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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 make this cake all the time and it always turns out and I’ve made so many different cakes with it – it’s my favorite and I have it memorized! Thanks for the video tutorial!
Thanks for sharing your review! 🙂 I’m so happy you like it. It’s awesome that you’ve memorized it! 😉
This cake is a mess. It sticks to everything and collapses. On top of that, it really doesn’t taste of anything but eggs.
Hi G, did you have an opportunity to watch the video? If not, I strongly encourage you to watch it if you have never made a European sponge cake in the past. The cake relies on the the volume of the eggs as leavening and it won’t rise is you don’t bake the eggs with a high powered stand mixer for the recommended amount of time. If your cake collapses and tastes like eggs, under-beating the eggs and sugar is the number one culprit. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha – Yes, I’ve made European sponge cake before; usually those recipes have you beat the eggs over a pot of hot water and they’re very specific about how the batter should “ribbon”. I watched your video and followed the instructions exactly. I used a stand mixer and beat the eggs and sugar on high speed for the full 8 minutes. The mixture looked promising — thick and voluminous. (Actually, it was a bit thicker than the batter appeared in your video, so if anything, I think it may have bean over-beaten — definitely not under-beaten.) I carefully folded in the flour mixture so as not to deflate the eggs. Coming out of the oven, again the cakes looked promising. They were relatively flat compared to the domed tops that cakes often get. But within just a couple minutes the centers sunk. When I tried to remove the cakes from the pans, they were sticky and gummy — sticking to the pan, the spatula, the racks, my fingers. As far as the egg-y taste, I know sponge cakes rely on much more egg compared to other cakes. But perhaps a bit of vanilla would counteract the overwhelming egginess. Your recipe seemed so simple and the blackberry cake looked so beautiful, that I had high hopes. Thanks for your response.
That is really unusual that the centers sank within a couple of minutes. It almost sounds like the oven might be the culprit. Did you possibly use a convection oven rather than conventional? And was the oven pre-heated fully when you placed the cake onto the center rack? P.S. I added a “Tips for Success” section at the top of this post which should help.
Hi Natasha! With regards to the oven temperature, is it for fan or conventional oven? I’ve tried it in the fan oven and it seemed to have made the top bit crumbly and the middle slightly undercooked…
Hi Sumin, I use a CONVENTIONAL oven (not convection). There is a fan in the back that turns on intermittently but I do not use the Convection setting where the fan is on all the time and circulates air around the food to bake it faster.
Hi Natasha! Thank you so much for your reply! So I only have a fan oven to work with baking then should I decrease the temperature by 20 degrees and keep the baking time the same for all of your recipes? i absolutely love your cakes by the way! They’re genius 😛😍
Hi Sumin, since I don’t have that kind of oven, I can’t really guess without testing it myself. You will just have to test that and see how it effects the recipe. Sorry, I wish I had a better answer for you!
Thank you Natasha! I will try it again and see how it goes because it tasted awesome! Your cakes are always perfect for my taste!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks Sumin! 🙂
Hi Natasha,
When prepping the round pans to pour the batter into them, is it necessary to heat these pans in the oven prior to this?
Hi Mary 🙂 I never preheat pans when making cakes.
I am planning to bake the cake an decorate and have it ready on a Friday evening. Can it sit in the fridge until the next afternoon? Will it change the cake’s texture (too soggy etc) or taste?
Thank you
Hi MD, are you referring to just the cake layers or the finished cake? It depends on which cake you are referring to but in general, even a finished cake using this sponge cake base will not get soggy since it absorbs moisture really well. A finished cake will generally need refrigeration. If you are asking about just pre-making the sponge cake layers, you can leave these at room temperature overnight, covered loosely with plastic wrap or a plastic bag. If stacking, place a piece of parchment paper between the layers so they don’t stick together at all and make sure not to cover them until they are at room temperature.
Hi, I was planing to make this cake, but I need to decorate with fondant, do you think that is going to work, since the cake is sponge?
Thanks
Hi Cata, I really don’t have any experience with fondant, but I think it could work if you had a stiff enough frosting.
This looks like a wonderful cake. It’s my husband’s favorite kind so I plan to make it for his birthday this week. i only have a hand mixer- I am comfortable making the cake layers but I’m concerned about making the frosting with the handmixer because it seems that it needs to be very whipped to get correct thickness. I’d appreciate any advise you might have on this. Thank you!
Hi Leah, If making the cake layers with an electric hand mixer, you will need to increase the mixing time because it just takes longer with a hand-held electric mixer. Which frosting are you concerned about?
I’m looking for a good sponge cake to make trifle. Do you think this one would do well?
Yes I think this would work well for a trifle. It absorbs moisture really well and doesn’t get soggy.
The cake was amazing in the trifle! I make them regularly and your recipe was by far the best taste and texture I’ve used for one. Plus it was very simple to prepare.
Hi, Natasha,
LOVE your blog and recipes! I have made this cake several times and everybody loved it. I was wondering if I could replace about 1 – 2 T of the flour with cocoa powder.
Yes, absolutely! To make it a chocolate cake, you can replace two or 3 tablespoons of flour with cocoa. I would recommend either whisking or sifting the Coco and flour together to distribute it evenly before folding into the egg mixture. Enjoy!
Hi Natasha! Congrats on your amazing blog! Quick question: can i prepare the cake in advance(a day before for example) and put it in the fridge or freezer and use it the next day (without defrosting)? I am planing to make the coconut and lime cake 🙂 many thanks
You definitely can make the cake layers in advance. If it is just the day before, let them come to room temperature then loosely cover with a plastic bag and leave them on the counter overnight. If it is for a few days, you might refrigerate it. If it is for longer, it freezes really well for several months. If you’re stacking the layers, make sure to place one of the round sheets of parchment paper between the layers so they do not stick together at all.
I should have known better. Too many eggs in this recipe. 😞 Sponge was not soft or moist. Using butter AND lining the pan is a good tip though.
Hi Elizabeth, the main ingredient in this classic European sponge cake (genoise) is egg. The cake relies on the volume of the whipped eggs to rise. Also, using butter on the pan is not recommended because the cake pulls away from the sides and ends up mis-shappen. The cake is supposed to be soft and fluffy normally. Did you have a chance to watch the video to see if you may have missed a step or beat your eggs long enough? I hope that helps!
Hello there!~ Your recipe looks absolutely yummy, and I’m hoping to use it for cakes for my little sister’s and dad’s birthdays.
I do have a question for you: does the cake rise very much? I’m using a different sized cake pan–a deeper, 6 inch pan that I got from Japan, intended to be cut in half to get the layers rather than layering multiple cakes. Would I fill it up about halfway? Or a little bit more?
Hi Haley, I haven’t tried this in a 6-inch pan so I’m not sure how high up the sides it would go – it’s hard to guess without seeing it first. I think it could work divided into two 6-inch pans to bake if the pans have tall walls. The pans in the photo are 9″ pans so you would have substantially taller cake layers. If you test it, let me know how it goes 🙂 You also may need to bake longer since it will be a taller and thicker cake.
A great video – but for those of us in the UK who don’t use the cup measurements, could we have the weight of the ingredients please?
Hi Susan, the next time I make this cake, I will try to remember to add the weight measurements. 🙂
Thank you!
Hi Natasha,
I loved this recipe, which tastes just like the cakes my (Ukrainian) mom used to make! I’ve never really liked “American” cakes (too sweet and heavy), so I’m thinking of using this for my daughter’s birthday cake. She wants a 6-layer rainbow cake. Do you think the layers would be too thin if I divided this into 6 pans? I’m worried that a double recipe would be ridiculously tall! Maybe a 1.5x recipe?
I think it would be too difficult to try and slice it into six layers. I would probably do 1.5 times the recipe, divided into three pans and then slice each in half. Happy birthday to your daughter!
Hello Natasha,
When I took the cakes out of the oven it slightly deflated toward the center of the cake. Do you know why this would happen , I’ve made this cake before and that didn’t happen. Do you think it’s from over baking it?
Thank you
Hi Gina, how long did you bake it for? Also, did you make sure not to grease the sides of the pan which can cause the cake to pull away from the sides and rise unevenly.
Natasha,
I might have taken it out 5 min late, not too long. I did not grease the sides, only used the parchment paper for the bottom of the pan. Do you think I over mixed the batter, I’m just trying to figure out what I did wrong.
I don’t think it’s possible to overmix this batter, but under-mixing is a more likely culprit. Over-baking might cause it to sink a little but not much.
Natasha,
Then, maybe I did under-mix it, I was being careful not to over mix it because I thought it would deflate if I over mixed the batter. Okay, I’ll try it again and see how it goes.
Thank you so much for the quick reply
Hi Gina, I should clarify. I meant in the stage where you are beating the eggs with sugar – that part isn’t really possible to overmix but you can undermix it which would cause it to go flat since the cake relies on the volume of the eggs for leavening. Once you add the flour in, that is where you don’t want to overmix or you could deflate the batter. Just fold until all of the flour is fully incorporated and no more streaks of flour remain. I hope that makes sense 🙂
Yes, completely makes sense . That’s the stage I might I over-mixed! Thank you for taking the time to answer all my questions! I’ll give it another shot !👌🏻
I meant to give you 5 rating ! I think you are wonderful!😊
You’re so nice! Thanks Gina 🙂
Thanks so much for your reply! I need to bake each layer separately, since each will be a different color (to make the rainbow). Do you think it will rise properly if I make a 1.5 recipe, divided into 6 pans (no slicing)?
That’s a great question but I really haven’t tested it that way to say if it would work or not. If you try it out, let me know how it works out. I’m also really curious about how this cake takes on food coloring.
Natasha, you are simply superb and such nice guidance is given by you to bake the cakes. I always have a problem with the Heavy cream which does come fluffy as shown by you. Instead can I use butter + cream cheese and sugar. Please advise.
Hi Suchi, are you using heavy whipping cream rather than just whipping cream? Also, are you whipping it until it has stiff peaks and it’s fluffy and spreadable. You want to go beyond soft peaks otherwise your frosting will be soft. Also, is it very warm and humid where you are?
Hi Natasha,
Thank you very much for sharing this easy and with common ingredients. The cake that I made turned out great, but it was a little dry. My oven is convection one. Do you think that it was the problem. I was wondering if you could give me advice.
Thanks again,
Carol
Hi Carol,
If you are using a convection oven, the cake should bake faster. You might take it out of the oven a little sooner. I have only baked the cake on a regular bake setting with a conventional oven, so I can’t really give you specific baking times for that. Also, the sponge is not very moist by itself. It is meant to be soaked with a syrup or fruit purée to add moisture. I hope you get some good inspiration from the cake recipes that I posted above. I hope that helps!
Natasha, your video is very helpful! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’ve made it twice already but both times my cake fell in the middle (and yes, I baked it through all the way, it fell while still in the oven after puffing up nice and tall). The cakes I made with it turned out very yummy though :). I’m an experienced baker but we live at 4400 ft (as opposed to 2700-ish where you are) and I was wondering if I needed to add more flour to the recipe to make it not fall in the middle (I’ve had to do that with many other cake/muffin recipes). Any ideas? I would really love to perfect this recipe as it is amazing and works for so many delicious cakes :).
I think elevation might be the culprit. You will have to experiment but from what I know about high elevation baking, I would first try increasing the flour by 1 Tbsp and maybe the temp by 25 degrees. I hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you, I’ll have to try that!
Natasha you’re just amazing and i love all your recipes specially the sweet ones.. But i see that you didn’t use vanilla when you made the sponge cake.. Doesn’t that make it smell like eggs ?! And one more question please.. If it happens that i don’t have vanilla for recipes that contain eggs or just need vanilla , is there something else that i can use instead ? Thanx in advance xoxo
Hi Sarah, Thank you for the wonderful compliment :). I go back and forth with the vanilla. I don’t really notice a difference in the cake when adding it, especially when there is a syrup that goes on the cake which flavors the cake. If you like, you can add 1/2 tsp or even 1 tsp of vanilla to the batter.
My niece is currently obsessed with making cupcakes. Do you think this recipe would work as cupcakes for us to bake together?
Hi Alaena, I wouldn’t recommend using this base for cupcakes. Since it has no fat in it, it can really get stuck to cupcake liners and make it it difficult to pry off. Have you explored my other cupcake recipes?
Can I use this sponge cake for a boston cream pie recipe? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jenny, yes I think that would work well. 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if I was to put the entire cake batter into a 8″ pan. How long would it have to bake for? Thanks.
Since the cakes will be taller and thicker, I would probably bake for 28 to 30 minutes.