Ingredients:
1 ½ C  cake flour (or use 1 ¼ C all-purpose flour)
or use gluten-free alternative (suggestion below)
3 tsp. baking powder (or 1 tsp. baking soda plus 2 tsp. cream of tartar)
12 Tblsp. (¾ C) butter, room temperature
1 C XyloSweet – pure xylitol granules
3 eggs
2 Tblsp. Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.  Grease and lightly flour two 7 inch round cake pans.  Hint: cut a piece of parchment paper to line the bottom of the pans – it will make the final removal much easier.


2. Sift flour (or gluten-free flour alternative) together with baking soda and cream of tartar.


3. Cream the butter and XyloSweet together in a food processor or mixer until light and fluffly.  Hint: To make XyloSweet granules finer and easier to mix into this cake – put the measured XyloSweet in a high-speed blender and mill it briefly.  This will make a fine powder that will cream with the butter more completely.


4. Slowly add the flour mixture to the creamed butter and XyloSweet.  Add the eggs one at a time.


5. Add the milk and blend until the batter is very smooth and well-combined. 


6. Pour into prepared cake pans.


7. Bake in the center of the oven for 18 to 20 minutes until the cakes are a light golden brown or when a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.


8. Allow the cakes to rest in the pans for a few minutes and then loosen the cakes from the sides of the pans with knife or spatula.    Carefully transfer the cakes from the pans to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely.


9. For a classic sponge cake presentation, spread the top of one layer generously with a xylitol-sweetened fruit jam (like the Probst Farms or Nature’s Hollow jams) and place the second layer on top.  Mill a few tablespoons of XyloSweet in the blender (as mentioned in step #3 above) or place the XyloSweet in a mortar and grind it by hand with the pestle into a fine powder.  Sift this powdered XyloSweet over the top layer for the final presentation.

 

Gluten-free flour alternative:
½ C plus 2 Tblsp. sorghum flour or brown rice flour
½ C plus 2 Tblsp. tapioca starch or potato starch (not potato flour)
3 Tblsp. Almond meal, buckwheat flour or millet flour
1 tsp xanthan gum

Mix well and sift thoroughly  -- decrease milk in above recipe to only 1 Tblsp.

Recipe courtesy of Sue Simkims, www.MrsSimkins.co.uk