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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 Natasha,
I would love to try your recipe. There are so many lovely comments about. However, I seldom use granulated sugar. Can I substitute the granulated with brown sugar? If so, how much should I use?
Hi, I haven’t tried this with brown sugar so I’m not sure if it would incorporate the same way.
After trying another sponge recipe twice that resulted in less
Than optimal
Results I tried yours
And it’s perfect! Many thanks for posting it. It Has come
Out beautifully- however personally I find it a bit on the sweeter side. May I reduce the sugar and have the same beautiful result? Have you tried reducing sugar?
Xx from Cape Town, South Africa
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! So great that worked for you! 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.
Made your recipe. Love it. Quick and super easy perfect first try. Definitely in my flip file for best sponge cake. Thanks Nat
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi Natasha,
If I want to make this a chocolate cake, how much cocoa powder I have to add?
I haven’t really tested that to advise. I do have a chocolate cake recipe here too if you would like to try.
Hi what’s the best sponge cake to make mini cakes for icing for a wedding
Hi Bernadette, are your mini cakes the size of a cupcake or muffin? We’ve had readers use this recipe for cake sizes anywhere from 6″ to 10″. If you are looking for a mini cake – cupcake size, I would try this cupcake recipe HERE.
Hi Natasha,
I would like to try the sponge cake recipe that you have shared. However my oven isn’t conventional. I only have fan-forced bake as an option. Could you advise what temperature to bake on and for how long?
Thanx
Hi Nirish, do you mean that you can only bake in a convection mode? I haven’t tested this in a convection oven but typically, you would either reduce the temperature by about 25°F or shortening the time 10 to 15%.
Hi, Natasha! May I use this recipe to make your tres leches cake? Thank you so much!
Hi Rei, I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work since it is a sponge. I would highly recommend either of our tres leches cakes.
Hi just wondering would this be enough for 3 7inch cakes
Hi Jenna, I haven’t tested it that way, but I think it could work well and is worth testing.
I made this cake several times with different flavors and every time it tasted amazing.Thank you so much.
But everytime i am having trouble in making layers.my cake is too soft and it crumbles while layering. What i am doing wrong? Can you help me pleae.
Hi Ramya, I don’t typically try to cut this cake into smaller layers since it is very soft. You might try baking it in 4 pans instead or divide it into 3 pans to avoid having to cut it.
Correct me if i am wrong..
I saw in some recipes of you using the same sponge cake and making layers like strawberry cake ,black forest cake ?
Am I confusing?
Hi Ramya, yes that is correct. I use this sponge cake for many different cakes. Some of them are listed in this post and you can also search “sponge cake” in the search bar on my blog and find more.
Yes.but you made layers in that right?but I am not able to cut the layers like you..my cake is too soft and crumbly while layering.
What i am doing wrong?
Hi Ramya, be sure to wait for it to fully cool before slicing and also use a sharp serrated knife which helps to divide cake layers.
Natasha, how should I adjust the amount of ingredients if I was using 8-inch cake pans?
Hi Janice, that might still work if the walls are fairly tall- you will have to make a judgement call based on what my cake looks like in a 9″ pan and how high it comes up on the walls of the pan. If the walls of the pans are shorter, it would be a good idea to scale the recipe down.
My genoise turned out perfectly! Thank you for sharing your recipe! How would we alter it to make a chocolate genoise?
Hi Abby, 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.
Are you able to use cake flour for this recipe?
Hi Alex, 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.
this was the best cake I’ve ever tasted in my life. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Bob, I’m so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review!
Dear Natasha
This was such a simple yet GREAT tasting cake. It will become my all-time recipe😊😋.
THANK YOU <3
I’m happy to hear that! Thanks for your awesome feedback.
The taste is perfect but it’s dry. How can i make it super moist?
Thanks for your feedback. 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.
Can I make this cake 1 day in advance without the added frosting? (Will I keep its consistency)
Also will it hold up overnight frosted (i.e. strawberry cake) for the following morning?
Hi Maryann, Yes, you can make the cake base ahead of time and store it either in the fridge or at room temperature for a day or 2 or wrap and freeze up to 3 months. You do not need to cut the top or sides for this case. If you frost it, then yes, store it in the fridge.
This was super easy and fast and delicious. It seemed sticky after I peeled the parchment paper off but with a little Irish whiskey drizzled on it, I had the perfect trifle base cake. People at Christmas raved about my trifle!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Lin!
I found this very easy to make.
I usually have a shop sponge cake which I didn’t get this time, and was needing to make my Christmas Trifle. Made your recipe on Christmas eve just perfect time.
I’m so glad that worked perfectly! Thank you for that wonderful review!
I just tried this and it came out great! I’ve only ever heard of a Genoise Sponge from the GBB Bake Off so, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It is not like a typical American box cake. It’s light, fluffy, and feel like a cake that needs fresh strawberries and whipped cream. It’s reminiscent of angel food cake. Thanks!
I’m so glad you loved this recipe, Kendall. That would be a great addition to this recipe, feel free to experiment and share with us how you liked it!
Hi, Natasha,
I came across a recipe similar to yours but with one addition ingredient which is Butter (2 Tbsp). what is the difference in taste and texture in your opinion?
Hi there, this cake does not require butter, I’m not sure what the difference is until I get to try that other recipe.
Hi Natasha,
I tried your recipe with 2 additions:
– 2 tbsp melted butter
– 1/2 tsp vanilla
And it came out delicious 😋
Thank you so much for sharing that with me! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Easy to make but I have to agree with other reviewers that it was too eggy. Felt like I was eating egg soufflé rather than cake. I served with strawberries and cream but that didn’t cut it.
Normally this should not taste or smell eggy. The most common reason for that would be under beating the eggs and sugar. I suggest watching the video tutorial to see if your cake looked the same and if not, try to determine where it started looking different in the process. Another reason for an eggy smell would be if the cake was cooled in an area of the outdoor draft – the same thing goes for any egg-based dessert-like meringue or egg-based cakes
Hi Natasha,
Can I add 1 tsp of Vanilla powder to the Sponge cake mix (it’s hard to find a good vanilla extract here).
Hi Ban, I haven’t tried adding powder yet to advise if it would work the same or not. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.