This easy sponge cake is soft, fluffy, and light as air! Its a simple recipe for basic sponge cake made with ingredients including cake flour, beaten eggs, and sugar for an easy, simple sponge cake thats moist and soft!
This easy sponge cake recipe is passed down from my mom, a retired pastry chef, which Ive simplified to make it easy for the home baker. Its an incredibly fluffy, soft, moist, and light cake which can be used with any frosting and filling.
This cake can be sliced into layers and used as a base for any layered cake which makes it perfect for any occasion including birthdays, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and other holidays! Ive used this recipe for Japanese Strawberry Shortcake and for Swiss Roll Cake.
Sponge cake is a light and airy cake thats thats leavened with beaten eggs instead of yeast. Sometimes baking powder is added for more volume. The beaten eggs act as a rising agent, giving the cake a fluffy, light texture.
There are several types of sponge cakes: chiffon cake, Swiss roll cake, castella cake, angel food cake, genoise cake, and Victoria sponge cake. Though similar ingredients are used, they vary slightly by technique and filling.
The cake will increase in volume as it bakes and have a golden brown crust all over when done. Remove all the parchment paper and allow it to cool completely on a cooling rack.
Use this easy recipe as a base for any layered cake or even a roll cake! Here are a few ideas:
Easy Sponge Cake
This easy sponge cake is soft, fluffy, and light as air! It’s a simple recipe for basic sponge cake made with ingredients including cake flour, beaten eggs, and sugar for an easy to make, moist sponge cake!
Prep: 10min
Total: 35min
Serving Size: 1 serving
Nutrition Facts: calories 195 kcal, Carbohydrate 35 g, Protein 6 g, Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Trans Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 123 mg, Sodium 121 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 23 g, unSaturated Fat 2 g, servingSize 1 serving
Ingredients:
- 1 cup cake flour
- ⅞ cup white sugar (divided)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cream of tartar ((optional))
- 6 eggs (whites and yolks separated)
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 Tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instruction:
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat egg whites with the cream of tartar (if using) on high until it becomes foamy. Next, add ⅓ of the amount of sugar and beat on high until firm peaks form. When lifting the whisk, look for the tip to drop slightly. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the egg yolks, the remaining ⅔ sugar, salt, water, honey, and vanilla. Beat on high until fluffy, pale yellow ribbons form when lifting the whisk. The ribbon should remain for 3 to 4 seconds. Add half the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture and fold gently.
- Add the remaining ½ of the egg whites to the batter and fold gently until well combined, taking care not to deflate the batter.
- Remove all the parchment paper and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before slicing. Use a cake leveler for even slices. Serve with whipped cream and fruit or make a layered cake. Enjoy!
4-Ingredient Sponge Cake (Video Recipe)
Once you master this easy European sponge cake (genoise), you can make hundreds of different cakes using this base!
Prep: 10min
Total: 35min
Yield: 2
Ingredients:
- 6 large eggs (room temperature)
- 1 cup granulated sugar (210 grams)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (130 grams)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instruction:
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line bottoms of two 9″ cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease the sides).
- Divide evenly between prepared cake pans (it helps if you have a kitchen scale to weight the pans). Bake at 350˚F for 23-28 minutes (my oven took 25 min), or until top is golden brown. Remove from pan by sliding a thin spatula (here’s the one I love for cakes) around the edges then transfer to a wire rack and remove parchment backing. Cool cakes to room temperature then slice layers equally in half with a serrated knife.
