This European 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 10 minutes, on medium-high speed in a stand mixer. The texture should be airy, yet stiff, and you should get thick ribbons. If using a hand mixer, you may need to beat for twice as long.
- 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 add it in by thirds into the egg mixture. Lightly mixing in the flour with a rubber spatula (not a whisk) will ensure you don’t over-mix 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 early 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. Only test towards the end of baking time. 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!
Sponge Cake Video Tutorial
Recipe
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 °F.
- In a stand mixer, beat 5 eggs (no need to separate them) and sugar on low speed and then on medium-high speed for about 10 minutes or until it's three times in volume.
- Using a spatula, fold in flour by thirds; be very gentle with the batter so you don't over mix it and lose the fluffiness.
- Add cake batter to an oiled baking pan. 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 toothpick will come out clean.
- This recipe doesn’t need baking soda or baking powder. The leavening agent is the air that is beat into the batter.
- The sponge cake may have a slight eggy taste, but if you beat long enough (at least 10 minutes) this shouldn’t happen.
- The sponge is best used as a base for making other cakes where you would add frosting, fillings, etc. If you prefer, you can add some vanilla extract in step 2.
I would separate the eggs and beat the whites so the cake becomes fluffier.
Hey there, thank you so much for this great tip! I appreciate your feedback. Have a great day!
Hi Natalya,
I just made this sponge cake and I am thrilled with the outcome! I will be adding it to my recipes ! A keeper for sure! I have never made sponge cake in my 47 years in the kitchen making meals and treats for family and friends! Thank you for posting this recipe!
Patricia , thank you for taking the time to leave feedback! I'm so glad you gave this recipe a try and enjoyed it 😀
Can this be made in a Bundt pan ?
Hey there John, I have not tried it in a bunt pan, but I dont see why not. You may need to adjust the bake time to avoid over-baking. if you give it a try, let me know how it goes! Good luck!
I am 76 and it is the first time I have had success with it. My husband always told me how good his mother was at it, so I always failed ! They are both dead now, so I think this is why I made a good one😁! Thank you.
Cloe, you made my day! Thank you so much for sharing this. So happy you found a recipe that works.
Hi, loved this recipe and it came out well. But was wondering if taking 2-3 egg yokes out and adding some oil would reduce the chance of the egg taste?
Hi Dan, Your sponge cake has an egg taste? I have not tried any substitutions for this recipe. If you give it a try, I would love to know how it turns out. Good luck!
I love this recipe!! I have baked this cake several times already and it comes out perfect every time! Everyone loves it!!
I add to the bottom layer a mix of espresso coffee and a liquor then add a vanilla pudding custard. It's delicious!
Hi Marina, That sounds absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing your spin on it! Have a great day!
I came here after failing to make a earl grey sponge cake from another site twice with 8 inch pans. I made the same cake a third time but with your proportions of sugar, egg, and flour + shorter bake time since I am splitting cakes into 2 8 inch pans. I also watched the video which helped me realize I need to fold way more than I was folding before and that it's okay to be a bit more vigorous.
Anyway, I finally have two sponge cakes I can serve after throwing out 2 batches of cakes. Yay.
Hi Clara, I am so glad to hear this recipe worked for you! Thank you for your feedback! Enjoy!
The fact I have mine in the oven right now and the anxiety is getting higher and higher looking at these reviews 🫣😰
Hi Zoe- ah I'm so sorry it's causing anxiety. I do hope the sponge cake came out perfectly for you!
The recipe doesn't show where when you add the sugar?
Hey JM- You beat the eggs with the sugar. Thanks for pointing that out, we made sure to fix it. Enjoy!
The sponge cake came out nearly flat and with a very strong egg smell. I beat the eggs for only 5-6 minutes, but I'm sure I did something wrong on my end.
I think this recipe could be better if more instructions + video footage were dedicated to the texture/look of the beaten eggs. Here are some questions that I had while making this:
A) What speed should the kitchen aid mixer be on while beating the eggs? 5, 7, 10, etc.?
B) Why didn't you separate egg yolk from egg whites? Other recipes always go through this step.
C) What texture/look should the eggs have after you beat them?
Hi Zach, Thanks for sharing your feedback. The cake might be flat when eggs are not beaten well or the flour is not folded in but mixed in.
1. With the eggs, we do suggest starting slowly and beating on high for at least 5 minutes.
2. I always had success without separating eggs and this recipe recipe always worked well.
3. Here is a video that might be useful to see the texture. https://www.youtube.com/watch…
I hope this helps! Keep us posted.
I followed your tips and the recipe: 3 ingredients cake! Well, my dog will have it all.
It turned out rubbery, strong egg smell (no vanilla in your recipe) despite I added some vanilla paste... I will stick with a proper sponge cake recipe that contains butter.
Hi Olechka- I'm sorry you weren't a fan of this recipe. You can add vanilla extract for extra flavor. As for it turning out rubbery- over-beating can lead to it turning out dense or flat. Thanks for taking the time to leave feedback.
Thanks for the recipe! I just finished baking mine and it has turned out great! The top is nicely flat but as it cooled it has shrunk a bit and the top has become bumpy (for want of a better word). Any tips on fixing this for next time?
Hi Hayley- I'm not quite sure why it's bumpy, I haven't really had that happen! Does it look even more textured than my finished cake does?
Hi I’m making this sponge cake recipe today for my mom who requested a very particular cake that we used to buy at our local bakery, which is now closed. I’m making it with three layers filled with Bavarian cream, raspberry and strawberry preserves, with a whipped cream frosting to finish. I wanted to ask if this sponge cake recipe would hold up well if used for the Latin Cake known as 3 leches cake? I’m curious if it would go well.
Yes it would work for tres leches. I use it to make my tres leches. The only thing i dont oil the pan. I put parchment paper on the bottom only and they come out perfect. You just have to go around the whole pan with a knife to release tge cake. I find it if i oil the pan the cake tends to shrink.
Hey Kimberly- I haven't tried making tres leches with this sponge cake, but I don't see why it wouldn't work! This sponge cake is very versatile and works well for a lot of cake recipes!
I haven't made it yet. For some reason the literal only thing my mother didn't teach me was how to cook (I wish I knew her recipes). I asked many how to make the jello sponge cake and zilch so I hunted online and this is the closest although somehow my mother had jello soaked into the sponge cake.
Hi Cheryl, you might be looking for this recipe: https://momsdish.com/strawber…. Hope this helps!
Sadly mine just tasted like eggs and sugar 🙁
Mine the same, not a good sponge recipe. Classic sponge also always contains fat and a flavour
Hey Sam, they sponge cake is heavily egg based. You can add vanilla for extra flavor. Best way to use it is as a base for any cake that you would need to layer with cream. Hope this helps!
Oh my goodness..Besides adding lemon zest I followed the recipe..sooo very good. Thank you!
So glad to hear that, Viola! You're very welcome.
Can I half the recipe?
Hi Nita! I wouldn't recommend halving the recipe because this recipe only yields one sponge cake. If you halve it, your cake will be really thin or small.
This was absolutely perfect! Sponges were the only thing I couldn't do. I need not worry about the traditional method anymore
Oh, this totally made my day. So happy you loved this recipe. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Mine came out very dense and flat!
Hi Taylor - Sorry to hear that you didn't have a good result. Could there be a chance that you over mixed the batter? This is the prime reason the cake comes out dense and flat. If that's not the case, let me know if there's something else that didn't seem right and I can try and help. Thanks for your feedback.
Same happened to me. I used a stand mixer with the eggs and sugar for 5 min then folded the flour in until it was all incorporated
Thank you at long last a recipe that works and doesn't taste like eggs.It turned out perfect!
Thank you Melody! That is so kind. Really appreciate you taking the time to reach out. 🙂
Good morning!
Quick question, in directions it says beat eggs 15 minutes and in video it was 5.. making this for my sons birthday on Saturday (he LOVES fruit flan) and I have tried a few other recipes with no success. Hopefully this one tastes like he remembers my Omas flan
Thank you 😊
Hi Petra - Thank you for catching that. It should take about 5 minutes. We will update that now and apologies for the confusion!
Hi
I just wanted to know if i could add some vanilla into the sponge cake or will it affect the cake in any way?
Hi Zulfah - It shouldn't affect the cake whatsoever! You should be totally fine. Thanks for reaching out and let us know how your sponge cake turns out!
Would it be possible to usr gluten free flour to make a gf version?
Hi Dee - Unfortunately, we have never tried this recipe with gluten-free flour, so it's hard to say if it will work or not. If you try it and it turns out well, please share which flour you used so we can add it as a Hot Tip in the blog post. 🙂 Good luck!
Hi Dee, I have now made this cake several times with gf flour, just substitute by weight, not volume (use the metric option in the ingredients). I just used the Aldi gf flour 🙂
Hi Kim, Thank you so much for that great tip! It will be very helpful to our readers! I appreciate you taking the time to leave feedback.
If someone whant to try this for modeling some multilayering cake with modeling chocolate on top - chose other recepie or at lest give it some time to "sit". My "owl" fell into "book" before I was able to finish it =)
I did it with some buttercream.
It is absolutely delitious and fluffy, so everyone liked it anywhay.
But I didn't whatch the video and beat eggs for 15 minutes as sudgested in description, it looked like meringue, - and it turned out absolutely perfect.
I tried several differect recepies before this one and I always end up with cake that didn't raise or cake that raised only in the middle. And it never ended up so soft and fluffy.
Hi Anna- I'm so glad this sponge cake recipe turned out so well for you! Thank you for commenting.
Hello, my sponge sank in the middle while in the oven. It was certainly cooked and smells scrumptous. Hoping it will taste fabulous.
Faye
Hi Faye- oh, i'm sorry to hear that! Some tips for the future: use room temperature eggs, and make sure to beat them until tripled in volume but not to over-beat as this can also lead to a sunken cake. Also, please make sure not to open the oven door while the cake is baking to prevent the cake from sinking. I hope the cake still tasted delicious!
Hi there I love your recipe but every time I make the sponge cake it sinks after taking out of the oven what do you suggest it’s nice and puffed in the oven and it’s cooked but as soon as I take it out it sinks
Hi Lisa, it's very likely it's not fully baked, that would be the main reason why it would sink in the center. Hope this helps but keep me posted.
Hi! Can I add in strawberry puree for a strawberry cake? And if yes, what amount should it be? Thanks so much!
Hi there- I have not tried adding strawberry puree so I'm not sure. The puree may affect the way the cake turns out since you're adding extra liquid. If you give it a try, let us know how it went!
Thanks so much! I think I'll add some strawberry flavour instead!🤭🤭
Or you can get freeze dried strawberries and turn them to dust in a food processor. I have had good results doing this in other baked goods to get a strong strawberry flavor.
Mmmmmmm that sounds awesome. Thanks for sharing!
or add a bit A flour until it turns to a consistency that is familiar
Hi, I'm hoping this is the cake used in a lot of bakery slab-type layered cakes that has some type of custard with peaches or strawberries in between ... maybe put some type of Grand Marnier or something on the layers.
Hey Elaine! I'm not sure if it is. You would have to give it a try and see how it compares. This sponge cake is the perfect base for many cake recipes though, so I'm sure it could work well with whatever cake or toppings you envision it with! 🙂
Can I bake this in a cupcake pan and how long should I bake it for? Thanks.
Hi Alex- I actually have not tried making sponge cake in cupcake format, so I don't know how it would turn out or how long it would need to bake for. I would recommend using a cupcake recipe instead for guaranteed results- I have this delicious vanilla cupcake recipe on my blog you can try. https://momsdish.com/recipe/4…
I will try this. I already tried your chocolate sponge cake. And it was a bomb! Thank you for this great recipe.
You're welcome, Ronya. Enjoy!