The moka cake is the first "advanced" recipe I've tried from the cakes section of The Book. At first, it was not immediately apparent why this recipe was marked as being harder than the other cakes, because in comparison, the assembly is a lot easier and there are fewer components overall: a sponge cake (similar to the Fraisier from last time), coffee buttercream, and toasted almonds. I suspect the difficulty rating is due to the risks of baking a tall, circular sponge cake, and also in part due to the assembly process of the final cake. But I think, for my first cake of this form factor, that it all went well. It is an atypical shape of cake because it is apparently an Alsacian festive cake, and various flavor profiles can be used. This recipe used rum and coffee as the chief flavorings.
Like in the Fraisier sponge, this sponge cake began with egg whites separated from the yolks, to be whipped into stiff peaks with sugar. However, instead of beating the egg yolks into the meringued whites, the egg yolks were also beaten separately with sugar until they were pale and thick. Additionally, the cake contained flour but also the addition of corn starch. I sifted these two powders, though I perhaps should have sifted them together as well. Back in the day, sifting was important to prevent unsavory milled things from getting mixed in with your flour, but now, it's primarily done to eliminate lumps that will either remain undissolved in the batter and bake up as little raw flour pellets, or necessitate additional folding to incorporate that risks overworking the batter and either deflating it or creating excess gluten formation that will make the cake tough.
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The ingredients for the sponge: Egg whites ready for whipping, egg yolks and sugar to be whipped simultaneously, more sugar to whip into the meringue, and flour and cornstarch sifted together.
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