Sponge cake Sponge cake Sponge cake is a cake based on flour (usually wheat flour), sugar, butter and eggs, and is sometimes leavened with baking powder. It has a firm yet well-aerated structure, similar to a sea sponge. In the United Kingdom a sponge cake is produced using the batter method, while in the US cakes made using the batter method are known as butter or pound cakes. Two common British batter-method sponge cakes are the layered Victoria sponge cake and Madeira cake. The Victorian creation of baking powder by English food manufacturer Alfred Bird in 1843 enabled the sponge to rise
Vegetable oil Hydrogenated vegetable oils differ in two major ways from other oils which are equally saturated. During hydrogenation, it is easier for hydrogen to come into contact with the fatty acids on the end of the triglyceride, and less easy for them to come into contact with the center fatty acid. This makes the resulting fat more brittle than a tropical oil; soy margarines are less "spreadable". The other difference is that trans fatty acids (often called trans fat) are formed in the hydrogenation reactor, and may amount to as much as 40 percent by weight of a partially hydrogenated oil.