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I love this sponge cake recipe. It’s easy and you can make hundreds of different cakes with this base. This is a classic European sponge cake (aka Genoise). Once you have this recipe down (you’ll memorize it after a couple rounds), you’ll be baking things that look and taste like they are from a fancy bakery.
This cake base takes on moisture really well from fruit, frostings, liqueurs and syrups. As you can tell from my cake recipes, I’m a sucker for moist cakes. Read on to see 11 marvelous recipes you can make using this sponge cake base.
Over the years, I’ve tested countless different ways to make this cake and this is the best, most fail-proof method for genoise that I’ve tested. This is not like American cakes and readers often question if it can really be that easy and only have 4 ingredients.
I want you to discover this gem of a cake and succeed EVERY TIME you make it. I hope you find this video helpful. We had you in mind! 🙂
Watch How To Make Sponge Cake:
Tips for Success (Read First!):
1. When no streaks of flour remain in the dough, fold a few extra times to ensure you aren’t missing pockets of flour at the bottom
2. Bake the cake layers right after folding in the flour – they should not sit too long
3. Always use a conventional oven setting (not a convection/fan setting)
4. An electric hand mixer will take 2-4 minutes longer to beat the eggs
5. Tip from reader, Hilda: “How do you know u get the right consistency? Lift up your beater (whisk) from the batter. Make a figure “8” using the batter that drip off the beater. Then count to 10 seconds. If the figure 8 still remains on top of the batter, then u have the right consistency. If the figure 8 sinks into the batter before 10 secs, then u need to beat it longer.”
6. Bake in the center of the oven
7. Place cake in a fully pre-heated oven
8. Do not open the oven door to check on the cake until towards the end
9. Let the cake cool in a room without any outdoor draft which can make it seem eggy
Sponge Cake Recipes you can master at home:
Blackberry Lemon Cake – soft and moist and has a fluffy lemon blackberry buttercream frosting.
Charlotte Cake – layers of raspberry mousse, lady fingers and fluffy cake.
Poppy Seed Cake – fluffy and moist with a hint of rum and it’s not overly sweet.
Strawberry Sponge Cake – boasts 1 1/2 lbs of fresh strawberries. You’ll love the simple and delicious whipped cream cheese frosting.
Black Forest Cake – A chocolate version of classic genoise with 1 lb of kirsch infused cherries and whipped cream. So good!!
Russian Apple Cake (Sharlotka) – Just 5 ingredients and 15 min of prep, then your oven does the rest!
Poppy Seed Cake Roll – Moist, generously filled with a cream cheese frosting, covered with velvety chocolate ganache and pummeled with salted pistachios.
Pomegranate Christmas Cake – With a crown of glistening pom seeds, this one’s a stunner for the holidays.
Story Book Cake Roll – This cake roll is moist, rolled with a vanilla butter cream, covered in decadent chocolate and the cookie crumbs give it a subtle crunch.
Kiwi Berry Cake – If you love fruit, this cake will make your dreams come true. Layer after layer of gorgeous berries.
Tiramisu – if you like tiramisu, you will love this!
I told you I loved this cake base. I’m Completely smitten 🙂
4-Ingredient Sponge Cake (Video Recipe)
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar, 210 grams
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, 130 grams
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
Prep:
- Preheat Oven to 350˚F. Line bottoms of two 9″ cake pans with parchment paper (do not grease the sides).
How to Make this Sponge Cake:
- In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment (this is the one I have), beat 6 large eggs for 1 minute on high speed. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 cup sugar and continue beating 8-10 minutes until thick and fluffy.
- Whisk together 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp baking powder then sift this mixture into fluffy egg mixture one third at a time. Fold with a spatula with each addition just until incorporated. Scrape spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
- 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.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Hi! Is it possible to bake the batter with convention oven? What
tempreture do you recommend for convention oven? I only have convention oven 😣. For the blackberry lemon cake. Is possible I change to peach lemon cake? Can just follow the same steps for blackberry cake but using peach? It is the combination of peach and lemon taste ok?
Hi Cammy! I have only been able to test it in a conventional oven so the recipe is written for a conventional oven. A convection oven circulates the air and bakes recipes faster so the bake time would have to be modified. I think the peach version sounds interesting! I would love to know how you like it if you experiment with that!
I tried it and it sunk in the middle I beat eggs and sugar for eight minutes whisked flour and baking powder and sifted in to bowl folded dry mixture until I didn’t see any flour on bottom of the mixer put on middle rack side by side in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes and when I looked in the oven with 14 minutes left it was sunk in let it finish baking sides rose beautifully but middle completely sunk
Hi Stacia, It’s best not to open the oven on this cake – the heat escaping quickly can cause the cake to sink in the center. Also, try mixing another couple of minutes – if you are using a hand mixer or anything other than the highest speed, the cake won’t rise properly since it relies on the volume of eggs and sugar to rise. I hope that helps! 🙂
I am certain that this is a lovely sponge, just not for my husband. It sunk was eggy. We use our own eggs, with yolks that are very rich. Do you possibly have a measurement for the amount of eggs to use. I so want this to be a forever recipe. Thanks sue
Hi Sue! If your eggs were smaller, that could have an affect but it is usually due to under-beating the eggs and sugar. Be sure to beat them in a high powered mixer with the whisk attachment until the mixture is thick and forms a thick ribbon when pulled up.
This cake is great! Thanks to this I was finally able to recreate the cakes I used to get for my birthday when I was younger. It really makes a splendid base. My cakes will never be the same again!
I’m so happy you discovered our blog Elsie!! Than you for the wonderful review!
I was wondering why the sponge can’t be baked in a convection oven?
Hi Kourtnie, from what I have heard from readers, the cake does not rise properly – it could be due to not modifying the settings which should be done when convection is used. I haven’t tested it personally but I have always stuck to conventional baking based on reader reports.
Your 4 ingredient sponge cake is amazing! I did it!!! I never thought I can bake a cake. Your recipe is encouraging. Thank you for the tips too.
Thank you for sharing that with me Nicole!!
Hello, I made this sponge cake and it was awesome. Some of my family members have diabetes and they like how this cake wasn’t too sweet and it pairs well with whipped cream. Can this recipe be double?
I think it can be doubled if you have a large enough mixer and pan. But making it in separate batched may be safer since it is so delicate.
Hello! I made this sponge, but it more than doubled the size while baking, and got super stuck to the side. Any idea why? Thanks!
Hi Thais. I’ll do my best to troubleshoot – do you live in a high altitude area? I wonder if that would affect baking temp/time on this one. Did you make any changes to the recipe and measure the ingredients correctly?
Hi! No, I followed it completely. I watched the video again and I noticed that your batter was more “runny” than mine (mine was very much holding its shape when I spooned it to the cake pan).
Hi Thais, a thicker, puffier batter will never hurt and it means you beat your eggs and sugar effectively.
Hi Natasha i also have the same problem,i live in kenya africa and i guess it is a high altitude,if so how do i adjust the baking time/temperature should it be less or more
Hi Faith, It’s hard to say without being there. Normally for elevation adjustments, you would need to increase oven temperature, some recipes state to reduce sugar. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
Hi Natasha, may i know if yeast could replace baking powder for this recipe. Thank you so much if you could answer my question🙂
Hi Yulian, I haven’t tested that but I don’t think it would work properly and I have no way of predicting what the yeast will do in this recipe without testing it. You could make the cake without baking powder altogether though. I find it rises just a little better with baking powder but the cake relies primarily on the volume of the eggs and sugar so if you beat those really well as instructed, the cake will still work without the baking powder.
Thank you so much ! 🙂
You’re welcome, Yullan!
what is different between Genoise sponge cake and Traditional sponge cake in the recipe?
Hi Anna! ’m so happy you have enjoyed our recipes! The main ingredient in this classic European sponge cake (genoise) is egg. The cake relies on the volume of the whipped eggs to rise. Butter is not traditionally used in this classic European sponge cake. Also, using butter on the pan is not recommended because the cake pulls away from the sides and ends up mis-shaped. I’m sure there are several different versions of it but the classic European genoise does not require butter.
This is my first shot at sponge cake. It doesn’t have sugar as an ingredient. So it is not the traditional sweet cake?
That is correct! this is a simple sponge cake! 🙂
Can we use the same recipe for a roll?
Hi Nora. I have not tried this one specifically but if baked thin enough it may work! We have this recipe here you may enjoy
This will be my first time trying to make a sponge cake!! D:
I do have a question though…could I bake the batter together as one cake, instead of dividing it into two round cakes?
Hi Sandy! That should work! Be sure to adjust your bake time to at least 30 minutes if doing that.
Hi there,
I normally don’t do reviews but with this one I had to take the time to share. It was my first time making sponge cake and it turned out AMAZING! Made a vanilla flavour. So moist and fluffy. I’m on my 3rd batch already as the first one I made just to try the recipe. It was so simple to follow. Thanks so much for taking time to share this recipe 😉
Wow! Thank you so much for this amazing and thoughtful review, Angela!! I appreciate you sharing this with all of us!
It’s a beautiful recipe which I tried for many times and every time it’s perfect.for my 15 months baby i skipped baking soda and made with 3 ingredients but reduced the whole wheat flour to 3/4th cup instead of 1 cup.thank u Natasha for the superb easy recipe.btw the tips u given are very much useful.
I’m so happy those tips helped! Thank you for the wonderful review, Keerthy!
Hi, I’ve been trying to duplicate a limencello cake from my favorite restaurant. I have the icing down pat, but I can’t seem to get the right consistency of the sponge cake. I want to try this recipe, but I’m not sure if adding the limencello liquor would ruin the recipe. Help!
Hi Virginia, are you planning on adding it as a syrup to moisten the cake? I haven’t tried adding liquor to the batter itself but if you create a syrup out of it that may work.
I have no idea how the baker used it. Could you please give me a syrup recipe using limencello to try? I’m not adventurous when it comes to making up a recipe. Thanks
Hi Virginia. Here is a simple syrup recipe we use, Simple Syrup: 1/2 cup water, 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1 Tbsp granulated sugar I hope this helps
How to cook cake in one 9″ pan.. how long it takes to cook
HI Sharon, you would need a pan with tall walls such as a 3″ tall springform pan. A regular 1 to 1 1/2″ tall cake pan will overflow. Bake about 30 minutes.
Hi Sharon. It should be baked for about 30 minutes.
I made the strawberry version of this cake for my mom’s 95th birthday. It was a hit and she was disappointed when it was gone. I will make it again, it was a refreshing dessert on a very warm night. Thanks for the recipe.
Thank you for sharing that with me, Linda! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe.
I used your recipe to make my first ever sponge cake and I have to say this come out great! Although I have nothing to compare, I think I will not let it bake as long next time I think it may have been a little dry? I also added some pumpkin spice in the batter which was okay but not great, lesson learned. For the frosting I whipped egg whites and added hot maple syrup and further whipped.
I will use this recipe again as it was “kid” approved!
Hi Tara, If you like a moist cake, simple syrup is always a nice edition. You can lightly brush the layers with syrup since the cake itself is pretty dry without it.
This was so simple, light, and delicious! I let some sliced strawberries macerate in the fridge while I baked the cake, and quickly whipped up some unsweetened cream to pile between each layer. Really fresh and delicious. It took no time at all, and it tasted like I spent all day working on it. Thanks for this recipe! I’ll definitely make it again.
That’s so great Laura! I’m so happy you enjoyed that!
It is very easy. But turns out very dry for mine. Not sure what have went wrong.
Hi! If you like a moist cake, simple syrup is always a nice edition. You can lightly brush the layers with syrup since the cake itself is pretty dry without it.