Everybody needs to have a foolproof sponge cake recipe. This is my ultimate go-to recipe for birthday cakes or layered cake for a weekend treat. This is such an easy recipe, I’ve made this cake so many times, I know the recipe by heart. A friend of my mom gave her this recipe many years ago, and it still holds up as the best sponge cake recipe I’ve come across. Thanks mom’s friend.
It’s light, spongy and reliable, what more do you need?
It goes well with almost any type of frosting, as long as that too is light. It’s also great to use for cutting and building kids party cakes. You don’t need a heavy cake for that. I’ve always been adamant to the fact that cakes should not have to be either tasty OR pretty. You can and should have both, and with this recipe you’re halfway there. Its freezes really well, and because it is so light, doesn’t take very long to defrost. Sounds perfect right?
Some helpful tips:
· Make sure your eggs are room temperature
· Be extra careful when separating your yolks from whites, to not get any of the yolk in the whites, as you want to do what you can to ensure you’ll end up with stiff peaks when beating the egg whites, this will be the source if your fluffiness
· Measure out all the ingredients before starting
· It is important to level your cups and spoons when measuring your dry ingredients, don’t press the flour into the cup. Make sure you use good quality measuring cups, that are accurate
· Use a glass mixing bowl for your egg whites, as plastic bowls can sometimes retain grease from whatever was mixed in it previously and grease is not your friend when working with egg whites
· If you want to colour your cake batter, add the colouring before you fold in the egg whites
· Sif your dry ingredients… yes, I know it feels like a waste of time, and with some recipes I’m right there with you, but not this time. Sifting your dry ingredients allows you to incorporate more air into the batter, which helps get a light and fluffy end result.
· Make sure when adding your dry ingredients that you don’t over mix. Don’t keep the mixer running when adding the flour mixture. Literally add 2 tablespoons at a time, mix in short bursts and stop to add the next 2 tablespoons. This way ensures you don’t lose any of that air you just incorporated by sifting the mixture
· Bake your cake in the middle of the oven
· DO NOT peek… at the end of your baking time, you can have a peek and test if your cake is done… before that you’ll just have to hold out
· Preheat your oven. I always switch on the oven before I start mixing my ingredients together.
· The cake will rise up quite a bit, so be sure to not fill your cake tins too much.
· Don’t let the batter stand out for too long before baking
· Make sure your tins are greased thoroughly. I prefer greasing them with butter, rather than using non-stick sprays
Getting equal sized layers for your cake:
If you are not planning on frosting the outside of your cake, you want your layers to be equal in size, as they’ll be visible. This really bugs me; I like having my layers all the same size. If you know that this won’t bother you that much, you can estimate the amounts and by eye check if they seem level, or use measuring cups to scoop the batter into the tins equally.
But If you are a little bit more of a stickler as I am, this is what I do: I usually separate my mixture between three cake tins by weighing them on a kitchen scale and ensuring they are all exactly the same. If you want to do this, remember to weigh the mixing bowl your completed batter will end up in (the one you use to start by mixing the yolks and sugar) and also your cake tins beforehand. Make a note of the weights, you might think you’ll remember, but I too was this confident many a times, only to end up having to transfer the entire batter into a new mixing bowl to be able to weigh the empty bowl… don’t be like me, make the note.
My husband loves a plain vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream, but this cake is SO versatile, here are a few other ways to present it:
· Mixed berry compote spread in between the layers with whipped cream
· Caramel treat with caramelized banana and served with whipped cream
· Zesty lemon and vanilla buttercream icing
· Layer with granadilla curd and cream cheese icing
· Layer in your favorite trifle recipe
· Perfect for cupcakes
· Replace ¼ cup of the flour with cocoa powder for a light chocolate sponge
· Add ½ cup of fresh blueberries to the batter, layer with lemon curd
I hope this recipe becomes as invaluable to you as it is to me.
You will need:
- Electric mixer
- 2 large mixing bowls, of which at least 1 needs to be glass
- 2 medium mixing bowls
- Cake tins, I use three 20 x 4 cm tins, but you could also use two 23 x 5 cm tins
- Silicon scraper
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Fine mesh sieve
- Baking paper
- Kitchen scale
Vanilla sponge Cake:
Ingredients:
1 ½ c Castor sugar
5 Eggs, separated (room temperature)
½ c Sunflower oil
¾ c Warm water
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 ¾ c Cake flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
50ml Corn flour
3ml Cream of Tartar
Pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat the oven at 180°C. Grease and line your baking tins and set aside.
Separate the eggs, placing the whites in a glass mixing bowl and the yolks in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand mixer whisk together the sugar and egg yolk until fluffy and light yellow in colour. In a medium sized mixing bowl combine warm water, oil and vanilla extract. Whisk to combine and add to the egg mixture. Mix well.
Sift together all the dry ingredients, except for the cream of tartar, and gradually add to the egg mixture. Two tablespoons at a time. Whisk only enough to mix in the flour each time. Repeat until all the flour has been incorporated. Do not over mix. If you want to colour your cake batter, or add berries or lemon zest, this is the time to do so.
Add the cream of tartar to the egg whites, this helps to loosen the egg white proteins which allows them to keep their form and volume. Beat with your electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form (peaks stand straight up when the beaters are lifted). Using a large metal spoon, fold the whisked egg whites into the batter.
Equally separate your batter into your lined and greased baking tins. Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes if you’re doing two tins, or 22-25 minutes if you are doing three tins, until light golden brown. Once the time has passed, use a skewer to test if your cake is ready. If it does not come out clean, leave in for 4-5 min more, it won’t take long to cook through. When the skewer comes out clean, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for about 10min. Gently remove from the tins and transfer to a cooling rack until completely cooled. Only remove the baking paper once cooled.
Zesty Vanilla Buttercream Icing:
Ingredients:
4 c Icing sugar
1 c Butter, softened
10ml Vanilla extract
1 Tbsp Warm milk
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
± 1 tsp Lemon zest
Method:
Beat the butter on high speeds for about 2-3 minutes until light in colour and fluffy. Add the icing sugar ¼ c at a time. Add the warm milk throughout, 1 teaspoon at a time. Add the vanilla extract, lemon juice and zest and mix well.
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