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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
I wanted to learn how to bake a Genoise sponge cake, but I was a little overwhelmed. Your video was perfect for this visual learner! I made my first sponge cake and even went on to make your Strawberry Cake using that cake. My family raved about it. I’m making another one for a New Year’s Eve party as well. Thank you so very much and Happy New Year!
Thank you for that amazing feedback, Shona! Happy New Year!
Thanks for the sponge cake recipe. It’s so easy and good! I also did the strawberry cake. It is delicious. I added melted milk chocolate on the top. It goes well with the cake. I will def make it again. Next time, I may use a little more whipping cream and less cream cheese. Thanks!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for the wonderful review, Jessica!
I made the sponge cake, vanilla icing, strawberries, lemon glaze and it was a hit with everyone. Easy recipe to follow. Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it
I like your sponge cake recipe, however, I would like to use a bundt pan and then use a lemon glaze. Can I use the entire batter for the bundt pan? Thank you.
I honestly have never tried it in a Bundt pan and I don’t think I would try because it would be really difficult to get it out of the pan.
Thank you for replying and that is what I thought. I will use the cake p pans.
Have a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!
Thank you, Kathleen! Happy Holidays!
Bonjour
J’ai un four qui fait la chaleur tournante. Comment faire un bon réglage ?
Merci.
Hi Lynn, I haven’t tested this in a convection oven so I’m not sure what to recommend. I have had at least 1 reader that I can recall say they did not have good results in a convection oven.
Hi, I’ll like to make a lemon version of the cake. Do I add the lemon juice to the batter or do I brush it onto the sponge after it is baked?
Hi Tina, a simple syrup with water, lemon juice, and sugar would work. For a lemon cake, I would add extra lemon juice to taste to really bump up the lemon flavors.
For the lemon flavor, I read an Italian Sponge cake recipe that simply added 1 tsp grated lemon zest to the batter. That recipe was similar to this one Natasha makes. Natasha’s recipe seems to use less flour than other recipes. It’s probably a more tender cake too!
Hi Natasha! I would like to try making the pomegranate Christmas cake with this base for friends, but I don’t have a stand mixer!! I do have a handheld electric mixer with a whisk attachment. Do you have any advice or is it just a matter of having things prepped in advance and working out your biceps by mixing for 8 minutes by hand?
Hi Meghan, be sure to beat the mixture on the highest speed and you will need to add about 3 minutes to the mixing time since a stand mixer is more effective at whipping mixtures. I wouldn’t attempt to do it with a hand mixer but a strong electric hand mixer would work.
Hi! Natasha. Its Perfect Sponge Cake wow super. Awesome video.
How do you decorate/ice this cake?
I would have to say the sky is the limit! You can make hundreds of different cakes using this base! I’ve linked several within the recipe 🙂
I tried ur way but failed also I have a convection oven which have temp till 230
That could be why. I recommend trying in a regular sized oven if you have that option.
Hello. How can i prevent mango from discoloration? Is there something to brush on the mango?😊 Thank you
There are fruit glazes you can buy. Usually, coating them in lemon does the trick!
Have you tried gluten free flour?
Hi Danielle! Several of my readers have reported that this works great as a gluten-free sponge cake using a 1:1 gluten-free flour. 🙂
Hey Natasha thanks for the services from “Natashaskitchen
Really we learnt a lot from your kitchen
We have improved on our baking skills
Thank you so much for sharing that with me!
Hi Natasha, i just did the sponge cake with a hand mixer since i dont have a stand mixer. It worked! Just a little patience, until i saw number 8:-)
Can i add sugared vanilla to the batter or cognac? I will be making forêt blanche tomorrow but baked the sponge cake tonight.
So blessed to have found your site,
Thank you for all the exquisite recipes😊
I’m so happy to hear that Lina! you can add 1 tsp of vanilla extract (or any), folding it in quickly before adding flour.
Hi Natasha:
I want to make this recipe in a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Can I do that adjusting the cooking time?
Hi Ana, it would be a fairly skinny cake. Here is an example where I made this a 9×13 cake but I doubled the recipe and made the cake layers separately.
Thanks for your suggestion. It worked perfectly, it was a big and delicious cake..
I have made several of your salads and desserts recipes and all are fantastic.
I appreciate this feedback! Thanks, Ana!
Hi, I want to make 6 inch cake. How can I adjust the ingredient and bake time? Also, should I use 2 inch deep or 3 inch deep pan?
Hi Robin, I have not tested this in a six-inch round baking pan to say for sure, so I’m not certain if it would overflow the pan. That would be my main concern. You may need to scale the recipe back. Let me know if you experiment.
I halved the recipe once and used a smaller spring form pan, then split into layers. Worked great! I just really watched it in the oven, it needed a shorter bake time.
Thank you for sharing that with us, Shannon!
Worst cake ever!!! Too much sugar no sponge cake just a cake hard like a rock.
Hi Ghina, I’ve probably made this a hundred times and I am always happy to help troubleshoot. Since this cake relies on the volume of the eggs and sugar to rise, it is critical to follow every step in the recipe and use the right tools. Under-beating the eggs and sugar or over folding after adding flour will result in a flat cake. I suggest reading the troubleshooting section in this pot and watching the video to see where things started to look different.
Hi, I wanted to make half the batter so I would need to cut the ingredients in half also. How should I adjust the time? Thanks!
Depending on your cake pan size. Are you also changing that? I would watch it closer but since it is less cake it may be done quicker!
No. I’m wanting to make the strawberry with whipped cream cheese frosting, but I wanted to make sure it was ok to make it the day before serving. Would it be better if I added a strawberry syrup to the cake layers before putting the pureed strawberries? I did let the strawberries sit with sugar on them first because they weren’t very sweet. I hope that is ok.
I think that should work fine Michele. I hope you love it!!
Hello. I’m going to make the strawberry version. Can I make this whole cake the day before I need it? Thank you
Hi Michele, you can make the cake base ahead of time and store it either in the fridge or at room temperature for a day or wrap and freeze up to 3 months.
Can I make the strawberry version of this cake the day before serving?
You can definitely make this a day before serving! Regarding the strawberry version, are you looking to add strawberry syrup? We usually just top or frost it with a flavor 🙂
Hi Natasha, so glad I landed on this recipe! But I am having some trouble, I tried making this twice and both times came out dense and not fluffy.
Hopefully I could get some advice! What I noticed was my mixture of eggs and sugar was not white and fluffy after beating. I tried beating for about 4 mins for the eggs and another 13 mins after adding sugar. I didnt continue to beat afterwards because I was afraid of overbeating.
Also I do not own a standing hand mixer. I am using a a simple hand mixer.
Thanks!
It may be due to under beating, since it is a hand mixer it will take a lot long than a stand mixer. Also make sure your measurements are correct and the size of the eggs isn’t off.
By under beating, do you mean the eggs and sugar mix? By chance do you have a idea how long I would need to mix with the hand mixture? Thanks!
I am always happy to help troubleshoot. The #1 reason for not rising uniformly is if the eggs and sugar are underbeaten. If you are using an electric hand mixer, add a few minutes to the mixing time on high speed (depending on the hand mixers power may even double that up. but this recipe really does need an electric stand mixer or an electric hand mixer, otherwise it will take FOREVER to reach the whipped consistency that is needed for the cake to rise. Also, did you possibly open the oven door while the cakes were baking – that could cause it to fall, or if the cakes are removed from the oven too early. I hope that helps!
I will try again by adding some time to the beating for the eggs + sugar mixture. I am using a electric hand mixer.
I didn’t open the oven door until it was done baking. Hopefully this time it will be better, Thank you!