This Perfect Sponge Cake is made in the most classic way! Using only three ingredients, you will get the most moist, leveled cake that pairs perfectly with any of your favorite creams.
Okay, I’ll admit it. I love Twinkies. I know they are terrible for me, but why do they have to be so good?! Making sponge cake at home gives you all the deliciousness of the packaged stuff, but without any of the nasty preservatives. That is a win-win!
I use this sponge cake in so many of my desserts! It is the perfect base for my Tiramisu and Prune Walnut Cake.
What is a Sponge Cake?
Now, don’t try cleaning your dishes with this cake! You’ll be sorely disappointed. Okay, no more mom jokes, I promise. Below I will describe what makes sponge cake different than other types.
Sponge cakes are primarily made with eggs and a bit of sugar and flour. This makes this cake both light and airy and sturdy and absorbent. Therefore, sponge cakes are perfect for spreading on filling or topping with heavy fruits.
Other cakes tend to be comprised of the opposite — less eggs and more flour. This makes for a denser texture that isn’t as absorbent.
What Makes Sponge Cake Fluffy and Moist
Eggs are the key to making your sponge cake fluffy and moist. You will want to beat your whole eggs with the sugar until the volume increases by three times. You will want to make sure you don’t overbeat the eggs, as this will result in a flat cake. You will know when your eggs are ready when the beaters hold a thick ribbon when removed from the bowl.
Tips for The Best Sponge Cake
- Keep the eggs at room temperature before you make the cake. Room temperature eggs beat better!
- Beat the eggs with sugar for at least 15 minutes. The texture should be airy, yet stiff.
- Sift the flour first. Getting rid of any lumps and clumps of flour will ensure that you have a consistent texture.
- When adding flour, carefully it in by thirds into the egg mixture. Lightly adding the flour will ensure you don’t overmix and compromise the fluffiness of your beaten eggs.
- Your baking pan size should be 9 inches or larger. This cake can easily overflow during the baking process.
- Don’t open the oven door during the baking process because the cake can collapse when hit with a sudden temperature change.
- Test to see if the cake is fully baked by pricking it with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, you’re good to go!
- Cut the sponge cake only when its fully cooled to room temperature.
Hot Tip: To make a chocolate version of the sponge cake, add 3 Tbsp of cacao powder to the flour.
Cakes to Make with Sponge Cake
- Ferrero Raffaello Cake: Modeled after my favorite candy, this cake is a perfect combination of chocolate and hazelnuts.
- Caramel Apple Cake: Every time I go to a fair, I have to get a caramel apple. This cake is the perfect fall treat.
- Strawberry Chocolate Cake: This is my Valentine’s Day go-to. Just like a chocolate-dipped strawberry, but in cake form!
- Chocolate Liquor Cake: I am a fan of the boozy cake. Adding alcohol to baked goods is not just festive, it serves a purpose! It adds a great punch of flavor and also moistens the cake.
Making Sponge cake in Advance
This is the perfect cake to make a few days in advance. Store it for a few days on the counter in an airtight container. Or, it can be refrigerated up to a week. You can also freeze this cake for up to 3 months. Just make sure you store it in a flat box so it doesn’t lose its shape!
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Recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- Beat 5 eggs (no need to separate them) with sugar until it’s three times in volume.
- Using a spatula, fold in flour by thirds; be very gentle with the dough so you don’t over mix it and lose the fluffiness.
- Add cake batter to an oiled baking sheet. Springform baking pan works amazing, size 9-12 inches is perfect.
- Bake at 350F for 30 minutes and check it using a wooden toothpick. If the cake is ready, the dough should not stick to the toothpick.
Can you somehow make this a lemon cake?
Hey Eric, yes if you use lemon cream for the frosting. That sounds so good!
Is raw sugar suitable ?
Hey Mick, I have never tried using raw sugar in this recipe. Not sure.
Works v.well with a vanilla / almond cake. Gives an amazing bronze shine colouring.
Thank you for your feedback!
Baking powder????
Nope, none required.
Hello,
I tried this recipe and my cake turned out to be very dry. Guess i over baked it but it also didn’t rise. Saw you mentioned over mixed can be a problem. What do you mean by over mixing?
Hey Neha, the dough can flatten out if you mix not fold in the flour. You have to be gentle when adding flour to the egg mixture.
Hi Natalya when do I put butter and how much
Hi, this cake does not require any butter. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Hi Natalya! I am Canadian and only have access to Canadian flour. I know that where the flour originates can make a huge difference when baking bread. Following American recipes using Canadian flour can give you a loaf more suitable for hammering nails. I substitute a little gluten for a bit of the flour when baking bread, and am wondering whether I could do the same for a sponge cake. Are sponge cakes more fussy than regular cakes? I'm making this today or tomorrow morning, with or without the gluten, but I thought I would ask in case you had a better solution. Thanks very much. I'm very happy to have found your website. 🙂
Hey Diane, this cake is very forgiving. You can use all-purpose flour you have on hand. It will work just fine. Just don't overmix the dough.
Hi, when I'm beating the eggs and sugar together, what level should my beater be on?
Hi, medium-high would work great.
Excellent recipe. I am in Australia, I used caster sugar, a finer grain and much better to whip with eggs. I started my gas oven off at 180 C., then I turned it down to 160 fan forced, cooked the sponge beautifully, light and fluffy and good height, for the full 30 minutes. Perfect to decorate with cream and strawberries. Will keep this recipe , pass it on and use again.
Pamela, thank you for your feedback, I'm so glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
The after taste of this is ok, but the texture is very hard and almost rubber-like. Do you think it would help to add some other ingredients in there? I put it in the oven for exactly 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Hey Tamara, it must be overmixed. The sponge cake shouldn't be rubber-like. The recipe shouldn't need any extra ingredients, it great as is if you follow the recipe exactly.
What do I use instead of eggs?
I have not tried using anything to replace the eggs.
Hey this recipe looks great but I was looking to make two six inch sponge cakes do you think that would be possible?
Hey Saanvi, I think 6-inch cake would work with this recipe but you would need to split batter into two. Enjoy
Hi if i want to use 6” round tin . How much ingredients I hv to use
You would need to split it into two baking pans to avoid overflow.
I was looking for a light cake for strawberry shortcake and this recipe was perfect for my needs. Made exactly as written except for baking times.I lined muffin tins and it made 16 total. Baked in my convection oven for 10 min checked and then did 2 more minutes. After they cooked we assembled our dessert and my kids went back for seconds.
Thank you for the easy recipe. I will definitely make again.
Kathy, I am so glad you loved the cake, thank you for your feedback!
Would it work If I use coconut sugar or honey? Can I replace all purpose flour with almond flour?
Hey Connie, I am afraid that would change the entire recipe. I don't think the outcome will be the same.
Recipe is good but nowadays my sponges always sink in the middle whilst cooking whatever recipe I use. This recipe did not dink in that much but still did. I used to have good sponges. Do you have any idea why this is happening? Thankyou
It could be a few things. The oven is not heating properly, you open the oven door while it's baking, overmixed batter. I have never had this cake sink in the middle.
Thankyou
Never made a sponge cake before but I wanted to make one to enter at a local fair. Used this recipe in two 6 inch pans, they turned out great and won a blue ribbon!
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Congratulations!! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe!!
Have you ever tried using a bundt cake pan? I have some beautiful Texas peaches that I'm thinking of stewing to go with this cake! Please reply soon! I can't wait to try this!
Hey Brenda, I have not. I would be worried that it would stick to the sides without any butter in the recipe. It's easier to remove it from a Springform Pan.
This recipe was super easy and tasted good! It was a little tough and dense, which I expected, but my family and I loved it anyways!
Hi Mimi, the sponge cake shouldn't be dense. It could happen if you overmix the batter. It should be fluffy and airy. Glad you still loved it!
Fast easy delicious, thank you for sharing 🌹❤️🙏
So glad you enjoyed it, thank you for your feedback!
Hi! I'm planning on making a trifle with this, is it ok to use frozen fruit or will it ruin the cake?
Hey Ash, personally I wouldn't use frozen fruit in a trifle. Fruit will melt and produce juice, it can get messy 🙂
this is great i had a good birthday making this cake im 14 now
I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe, Happy late Birthday! Enjoy your cake!!
Is the cake meant to smell very eggy?
Hey Karina, this would depend on the eggs you use. You can add vanilla extract to add a different flavor to it.
can I bake this in a loaf pan? I can't find a 9 x 12. Can I use 9 x 13?
Hey Barbara, I think it would be too large of a pan. You can do a 1.5 portion of the recipe and it would work well.
Can I use cake flour instead of AP? Would the measurement be different for cake flour?
Did you try the cake flour? Curious.
Hye Colleen, I havent used cake flour so I cant tell you if it would work. If you try it, please share feedback. Thanks
Excellent
Thank you very much!!
Is it possible to swap the sugar for a sugar substitute ?
Hey Liz, I don't think the outcome will be the same but I have never tried it so I don't know for sure.
Hi, does this make one sponge cake or 2 layers? Meaning would I have enough for 2 cake pans?
Hello, using a 9 - 12 inch pan makes one sponge cake. I would make two sponge cakes if you want 2 thick layers. Hope this helps.
Thanks, for the valuable information. My questions are:
1) Why you did speak about the baking powder, and what the preferred dose?
2) What is better to get the fluffy cake the butter or vegetable oil, and what can be the vegetable oil (sunflower oil is it good)? and why you didn't mention it?
3) I notice that alcohol like whisky with eggs white prevents making creamy eggs white, is this true?
4) Why some separating eggs white and yellow where others don't?
Hey Elias,
1. I mentioned that you don't need baking powder because it's a repeating question I get.
2. This cake doesn't need butter or oil. This is why I didn't mention it.
3. I haven't tried this, usually, when I want to add alcohol, I make a sweet syrup with alcohol for soaking the cake.
4. I don't know why others do it but I found that not separating them works great. This method never failed.
Hope this helps!
Hi Natalya,
Made this sponge today for use in a strawberry shortcake (gotta love June fresh Strawberries), after 20 minutes of beating with a handheld mixer I achieved the desired consistency (I think). The cake rose nicely, had great colour...baked as recommended for 30 minutes at 350°...my concern is that the cake seemed a little "tough" for lack of a better word. Is this the desired density of this cake or did I overtake by a few minutes? It tasted great!
Thanks for the recipe!
I've got this new Siemens fan ovens and I'm struggling can u suggest what temperature I must use and how long also what self position for the rack 2 or 3
Hi Chris, because this cake doesn't have butter or oil, it will be more on the dry side, but should not be "tough". This cake is great for layering with cream or soaking it up with syrups. Also with some ovens, you need a bit less time, there have been some comments saying they baked the cake for only 20 minutes. If you attempt the sponge again, I would try it for 20 minutes and you could see if that fixes the issue. Hope this helps.
Hi, I know you listed some cakes this recipe goes with! But can I use for a tres leches cake?
Yes, absolutely! Let me know how it turns out!
Can I make cupcakes from this recipe?
Hi Debbie, I would recommend using one of these recipes, either the vanilla cupcakes: https://momsdish.com/recipe/4… or these super moist cupcakes: https://momsdish.com/recipe/6…