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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
Question 2 Natasha,
Would I be able to bake these in a Large Muffin Tin with Muffin liners? Looking at an efficient way to serve Strawberry Shortcake in a Buffet-Line group setting.
Thank you
Hi Joanne, these would stick badly to liners since there is no butter or oil in the recipe.
Hello Natasha,
Would I be able to substitute 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour to create this marvelous Sponge Cake?
Thank you!
Hi Joanne, I haven’t tested that but I have had a couple of readers report good results using gluten free flour with this cake.
Hi Natasha, what’s the height of 9” cake pan. There are only 6 eggs in this recipe. Why do we need 9 eggs for black forest cake? Thank.
HI Donna, it is a standard cake pan. I have a link to the pan I use in my Amazon shop. The Black Forest cake is a completely different cake and recipe.
I have made this recipe before and it’s great. Love your recipes. I was wondering if I can reduce the sugar by more than half and add some banana pure to it, without sabotaging the spongy texture?
Hi Ania, I’m so happy you’re enjoying my recipes. I honestly haven’t tried this recipe with half the sugar. This cake relies on the sugar and eggs for the volume. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Hi Natasha
Just wanted to say that this is the 3rd time I am making your recipe and I know its going to be a huge hit again!! Caramel in the middle and covered in freshly whipped cream with a chocolate sprinkle. I dont usually bake as I more a cook but this is soooo simple and comes out great each time. thanks for sharing 🙂
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Andrew!
Hi Natasha,
I’ve tried your recipe 3 times for the genoise cake. Each time DURING baking, the cake sinks no matter what I do. I don’t get it. What should I do?
Hi Jerry, 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.
I used this to make my daughters birthday cake. She wanted a tiramisu cake so I used both your recipes to make the cake. Added a layer of ladyfingers in the middle for texture. It was a huge hit. Absolutely the best cake I ever made. Thank you 😊
Sounds wonderful! I hope I can see a pic of it, I’m glad it turned out great and that everyone loved the cake.
This recipe sounds easy. Just wondering, Can your sponge cake be successfully baked in a Bundt pan?
I want to frost it with rum flavoured whipped cream.
Thanks
Hi Betty, I haven’t tried this in a bundt pan but I imagine it would be very difficult to get it out of a bundt pan as this cake!
Hi Natasha,
Absolutely love your cake recipes!! Have baked the vanilla sponge( with 4 ingredients) several times using different shape/ size mounds. The sponge comes out great but it’s always split horizontally. What could be the reason for that? How is it avoidable?
Thanks
Hi Sunita! I’m so happy you’re loving our recipes! I haven’t had any experience with this cake cracking. Was anything altered in this recipe to help better pinpoint what caused the cake to crack?
Truly the easiest and best sponge cake recipe I’ve come across. Beating the eggs and sugar for 10 minutes seems like a long time but that’s what gets the consistency right!
I’m so glad you loved it!
Cake was dense and eggy. Followed the recipe and not sure why this happened
Hi J, this is 99% of the time because of under-beating the eggs and sugar. Watch the video to see the thick texture of the whipped eggs and sugar to get an idea of what that should look like before baking. The cake relies on that volume to rise properly.
Hi there. I made a similar recipe, but made the mistake of deflating the batter. I’m anxious to try yours! I’m curious as to the reason you do not grease the sides?
Hi Chris, greasing the pan won’t help much to get the cake to release, it can adversely affect the rise though by greasing the pan – the batter may pull away from the sides and not rise as evenly. That has been my experience.
Three small spring forms are still in the oven! I knew right away it’s a great recipe after 5 minutes of baking! 😃. Didn’t expect them to rise so much though.
After reading a few recipes, I’m so glad that I’ve chosen yours!
Thank you so much!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Tina! I bet your home smells AMAZING right now!
Just wanted to say how much I love this sponge base, so versatile. Thanks.
Hi Erica, you are most welcome. Merry Christmas!
Hi Natasha,
Can I make just one cake by cutting the recipe into half and
how much time it will need to bake in the oven?
Thanks
Veena
Hi Veena, it should still take about the same amount of time since you will bake one pan.
hey dear Natasha! I would love to have frosting recipe for that sponge cake!
Hi Sara, I recommend looking through the recipe post; we share all the cakes we use this base for, including frosting! I hope you love this recipe!
I have a 9 x 3 inch pan. Would this work on that? Also what kind of icing would be good on this?
Hi Priya, do you mean like a springform pan? I have done it in a springform pan and then cut it as we did in our Coffee Cake here.
Thank you for the excellent recipe! A light airy sponge that soaks up flavor well.
I’ve made this three times in the past 10 days (one to test the recipe, one to adjust bake time and try a different filling, and one to take for Thanksgiving gathering).
I used two heavyweight aluminum rounds in a convection oven at 350 and needed to reduce the cook time to 18 minutes. Each of the rounds cut in half made a great four layer cake. Apricot preserves, candied orange peel, vanilla buttercream, and Gran Gala orange liqueur made a delicious cake that was loved by all. (though the homemade raspberry jam, vanilla buttercream, and chambourd drizzle was also a good way to go)
You’re welcome! Great to hear that you enjoyed this recipe. Thank you for the review!
Hi Natasha, I love this sponge cake, so easy and so yummy. I use it for all my cakes.
My niece wants me to make a cake for her birthday, but I need to be bigger size. My question is if I use a bigger pan do I have to double the ingredients? Can you help me please? And also about the temperature and time of cooking.
Thank you so much!!!!! God Bless you and your family!!!
Hi Cristina, I haven’t tried doubling it myself but I bet that could work. Depending on your pan size and how much you’re trying to make will vary. I hope you love this recipe!
Do you think substituting pistachio flour would still work for this cake? I recently tried making the Le Gateau Vert cake from the Great British bake off, and it barely rose at all! I separated the yolks from whites and whisked separately, folded them in together, still a pretty flat cake. Some people said you don’t need to separate the yolks and whites, some people do, I wasn’t sure! Your recipe is much easier and the cakes look beautiful!, I thought to myself maybe I could just sub out the flour with pistachio flour and go for it?
Hi Jessica, I wish I could advise on that, but I honestly haven’t tried pistachio flour myself. Baking is such a science, and I imagine there would need to be several adjustments. I took a peek through the comments, and I’m not seeing our readers mention that adjustment.