The water cake is an extremely soft dessert with a light and aromatic texture. Very easy to make, it’s perfect for breakfast but is also an excellent base to fill as desired.
It requires few ingredients to prepare and is dairy-free, with butter replaced by oil and milk by water or other liquid ingredients like coffee, lemon juice, or orange juice. Many say it resembles sponge cake but it’s actually much lighter and softer; additionally, if filled, it requires little soaking.
The recipe I propose has been circulating online for several years, although it is often modified without reason; it is actually by Leonardo di Carlo, a well-known and appreciated Italian pastry chef. What I present to you is the original recipe I tried years ago, modified and transformed into the cocoa and hazelnut variant, and it is absolutely fantastic.
You can bake it in the classic springform pan or in a bundt cake mold, which is certainly more suitable for this cake.
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8 People
- Cooking methods: Electric Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Spring, Summer, and Autumn
- Energy 362.55 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 52.30 (g) of which sugars 30.61 (g)
- Proteins 4.85 (g)
- Fat 16.24 (g) of which saturated 3.06 (g)of which unsaturated 12.37 (g)
- Fibers 0.65 (g)
- Sodium 69.13 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup potato starch
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 3 medium eggs (whole, 3 medium eggs)
- 1/2 cup corn oil (or other oil as desired)
- 1/2 cup water (or lemon juice, orange juice, or coffee)
- 2 tbsps lemon zest (grated, can be replaced with other citrus fruits)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla (in pods)
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsps butter
- 2 tsps all-purpose flour
- as needed vanilla powdered sugar
Tools
- 1 Bowl large
- 1 Scale
- 1 Electric whisk
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Bundt cake mold 10 inches in diameter
- 1 Spatula
Procedure
To obtain a well-whipped dessert, use ingredients at room temperature, especially the eggs.
Whisk the eggs with the sugar, salt, and flavorings in a large bowl until you get a soft and frothy mixture, slowly add the oil while continuing to whisk. Add the water (I used 50g of lemon juice and 75g of water) slowly, mixing gently with a spatula.
Sift the flour, potato starch, and baking powder, and incorporate them into the mixture using the spatula.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt cake mold (10 inches).
You can bake it in the classic springform pan or in the bundt cake mold, which is certainly more suitable for this cake.
Bake the cake in a preheated convection oven at 338°F for 30/35 minutes. The batter is very liquid, so it needs to be baked in a convection oven.
Once baking is complete, remove the mold from the oven and allow the cake to cool for 15 minutes. Unmold it onto a serving plate, dust with powdered sugar, and serve.
Tips
Storage
The water cake can be stored at room temperature for 3/4 days in a cake holder.
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