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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
How do I halve the recipe? please help.
What size of pan will you be using?
Hi Natasha,
I was wondering if I could make the batter ahead of time and bake the next day?
Thanks,
Nina
Hi Nina, It is bet baked right after mixing. This cake relies on the volume of the eggs and sugar and that volume will deflate as it sits.
Hi Natasha my sponge cake got deflated in the centre I did beat the egg and sugar 10 mins then folded in the flour for a min with a spatula but it still had a sunken centre . Any idea what I could have done wrong
Thank you
Hi Radhika, 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 post and watching the video to see where things started to look different.
I made this cake and used it in an English Trifle recipe and it was perfect with the soaking of Marsala and the spread of raspberry jam on the cut up pieces on it. Thank you for a great recipe!
You’re most welcome! I’m glad you enjoyed it, thanks for sharing!
Hey Natasha, i loved all of your recipes i tried so far. Now i want to make your vanilla Cupcakes and the Key lime Coconut Cake but also as Cupcakes, i´m planning on following this Recipie but not to cut the cupcakes in half, i thought of making a hole in the middle of each cupcake, putting the filling in and then close it and frost it. Do you think it will work out?
Greeting from Germany
Hi Julia, I haven’t tried that but I suspect it may stick badly to the liners. Have you tried our perfect Vanilla Cupcake Recipe before? I’d love to know how this turns out if you experiment!
Hi Natasha…
Your recipes have worked out for me….
I want to try out this sponge cake, but had a query…
Instead of two separate pans, can I use just one pan..
Would it affect the texture of the crumb…,
time taken might be longer…
Hi Sarah, if using one pan, you would need one with tall walls like a springform pan. We did that in our older Tiramsu layered cake recipe.
Natasha, you must get physically ill at having to answer the same questions about this cake every single day! You are a patient woman…
We enjoy interacting with and responding to these comments! But thank you Patricia, I appreciate the compliment!
Hi Natasha, Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes. I have made your beautiful sponge cake a few times now in my two 8″x3″ pans. i follow your instructions to the T with the figure 8, 10 second test. It cooks in 20-22 minutes as you mentioned. I have two questions for you:
1. when in the oven, the cake rises well but when it comes out, it immediately sinks creating a crater. Though the tastes is amazing, I was wondering why is that and if adding a pinch or two of cream of tartar would help?
2. I have not baked your black forest recipe yet but was wondering how the vanilla sponge cake recipe would result with the added butter (like the black forest)? If it can be added, how much would be needed? Thanks.
Much love!
Hi Naya, the main culprit of the cake sinking is often under-beating the eggs and sugar. Did you start with room temperature eggs and use a high powered stand mixer to beat together the eggs and sugar and then fold the flour in with a spatula so as not to deflate the batter? I sure hope that helps some. Let me know if I can help troubleshoot some more. This cake does not require any butter and to be honest baking it such a science I wouldn’t be able to make that recommendation with out testing it.
The first time I tried this recipe the cake turned out perfect! So in all confidence, this time I added a tsp of vanilla…and the whole thing collapsed!! Can anyone tell me why because I have made other sponge cakes before and this has never happened.
Hi Rachel, it could be due to overmixing. I haven’t had it collapse from vanilla either. Maybe someone else can share some insights?
Hi Natasha!
I am planning on making this cake but there’s no butter or oil in this recipe. Will it still taste okay without it?
Yes it tastes great without butter
Hi. Can I use cake flour rather than all purpose flour for this recipe? If so, how much more cake flour should I use? Thanks very much. Love your website.
Hi Christine, I have tried cake flour and the cake becomes very soft and airy. It depends on what kind of cake you are trying to achieve but the cake flour makes the cake too soft and light for most frostings.
I am planning on baking this in a sheet pan. How long will that take?
Hi Kina, I would suggest following the instructions from our sponge cake roll It’s not the ideal sheet cake as you do have to remove it to remove the parchment paper underneath or it would stick badly to the pan.
Hi, should I just halve the recipe if I have a 7″ cake pan. I’m only making one, so I was worried that I would end up with extra batter. Would it work if i made it taller and increased the baking time?
I haven’t tested this in an 7″ pan. I’m thinking it will fit but I also don’t want to lead you astray without testing it myself.
I halved this recipe and baked it in 6 ramekins. I served them topped with cherry pie filling and whipped cream. They were a huge hit and so simple!
So great to hear that, Diane. Thanks for your good comments!
Hi Natasha
Is it ok to add yogurt / sour cream into this cake? How should I adjust other ingredients? Thanks!
Hi Danielle, I haven’t tested that in this cake and to be honest, we don’t think it needs it. If you happen to experiment though I would love to know how you like that.
I halved this recipe, baked in 8 inch round pan and it fell during baking. Any suggestions, recommendations?
It may have needed a longer bake time being in a smaller pan.
Hi Natasha, I only have 1 cake pan. Is it possible to half the recipe? Or use the whole recipe with a longer bake time?
Hi Victoria, if using one pan, you would need one with tall walls like a springform pan. We did that in our older Tiramsu layered cake recipe.
Hie Natasha
Can i use self rising flour instead.
I honestly haven’t tried this cake with self-rising flour so I can’t say for sure how it would affect the rise. I searched all 824 comments and couldn’t find any reports of using self-rising flour. If you experiment, please let me know how it goes.
Hi Natasha, do you know which gluten free flour would work best here? I’ve made this cake several times and only once did it come out right…
Hi Sarah, I have had several readers say that this cake works well using gluten-free flour. I don’t recall if they mentioned specifically which brand of GF flour but everything else stayed the same and they were able to use gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose flour.
Have you tried this recipe with a little vanilla or almond extract?
I haven’t but others shared this “I added some vanilla extract and lemon. I also used almond flour to make it gluten free. It was delicious!”
Hi Natasha,
I did your cake and turned out to be great. Thank you! I just had one issue when I was cutting the cake, it was too crumbly. Any idea why is that ?
Hi Sirine, make sure you add a syrup – this cake is meant to be enjoyed moistened with a syrup or it can seem dry.
Hi is the quantity enough for 3 6″inch cake ?
Hi Almas, I haven’t tested this in a 6″ pan but it may work if divided into three pans.
My wife hates frosting on cakes (she scrapes it off to eat the cake without it!), so for her birthday yesterday I made your Berry Tiramisu Cake. She – and all of us at the party – loved it! Delicious without being too sweet. So refreshing after a big BBQ dinner … just outstanding. I followed your directions and tips exactly.
Thanks for yet another great recipe, Natasha!
That’s just awesome Rick! Thank you so much for sharing that with me! Happy Birthday to your wife!