This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
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 doubled the recipe to make my Christmas trifles. I’m not a baker at heart, and this recipe would have been a big flat hard fail if it wasn’t for your instruction to beat until the figure 8 shape doesn’t sink into the batter. I was beating for 35 minutes on my hand mixer, tendinous task but end result was light fluffy sponge, much healthier and fresher than the store brought sponge. Don’t know if it will be my go to recipe until I get a stand mixer, or my children get old enough to do it for me. Whichever comes first, Thank you. Excited to try some of your other recipes.
You’re welcome, so glad you liked it! I hope you’ll enjoy all the recipes that you will try.
Everytime I make anything from your blog it’s a big hit! So not surprised this cake was also a huge hit. Made a tres leches cake for my daughter’s bday. I made 3 8 inch layers that turned out perfect! The cake soaked up milk beautifully and stacked perfect with stabilized whipped cream peaches and berries. It is so light and not to sweet! Everyone gobbled it up. This recipe is a keeper (like all your recipes! Do you have a cookbook?) Thank you for showing us that cooking and baking can be easy and delicious
Hi Lorie! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I’m so glad you love my recipes. My first cookbook will be released in Fall of 2023! 🙂
Hi Lorie. How did you adjust baking time/temperate to use this recipe for 3 8-inch layers?
Thanks!
Hello, I have to say that I love this recipe. However, I am trying to color the batter this time. Do you have any tips/recommendation on how to do it without over-mixing or deflating the cake? Thank you!
Hi Stephanie! You can add this at the last minute (or so) of beating your eggs. This way you don’t have to worry about deflating the batter.
Hi Natasha,
Can I use 1 cup of cake flour instead of 1 cup of all purpose flour in this sponge cake recepie.
Thanks!
Hi Rubina, I have made it with cake flour and substituted it with an equal amount of cake flour.
Can I make this sponge cake as a 1 whole cake? Can I add a tsp of vanilla extract to this cake?
Hi Maria! That should be fine but you’ll have to experiment with the size of pan and the baking time.
I made this exact recipe as the base of a tres leches cake a few weeks ago and used a 13” round cake pan. It came out perfect!
Hi Natasha, thank you for this great and easy recipe, I just made it on a 13 x 9 disposable aluminum pan and turned out great baked at 350 F on regular oven per recipe, no changes, for 25 minutes.
Great! Thank you for sharing, Ana!
Looks delicious. How would you store this cake? Could this be made in advance?
Hi Maureen, 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 in an air-tight container or wrapped in saran wrap. You can also wrap it and freeze it for up to 3 months. If you frost the cake, then cover it and refrigerate it. Allow it to come to room temperature before you serve it. I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Natasha, there isn’t a recipe of yours ive tried yet that I haven’t adored. Another simple, great recipe to share with my fam and friends! You’re awesome !
-Em
Alberta, Canada.
Thank you so much, Em! I’m so glad you love my recipes.
Can this be done in 8″ pans?
It looks absolutely delicious and simple. Thank you!!
Hi Sarah, one of my readers mentioned using a 8-inch pan, and the cake overflowed. If your pan is tall enough that may work though. I hope it all works out!
Can you use 3 7 inch pans with the amount of batter here or would you need to double it to fill the pans accordingly?
Hi Crystal. I have not tested the different pan sizes to see how much batter you’d need for each but I think this batter would be a little short of 3- 7” pans. You may find this article on cake pan size conversions helpful.
I made this cake in 3 8 inch pans and didn’t double or anything. The cakes rose to about 3/4 high which I thought was perfect height for a 3 layer cake. I used stabilized whipped cream pretty thick between layers so the cake was pretty high. I dont remember how long it took..I think it was about 5 minutes less. I had the oven light on and just kept peaking through the glass for browning.
My cake keeps sinking in the middle while baking I’ve tried making it twice now. I use a conventional oven could that be the reason?
Hi Marlene, it might be due to under-beating the eggs and sugar. Try beating a few minutes longer nad see if that solves the issue. Also, do not grease the sides of the pan. The cake sticks to the sides and rises better when you don’t grease it.
Hi Natasha
I love your website and I have been following you for years. I have made this cake numerous times with much success. How would I make the cake into a mocha cake? How much cocoa and how much coffee to the batter? Could you suggest what I should do.
Thank you for that wonderful compliment! I haven’t really tested a chocolate sponge to advise. I do have a chocolate cake recipe here too if you would like to try.
I made this cake earlier. It’s a good tasting cake however my first bite of the cake tasted eggy like I was eating scramble eggs, after the taste went away it was good. But do you know why the cake tasted eggy ?
Hi Marisol. 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. Also, be sure to use fresh eggs. Some people are more sensitive to eggs so you can also try to mask the egg flavor with a little vanilla or lemon extract in the cake batter next time. I hope that helps.
My cake came out spongy and soft but had. Granular texture,did I do something wrong
Hi Matthew. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe? I would look over my process to see if you missed any steps. It’s important to get thick and fluffy egg whites and be sure to measure your ingredients correctly. I hope that helps.
If I’ll be making this cake in a 13×9 inch pan, when should I start checking the cake for doneness?
Hi Tracy! I have not tested this in a 9×13” pan to advise. You’ll have to keep an eye on it.
HI there! Will this recipe work in two 8inch, 3inches high, baking pans?
Hi Tee, one of my readers mentioned using a 8-inch pan, and the cake overflowed. If your pan is tall enough that may work though. I hope it all works out!
I made this cake today for the first time and it’s absolutely delicious! It’s going to be my go to sponge for all my cakes.
So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂 Thank you
If I cut the recipe in half do you have any tips? I tried this previously but I baked too long so I wa state t to try to 1/2 the recipe. Thank you
Hi Cindy! Did you use a smaller pan? If you are decreasing the batter then a smaller pan would work better. You’ll have to do the “toothpick” test to see when it’s done. I have not tested this in half to see how long it would take to bake.
I tested this at half because I needed to make a lot of sponges and 15 minutes was a perfect baking time for 9 inch pan. I used this recipe to make rainbow cake. It came out so good! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Svetlana! Thanks for sharing that with us. I’m so happy it turned out. 🙂
Just made this cake ….it was rising nicely then all of a sudden it was sunken seems to be stuck on the sides too.where have i gone wrong?
I hope i am able to salvage it with a ur lemoncurd as a filling in between!
Hi Catherine, a sticky cake (stuck to the sides) 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 will be sticky, deflate, and 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.
Fantastic, I’ve found half makes a prefect single 12″ spring form pan for a nice thin cake with a boiled fruit toping. I just came back to double check before starting on for a baked Alaska.
Thank you for sharing, Onna! 🙂