Recipe: Zia Irma's Italian Sponge Cake

Excerpt from The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani

There is no sweeter perfume on the farm than strong coffee brewing on the stove and Mama's buttery sponge cake, fresh out of the oven. Mama has the place sparkling. The kitchen floor is mopped, every pot is on its proper hook, and the table is covered in a pressed blue-and-white-checked tablecloth. In the front room, she has draped the settee in crisp white muslin and placed a bunch of lavender tied with a ribbon in the kindling box by the fireplace. I hope Miss Stoddard doesn't notice that we don't have much furniture.

"How do I look?" Mama asks, turning slowly in her Sunday dress, a simple navy blue wool crepe drop-waist with black buttons. Mama's hair is dark brown; she wears it in a long braid twisted into a knot at the nape of her neck. She has high cheekbones and deep-set brown eyes; her skin is tawny brown from working in the field with Papa.

"Beautiful."

Mama laughs loudly. "Oh Nella, you always lie to make me feel good. But that's all right, you have a good heart." Mama pulls a long wooden spoon from the brown crock on the windowsill. She doesn't have to ask; I fetch the jar of raspberry jam we put up last summer from the pantry. Mama takes a long serrated knife, places her hand on top of the cool cake, and without a glitch slices the sponge cake in two, lengthwise. No matter how many times I try to slice a cake in two, the knife always gets stuck. Mama separates the halves, placing the layers side by side on her cutting board. She spoons the jam onto one side, spreads it evenly, and then flips the top layer back on, perfectly centered over the layer of jam. Finally, she reaches into the sugar canister, pulls out the sift, and dusts the top with powdered sugar.

ZIA IRMA'S ITALIAN SPONGE CAKE

1 cup cake flour
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Sift the cake flour. Beat the egg yolks until lemon-colored. Gradually add the sugar. Blend the flour and almond flavoring in the water and add to the egg yolk mixture at low speed. Add the salt and cream of tartar.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until they are frothy and stand in peaks. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the whites just until blended. Pour the batter into a 10-inch ungreased tube pan.

Bake for one hour or until cake springs back when lightly touched in center. Let sit in inverted position until cool.

From the Hardcover edition.
Excerpted from The Queen of the Big Time by Adriana Trigiani
Copyright 2004 by Adriana Trigiani. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.