fluffy nor dense, and the neutral presence goes so well with complex or delicate desserts, such as layered cakes, and mousse entremets. 
• Flexible: It is one of the most flexible sponge cakes. You can bend it easily to set it up on the sides of cake rings in any size. 
• Amazing almond flavor: It adds another layer of richness to the cake. The natural oil from ground almonds also helps to keep the sponge cake perfectly moist after many hours. 
• The thin layer of sponge cake bakes off a lot more quickly than regular sponge cake. And it cools down in a very short time!                                                         

This light sponge cake is best known as a sponge cake for an opera cake. The classic French cake can not be made without this unique sponge!

📌  What Is Joconde Sponge?

It is a light almond sponge cake made by combining beaten egg & almond mixture and meringue. 

It is not as fluffy as regular sponge cakes, such as a genoise sponge cake or biscuit sponge cake without almond flour since it contains a lot of almond flour and less flour. The texture is moist, tender, and slightly chewy.

In French, the Joconde sponge is called "La Joconde," derived from the famous painting "Mona Lisa." (It's the feminine form of her married name, Giocondo)

📌 What's In Joconde sponge?

Whole egg and almond mixture:

• Powdered Sugar (Icing sugar): It dissolves quickly in liquids. 
• Almond flour: It gives this sponge a rich and moist texture.
• Whole eggs: It does the primary role of letting the cake rise in the oven. 
• All-purpose flour: Just a little bit of all-purpose flour is added to help to sustain the body and to make it lighter.
• Unsalted butter: It adds richness to the texture. 

Meringue:

• Egg white: Ensure no oil and liquids are mixed in egg whites and tools so the meringue whips well.
• Granulated sugar: It helps to stabilize the meringue. Sugar is essential to create a moist texture. Use white sugar, such as granulated sugar or caster sugar.

📌 How To Make Joconde Sponge

Preparation

• Preheat the oven to 410ºF (210ºC)
• Set parchment papers on two half-size sheet pans. (You can also use one full-size baking sheet pan or four-quarter sheet pans. Change it as you like depending on what cake you are making with it.)
• Melt butter.
• Scale and prepare all the ingredients ahead to move smoothly after this. 

The 9 steps

1. Mix powdered sugar and almond flour in a large bowl.

2. Add whole eggs and mix with a whisk until evenly combined.

3. Heat the eggs and almond mixture with a water bath until comfortably warm, like bath water. (95 - 104ºF | 35 - 40ºC) By warming eggs, they get whipped a lot better, which leads to a lighter sponge cake.

4. Whip the heated mixture at high speed until it gets very pale. That means it contains lots of air, creating a lighter texture for the sponge. Touch the bowl and check: Stop whipping it when it cools down to room temperature. Set it aside.

5. Whip egg whites using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment: Add half of the sugar once the meringue looks bubbly like soap and continue whipping. Add the remaining sugar when it looks fluffy. Continue whipping until very fluffy. The tip of the meringue should curl when lifting a whisk. Use it right away as soon as it's made since the meringue starts separating quickly.

6. Add the egg & almond mixture to the meringue. Continue folding it with a rubber spatula until about 75% is blended.

7. Add sifted all-purpose flour and continue folding until you don’t see it.

8. Add one big scoop of the cake batter to the bowl of melted butter and mix. Pour it back into the remaining batter and continue folding until evenly incorporated. Clean the bottom and side of the bowl on the way to ensure it's evenly mixed.

9. Pour the cake batter onto the prepared pans and spread it evenly with an offset spatula. Bake at 410ºF (210ºC) for 6 - 7 minutes until the surface looks golden brown and bounces back gently when touching it. Take the sponge cakes out of the pans and let them cool on a cooling rack.

📌 More Tips For The Success

• Ensure that the hot water does not touch the bowl directly to prevent eggs from getting cooked. You can also use the hot water to melt butter.
• Use a clean mixing bowl, whisk, and ingredients without oil, liquids, or chemicals such as soaps - They prevent the egg white from whipping well to make stiff meringue. Egg yolks contain oil, so separate them carefully! 
• I recommend not adding all the sugar at once to the egg whites to make the meringue Sugar prevents the egg whites from whipping well when a lot of the amount is added in the beginning.
• The sponge batter gets runnier when over-mixed, leading to a heavier cake. Stop folding right after it's evenly incorporated.
• I used two half-size sheet trays for an opera cake this time. You can also use a different size or shape for your specific desserts. 
• When you need to use two racks in an oven to bake 2 sheets, switch the positions toward the end to bake them evenly. (At least with my oven, they don't get baked evenly when I don't rotate!)
• Spread the cake batter as quickly as possible and put the pans in the oven before the air bubbles in the meringue get eliminated too much and the cake batter loses too much volume.

📌  Uses For Joconde Sponge

Jocode sponge cake is incredibly versatile. You can use it for any entremets dessert. It adds a wonderful accent to your desserts without interrupting the main flavor or component of the cake, such as mousse, whipped cream, ganache, pastry creams, etc.

• Opera Cake: The classic chocolate cake is made with layers of this Joconde sponge soaked in lots of coffee syrup, chocolate ganache, and coffee buttercream with an addition of chocolate glaze on top of the cake. 
• Mousse Entremet: This almond cake goes perfectly with mousse cakes, such as chocolate mousse, strawberry mousse, raspberry mousse, etc. Pick your favorite mousse and complete your custom mousse cake!
• Roll cake: You can also make unique roll cakes with the sponge, such as jam roll cake, or buttercream roll cake. It is flexible enough to roll it without cracking the surface.
• Petit Desserts: It is also often used to complete small cakes for afternoon tea, plated desserts, etc. 

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

How should I store the Joconde sponge, and what's the shelf-life? 

Wrap it tightly with plastic wrap to prevent it from getting dry. Store it in the fridge for up to 4 days or about 2 months in the freezer.

Can I bake a Joconde sponge as a thick cake?

You can make it thicker than the recipe, but I do not recommend baking it as a thick sponge cake since this almond sponge cake is denser than regular sponge cake such as genoise sponge cake. Bake it on a sheet pan to enjoy the texture. 

When should we start whipping egg white?

Whip the whole egg mixture and egg white at the same time when you can or whip from the whole egg mixture. But do not start by whipping egg white. That is because meringue is more unstable and starts separating quickly if you leave it for some time. Even if you re-whip it, it won't be so smooth the same when it's already separated too much. 

What does "biscuit" mean? 

In sponge-making, the word "Biscuit" describes the way of making a sponge cake: Whipping egg yolk and egg white separately. We often call it "the biscuit method." (Sometimes, we don't whip the yolks, or we use whole eggs instead of the yolks, etc. There can be slight differences like that on each recipe.) With the "Genoise method," on the contrary, whole eggs are whipped together to make a sponge cake.

What does "Joconde" mean for Joconde sponge? 

The sponge is called "La Joconde" in French, derived from the famous painting "Mona Lisa." It's the feminine form of her married name, Giocondo.

📌  VIDEO: Learn how to make it visually!

Learn how to make Joconde sponge visually to better understand the process!

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📌 More Sponge Cake Recipes

Explore other kinds of sponge cakes that best suit your needs to complete your special cake!

• Vanilla Sponge Cake (Genoise method)
• Chocolate Sponge Cake (Genoise method)
• Classic Ladyfingers (Biscuit method)
• Chocolate Ladyfingers (Biscuit method)
• Vanilla Roll Cake
• Buche De Noel
• Strawberry Cream Cake

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