Last night, to celebrate Mika's 7th birthday (which we are celebrating again today, and celebrated before on Wednesday), I made my grandmother's sponge cake. It has been over 25 years since I've had it, but I think what I made was pretty close to the original. The cake, perhaps, wasn't as light - and the lemon curd was too creamy-looking (I remember my grandmother's as being more translucent). But it tasted quite close to what my grandmother made, and it was very yummy.

At first I thought the recipe she used came from the Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook that she used, but then I found a recipe typed up into my aunt Gladys' recipe notebook, so that's the one I made. Here is the recipe.

Granny's Sponge Cake

-2 cups sifted flour -2 tsp. baking powder -1/2 tsp. salt -4 eggs, separated -1 cup cold water -2 tsp. lemon rind, grated -1 3/4 cups sugar -2 tsp. lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix sifted flour with the baking powder and the salt. Sift three additional times. Set aside.

Beat together 4 yolks with the cold water and lemon rind until light and frothy. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar and then the flour. Set aside.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Add the sugar and lemon juice and beat until it has stiff peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the flour mixture. Pour into ungreased 8" baking pans. Bake for 25 minutes. Cool, unmold and frost.

Granny's Lemon Frosting

-2 cups sugar -1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp flour -2 eggs, lightly beaten -2/3 cup lemon juice -1 1/3 cup water -4 tsp. butter -2 tsp. lemon rind -2 cups whipped cream

Combine the sugar, flour, eggs, lemon juice, water and butter in a medium pot. Put pot on top of a double boiler, or directly under a very low heat, and cook stirring constantly until it thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Fold in the lemon rind and 1/2 cup of whipped cream. Spread between cake layers. Fold in the remaining 1 1/2 cups whipped cream, and frost top and sides of cake.

Granny's and Gladys' Recipe Book