This easy sponge cake recipe is one of my best secrets to perfect cake making. Of course everyone will focus on the filling and decoration of a cake, but good sponge cake is essential in a good layer cake. Making sponge cake doesn’t need to be seen as a difficult task. Easy sponge cake can be a reality. This sponge cake recipe is one I’ve been using since my times as a Home Economics teacher. It’s so easy that none of my pupils have ever failed it.
I have more than one recipe for sponge cake. One has been passed on to me from my grandma, it features no baking powder and it relies on a proportion. That sponge cake recipe can potentiall yield massive quantities; the size of the pan is the limit. Then there is this one, a trusted simple sponge cake recipe I turn to when I know I just need one layer of cake, quick, no fuss. Eggs, flour, sugar and a little bit of baking powder. If not adding cocoa, vanilla or food colouring it can be as simple as that. Definitely the best basic sponge cake recipe I’ve ever tried.
This easy sponge cake recipe fits a regular-sized cake pan – anything measuring 22-24 cm in diameter. The yield is one layer of sponge cake. This is perfect when making ombré cakes, or rainbow cakes, as you can just add a different food colouring to every batch and know that all the layers will come out spotless, all the same perfect size. While I mostly rely on this sponge cake recipe to make layer cakes, I also like to use it for tiramisù. Eggy sponge cake is a great alternative to ladyfinger biscuits and I find it perfect when making single-serving tiramisù cups.
Read more: tiramisù in a glass made with sponge cake.
Easy sponge cake recipe
In order to make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
- 2 eggs
- 60 g flour
- 60 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Separate the egg whites from the yolks, having the whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a smaller one. Beat the egg whites with a hand mixer at high speed until soft peaks form (after about 4-5 minutes). Slow down to medium speed and add the sugar, little by little. This will stiffen the mixture some more. Always mixing at medium speed, now add the yolks, one at a time. When incorporated, set the mixer aside.
Combine the flour and baking powder and sift the flour mixture into the batter. Gently fold it in using a rubber spatula. Make sure not to overmix and be extra gentle in order not to knock out too much air from the batter. Transfer the batter into a springform pan lined with baking paper and bake in the preheated oven at 175°C for about 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. When the cake is ready, take it out of the pan, flip it over onto a plate and peel off the baking paper.
The outcome is fluffy and soft, guaranteed. It all lies in the proper beating of the eggs, and that little sprinkle of baking powder will always help to achieve perfect softness. From making a plain cake to the most elaborate birthday cake, sponge cakes are what you want in between the layers of cream. Their airy texture is the best counterpart to thicker fillings. It will always give your cake an impression of lightness, even one filled with the heaviest (and tastiest) of buttercreams.
Birthday cake inspiration: vanilla cake with blue custard cream.
Remember the baking powder I brought back as a souvenir from Iceland? You may be asking yourself what’s so special about Icelandic baking powder and I can understand your confusion. Icelandic baking powder comes in a beautiful tin, and it’s the one featured in this photo shoot. You may not be familiar with my travel style but one thing I love to do whenever I’m abroad is to check out supermarkets. I do it out of necessity as most of the time I am making my own food when I travel. But I also do it because I love to. I just love exploring supermarkets. Just like airports, they give me that feeling of being very familiar while completely alien at the same time.
Most supermarkets or grocery stores in the world sort of follow similar patterns. Food is exhibited on shelves following some sort of logic that makes you kinda find your way to the foods you need wherever in the world you may be. What’s different are the foods. The packages. The brands. I could spend hours roaming supermarket aisles admiring every food on display. Iceland was no exception and in Iceland I found a supermarket that was very special.That’s where I bought the sexiest baking powder tin I’ve ever owned.
Pin my easy sponge cake recipe for later:
Easy sponge cake recipe
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 60 g sugar
- 60 g flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Crack the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the whites at high speed until soft peaks form, about 4-5 minutes. Always mixing add the sugar; this will make the mixture stiffen. Once the sugar has been incorporated, add the yolks one at a time. Stop the mixer when done and set aside.
- In another bowl combine the flor and baking powder. Sift this mixture into the egg mixture and fold in with a rubber spatula. Do not overmix. Transfer the batter into a 24 cm springform pan lined with baking paper.
- Bake in the preheated oven at 175°C for 15-17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Notes
I have yet to master basic sponge cakes, although I can whip up a mean red velvet cake 🙁 You make it sound so easy, though. pinned for future reference!
Sorry for getting back to you so late, I just came back from a trip to Ireland 🙂 Red Velvet is one of my favourites, and it took me several attempts to tame it. Sponge cake definitely is easier!! 😉
this is one beautiful tin can of baking powder, love it! and your sponge cake looks so perfect that it looks almost store bought! 😀
I swear it was not 😀 And that tin can will forever be my baking powder container, when I finish the original one I’ll fill it up again. It’s too pretty.
It has been a busy time so I haven’t been able to read your posts lately, but as I scrolled through your blog I noticed your famous sponge cale recepy! I must admit it really is super easy to make. It was probably the most popular out of all recepies at school too! Great job, even though I don’t have HCC I still miss you ♡♡
Dear Alicia, it’s always a pleasure to read your comments! And I’m happy to hear my lessons live on with my recipes. I miss you too, and also the rest of the gang. I hope year 7 is going well and everyone from my wonderful mentor class is doing just fine! Sending my love.
How long do i bake this in a microwave convection oven?
I do not own a microwave oven so I am unfortunately unable to answer your question.
Eva, I find your recipe fascinating. A few months ago, I found my Polish grandmother’s recipe for sponge cake which comes from 75+ years ago. As you mentioned in your comments, my grandmother’s recipe also relies on proportions. The sponge cake I have been making until now from American cookbooks gently incorporates the beaten egg whites at the very end. Your & my grandmother’s recipe starts with beating the egg whites and adding the rest of the ingredients later. My first question to you: would the 2 different methods produce cakes with different textures ? My second question: you use a 24 cm spring form pan; do you think the cake could be successfully baked in a regular 24 cm cake pan or a 24 cm tube pan ? American recipes always call for a tube pan. I would appreciate your input on my questions as I would like to try out your recipe very soon.
By the way, I visited Sweden several years ago. I still remember Stockholm.
Hello Marta! Thank you very much for your message 🙂 I have no idea about the difference in the cake texture as I haven’t tested making sponge cake the way you describe it, folding in the whites later. There is another Polish recipe I make quite often (Fale Dunaju apple cake) where you do that, and it is a much more compact cake in comparison. It is also heavily butter or margarine based, though. This one, in any case, yields a very soft and airy cake. I don’t see why using a tube pan should be a problem, although I never really needed to make cake layers with a hole in them. As I normally add a filling in between layers, having a hole in the middle would be a slight annoyance, unless you plan on having it filled with candies or something, like a surprise cake. Anyway the amount of ingredients listed in this recipe gives you one layer of sponge cake. If you need a single layer with a hole go for that pan. I’m sorry I can’t really give you more advice as that is not something I have ever done myself. Good luck with your baking!
Hello, Eva,
I made your sponge cake yesterday. It is delicious !!! Thank you for helping me recreate my grandmother’s recipe. I added 1/3 teaspoon of vanilla as my grandmother did.
Do you think a 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder would work ?
Best Greetings !
Marta
Awesome! The addition of vanilla is definitely a great idea! I would dare say that less baking powder could totally work. As long as you properly beat the eggs at the beginning, it should be no problem. Thank you for your feedback!
Take care 🙂
Thank you so much for responding so quickly. I thought you would be asleep at this time of the night in Sweden. Have a good night and sweet dreams. Marta