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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 have 2 8 in round cake pan how long do u think this will be for the oven?
Hi Korina, I have only tested this in a 9-inch pan to advise. I recommend checking it for doneness closer to the end of the bake time listed.
Would I be able to make this into a chocolate sponge cake ?
Hi Cris, I recommend reading through a few of the comments for a chocolate version, several of our readers have commented with that. To make a chocolate sponge cake, you basically substitute some of the flour with cocoa. So you could try 1/4 cup sifted cocoa and 3/4 cup flour and sift them together before folding them into the batter.
Made this in the strawberry version for my step daughters 17th birthday. It was out of this world. Thank you times a million! Your recipes are always wonderful.
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Made this for my step daughters 17th birthday and everyone was blown away! We were sick of store bought cakes that we’re overly sweet ! Made this And it was a huge hit. Wish I could share a pic. It was beautiful and so tasty. Thank you Natasha . Your recipes never disappoint !!
That’s just awesome Nisreen! Thank you for that great review!
Hi Natasha
If we have medium size of eggs we should add another one or not?
Would you please tell me the wight of each egg?
You should be ok with med-large eggs however, always trust your gut!
Is there any way to make this with less sugar? Or modify with something like lemon juice w/o deflating it? My husband liked it but I found it too sweet.
Also pro tip for readers, for quick room temp eggs, leave your eggs in a bathwater-warm bowl of water for 10 mins.
This ratio of eggs to sugar is pretty standard for this classic European sponge cake and for a 2-layer cake is a fair amount of sugar. Most of our cakes are not overly sweet but I guess it depends on taste preference. I haven’t tried this cake with less sugar since this cake does rely on the volume of eggs and sugar to rise but we think it is not too sweet several of our readers have commented it is a perfect balance.
i was hoping to put them in ramekins, how long would i put them in the oven for?
Hi, I have not tested this recipe in ramekins but here is what one of our readers wrote: “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!” I hope that is helpful!
I love the simplicity of this recipe. However, I have 8” pans. What changes in temperature and/or baking time should I make.
Hi Rose, I haven’t tested this in an 8″ pan. I’m thinking it will fit but I also don’t want to lead you astray without testing it myself.
Hi Natasha… the recipe looks so yummy! I am going to be making this soon for a friend. But I wonder if this cake will taste too eggy with a lot of eggs. My friend doesn’t like cakes where the taste of eggs pops out distinctly. Please let me know!
Hi Gayu, I haven’t had that experience to advise. I do recommend reading through comments also to check on reader feedback.
Can you bake this on a cookie sheet?
Hi Melissa, 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 Natasha!
Love this recipe but I always have issues with it for some reason.
1- the cake deflates and comes off the sides right after I take it out of the oven. Even tho I’m following every step.
2- Additionally, I notice its VERY sticky. I have tried baking for longer but it doesn’t work – its sticky to the touch but cooked completely, any idea why?
3- The two points above make it very difficult to cut the cakes into layers, i have crumbs everywhere. How do I prevent this?
Thank you!
Hi, a very sticky cake is usually due to under beating the eggs and sugar. Since the cake relies on the volume of the egg and sugar to rise, that step is critically important. If the cake doesn’t rise properly, it would be sticky, can deflate, and be difficult to cut since it’s more moist and flat. I highly recommend watching the video tutorial above to see where things started to look different.
Hi, can use both baking powder and baking soda,butter and milk
Hi, that would be a different cake.
Hi Natasha. I’m trying to bake this cake & I really want to bake it looks soo pretty. But the flour lumps keep forming when I add it, and when I mix it too much I risk deflation. What am I doing wrong…. please advice
Hi Neeti, it may be the type of flour. I do recommend sifting it in if you keep experiencing this.
Can I add food coloring to this sponge cake?? If I can, at what step would I add it? Thank you
Hi Yana, I haven’t tried adding food coloring but it should be ok as long as you don’t overmix after adding it so you don’t deflate your batter.
I made with my friends cake pan; worked perfectly. Just made again with my new pans supposed to be non stick- did not work. If you aren’t sure grease & flour pan to avoid my problem. Cake is delicious!!
Thank you so much for sharing that with us! I’m happy you enjoyed that!
Hi
I made the cake, the tast was delicious.
I have a question, if I want to make cake just with one pan that is 23,24 cm I should use half of Ingredient?
And if I want to use pan with 20 cm how many eggs I should use? Also about the other Ingredient?
Thanks
HI Eli, I haven’t tested it that way so you would have to experiment.
Can I bake this in a single 9x3in pan? Or should I half the recipe and make it twice? Thanks! My oven only fits one pan.
Hi, I baked this in a single springform pan when we made our original coffee cake. It works, but you will have more even and an overall taller cake baking them separately. This batter does not do well sitting out so it’s best to make and bake it right away.
My cakes keep sinking, and I do not know why. I have lowered the over temp. and I have tried to keep my family quite when the cake is in the oven. I am out of ideas so what should I do? However, the cake taste great everytime.
Hi Isa, 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.
Hi, I was just wondering why the grams for the sugar and flour were different even though they are both one cup. I made it once with equal measurements because I did not notice the different grams and it was still amazing.
Thank you!
Best Sponge Cake ever!
Hi Milly! That’s a great question! Although the recipe calls for one cup of both the sugar and flour, one cup of sugar will be heavier than one cup of flour. I hope that helps. Also, here’s a post we did on measuring that can better explain this.
Hi there, can I make this 1-2 days ahead and wrap in foil until frosting? And should I sizzle with syrup before frosting ? Thank you
Hi Vicki, I would cover and refrigerate for 2 days. They keep really well in the refrigerator. You can freeze them for longer.
Hi, I was just wondering why the grams for the sugar and flour were different even though they are both one cup. I made it once with equal measurements because I did not notice the different grams and it was still amazing.
Thank you!
Hi Kimmy, 1 cup of sugar will weigh more than 1 cup of flour. The grams are a weight measurement.
Love your recipes and tips. my sponge cake always gets heavy and dense. I’m new in baking.
Now i’ll try this.
Hi Asma, I hope you love this recipe! I do recommend reading through all of our tips and tricks! Also, this post on measuring is super helpful.
Tried it today.
Doubled all ingredients. Came out great!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!