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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 just made these sponge cakes and they turned out beautiful. I am going to put ice cream between them and ice with whipped topping for our ice cream night at church tomorrow night. Thank you. Love your recipes.
You’re welcome Cindy! That sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your great review!
Nice little recipe and I am happy with how well they turned out. I made them at dinner time to serve with some fresh picked strawberries, rhubarb syrup and ice cream. Tasty.
Yum, that sounds delicious! I’m happy to hear you love the recipe, thanks for sharing your great review Lesley!
You’re welcome Natasha. My mum used to whip up a sponge cake on a moments notice and split, fill with a nice jam and top with whipped cream. A British standby.
Mmm that sounds simple and absolutely wonderful! I do love that this cake is also freezer friendly so it is wonderful to have it in the freezer at the ready 🙂
Hi… im planning to try this out and use 7 in round pan at 6 inch height and 8 by 6 height.. how can i adjuat the recipe?
Also, can i use thia as a base in making fondant cakes?
Thanks
Hi Nikka, I think that would work if it is a taller pan. You may just need to bake the layers a little longer since the cake layers will be taller in a narrower pan. I can’t say exactly without testing it myself but I’m guessing closer to 30 minutes of baking time at the same temperature.
Hi Natasha, I like how your cake layers come out even on the top. Is there any tip or secret to that? Whenever I baked some kind of pie, or cake, even sponge cake, usually it would come out domed-shaped for some reason.
Hi Alena, the trick for me has been to not grease the pan and make sure to beat the eggs and sugar long enough.
Without oil or butter, won’t it stick to the sides? Is it ok to use flour spray instead of parchment?
Hi Rob, it will stick to the sides and that is normal. You use a thin spatula or knife to run around the edges and release it from the pan. If you grease the sides, the cake will still bake but it will pull away from the edges and the shape won’t be a perfect cake round – it caves slightly in the center and the edges are not perfectly straight if you grease the sides.
Thanks! I’m going to try this weekend! 🙂
Hi Natasha, how much eggs and rest ingredients would you suggest if make 10″? Thank you!
Hi Katie, for a 10″ cake, you might try 7 or 8 eggs and increase everything proportionally, using 1 full tsp of baking powder (it won’t hurt if the baking powder isn’t exactly proportional). I hope that helps! 🙂
Love this sponge cake recipe, comes out perfect every time! So far I’ve made it in a 6″, 9″, and 10″ pans , adjusting baking time and ingredients. Thank you 🙂
You’re welcome Tanya! I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review 🙂
Hi! How long ahead can you make the cake before decorating? I’m thinking of adding whipping cream and fruits to it.
Can you refrigerate it before decorating if making it ahead?
Hi Rosy, the cake base can be baked a day ahead. Let it cool to room temp then cover loosely with a plastic bag and let sit at room temperature. You can also freeze the cake layers up to 3 months (just make sure not to place anything on top of them in the freezer and cover fully.
Thank you soooo much for sharing this amazing recipe-made sponge cake for the first time ever for my husband’s birthday and it turned out perfect!
You’re welcome Ann! I’m glad you love the recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review 🙂
Hi,
My oven is only convection ? Should I not try this recipe?
Hi Michelle, I haven’t tested it in a convection oven but I do recall at least 1 reader reporting un-even rising with a convection oven.
Hey Natasha! I am wanting to make mini sponge cakes. Think this will work in a muffin tin? How would that affect the baking time? Any help would be appreciated!
Hi Tanya, I have tested it and it sticks badly to the tin and to the liners if using liners. Since this cake doesn’t have any oil or butter in the batter, it’s not ideal for the muffin tin.
I see. I’ll maybe just cut out smallish cakes after making the regular size. Need a small cake for baby’s first smash cake. Thanks for the super quick reply!
Of course Tanya!
Just made this recipe….and perfection. Thanks for all the helpful tips, I’d never made a sponge cake before and I used a hand blender, but it still turned out perfectly.
My pleasure! I’m happy to hear you love the recipe Effie! Thanks for sharing!
Dear Natasha,
I unfortunately do not have a cake mixer at home but really wants to bake a cake for a surprise for my mum. Is using a hand to beat the eggs okay？
You can use an electric mixer but beat the batter few minutes longer on a high-speed since a stand mixer is more efficient.
You can use a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer. That works equally well.
Hi Natasha, cake made with all-purpose flour is quite coarse. Can we use same quantity of cake flour instead?
Hi Steve, the normal consistency of this cake is supposed to be fluffy and soft – I wonder if you needed to beat the eggs and sugar a little longer – that is usually the main cause. I have made it with cake flour and it does work well if you prefer to use cake flour 🙂
I made this cake on 5/29/2017, little flat but tasty. I layer lemon pudding between the layers and drizzle with a lemon glaze.
Hi Von, thank you for sharing. A layer of lemon pudding sounds great. I’ve never tried that!
Can I make the sponge cake a few days in Advance ??
Hi Galina, yes, it sits at room temperature overnight well. I would refrigerate if you want to prep it for more than 1 day ahead. You can also loosely wrap it and freeze up to 3 months.
Hi Natasha! Love love your blog! Quick question, I’ve tried baking the sponge cake but it always turn out deflated in the middle, so frustrating. Any idea why and what should I do?? Thanks in advance!
Hi Ben, is there anything you did differently from the recipe? Did you use a high powered stand mixer with whisk attachment, beating for the recommended time? The most important thing with this cake is to make sure you beat the eggs and sugar long enough since the cake relies on the volume of the eggs for leavening. Also, did you make sure not to grease your pans? And were you baking in a regular conventional oven?
Thank you for your reply! Hmmmmm, I followed every step and didn’t miss any of it. Used stand mixer at speed 10. Didn’t grease the pans too…I used conventional mode on my oven. While baking for 10 mins, it was so pretty and rose well. After 15 min it deflated. And after cooking it down, the surface turns super sticky! I’m so bumped. But not gonna give up. Will be trying again later.
Hi Ben, I’ll do my best to troubleshoot – do you live in a high altitude area? I wonder if that would affect baking temp/time on this one. Also, are you in a high humidity area? The top normally doesn’t turn sticky so I’m not sure why else that would be…
Very sweet of you, yes I’m in malaysia and weather can be ridiculously hot sometimes. I’ve tried one more time today, it came out not as deflated as before but still not even. I too dunno what’s wrong. Recipe is easy to follow. 😔
First time making a sponge cake. I subbed whole wheat spelt flour and used a hand mixer. It is really delicious – I’d say I prefer this over angel food’s cake!
That’s great Claire! I’m so glad you like it!
Why no salt added with the flour and baking powder?
Hi Shanna, this cake traditionally does not have salt in it. It is very simple and is typically flavored with syrups, purees or creams after it is baked.
Hi Natasha, I only have a 4.5 quart stand mixer. Can I make it in my stand mixer?
This cake should still work fine in a 4 1/2 quart mixer. Mine is a 6 quart, but there’s definitely room to spare in the bowl.
I would like to try this sponge mixture. You state not to use a fan oven. My oven has a fan in it. Does that mean I should not try this recipe?
Hi Carol, a fan oven is fine as long as you have it set to the regular bake mode and not the convection setting. A convection setting bakes faster and the cake may not form properly.
Thanks for your reply Natasha. I am still a little confused as my oven is a fan forced oven. How will that go, will it work or not. Thank you
Carol
I don’t have any experience with a “forced oven” fan to be honest. Have you looked online to see if modifications need to be made for baking? I think it’s definitely worth an experiment.
I will try it. I do know that recipes I have for cakes do say to use about 10deg less if you have a fan forced oven. So maybe I will do that. Will let you know result..
Thanks, Carol..
Please do Carol!
I did have a go at your sponge recipe but with the temperature a little less. At least they looked like lovely sponges but the texture was very course. I will look forward to more recipes to try also.
Hi Carol, I’m not sure what you mean about the temperature. Did you bake at a lower oven setting? I haven’t tested it that way so I can’t really say how that would work. I’ve always baked it at 350°F. Also, for this cake to be fluffy and soft and rise properly, it is critically important to beat the eggs and sugar long enough and at high enough speed. If using your handmixer instead of a stand mixer, you will want to be a couple minutes longer since the handmixer is not as effective in whipping air into the mixture. I sure hope that helps for next time!
Hi Natasha, I think this post answers Ben Li questions on why his cake deflates in the middle. He used convectional mode when this post states to ‘not use convection setting’.
Thank you!! Yes you are absolutely right! This cake works best in a conventional oven.