Perfect Sponge Cake Recipe: Light Fluffy Moist and Tall
The perfect sponge cake should be light, fluffy, moist, tall, soft on the edges and of course beautiful. Easy with the right recipe, painfully frustrating with all of the rest. After testing many, many sponge cake recipes my kids got tired of taking sponge cake in their lunch boxes to school. So I gave them a break for a while. When I came back to it I retested the best ones but was still not satisfied, I tried a heap more that instead of using different amounts of the key ingredients used different methods of combining them. Eventually I tweeked a few of the best ones to come up with this light, fluffy and beautifully moist sponge cake recipe. My favorite.
Sponge Cake Recipe Ingredients
2 cups or 320g (11.29 ounces) plain all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups or 327g (11.53 ounces) sugar
1 Tbsp or 3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp or 7.5g (0.26 ounces) gelatin (powdered)
1/2 cup or 125ml vegetable oil such as canola oil
7 egg yolks or 105g (3.7 ounces)
1 cup or 250millilitres (8.45 fluid ounces) cold water
7 egg whites or 252g (8.89 ounces)
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
To decorate:
1 punnet or 250g (8.82 ounces) or approx 1 2/3 cups strawberries,
600millilitres (20.29 fluid ounces) cream (35% fat),
2 Tbsp icing (powdered) sugar,
1 tsp vanilla essence
(recipe source: adapted from this recipe)
Preheat the oven to 320F (160 degrees Celsius) if using a fan forced oven.
Place your flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and gelatin into a bowl and whisk it to incorporate air and get rid of any lumps.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture then pour in the oil, egg yolks and water in that order. Set that bowl to one side.
Put your egg whites and cream of tartar into another bowl and whisk on high speed until you get soft peaks.
Mix together the flour mixture for 30 seconds only or until just combined, don’t over-mix this.
Using a spatula fold in your egg whites in three batches.
Line but do not grease two 20cm (7.87 inches) cake tins and spread the mixture evenly between the two.
Bake in a slow oven, 320F (160 degrees Celsius) for 55-60 minutes.
When it is done leave in the tin and cool upside down.
See the video for how to decorate your sponge cake.
or try the ombre or rainbow cake decorating tutorials
by Ann Reardon How To Cook That
© All Rights Reserved Reardon Media PL 2013
My Cookbook
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All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
I have made this sponge and the inside out cake. A fantastic recipe and one I will be keeping. The result was fantastic.
Hi,I’m your biggest fan,amazing cakes.what can one use in place of the Cream of Tartar?Thanks
Hi Celestina, Cream of tartar is the best choice, though you can usually replace it with some lemon juice or vinegar if you can’t get it. I have found that it is not as effective though.
Hi 🙂 I’m think about using this recipe in a school baking competition. In the competition we have 1 1/2 hours from start to finish. How long does the cake take overall (excluding cooling time), an also do you need to wait for to cool? (Maybe if you didn’t decorate or ice it?). Thanks 🙂
Literally the longest time in prep work is separating eggs. I would advise practice once at home first though 🙂
Hi Jenifer, It really depends on your level of skill and how long your oven will take to preheat. As the cakes take nearly an hour to cook, it probably not the best choice for an hour and a half competition. Coling time wold be at least 20 mins. Ann suggests maybe trying the Chocolate Lava cake. It is super quick to make: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/magic-chocolate-lava-cake-recipe-chocolate-fondant/%3C/a%3E . Make sure you practice at home a few times so you know how long all the steps take you.
What happens if I greese the pan?
The cakes slide out an can’t be cooled upside down.
Hi Ann, can I use gluten free flour instead of all purpose flour for this recipe?
Hi Nath, Ann hasn’t tested this recipe with a gluten free flour. If you try it, let us know how it goes.
Hi Ann, can I also use this recipe to make cupcakes out of it?
I really like to try a small amount of sponge cake, because here in germany, I can’t find a german recipe, that is like a sponge cake!
Hi Ann I’ve just watched your video for your sponge cake. I’ve done this recipe myself but not used gelatin it’s very much the same as a chiffon cake. I always find that although I leave the cake in the tin upside down to cool it sinks in the middle.. I usually fill it with chocolate and cream cheese frosting then coat the whole cake with with the same frosting…all my family love this cake too… do you think using gelatin stops the cake from sinking…
I love watching your videos …I’ve made the batman cake for 2 young boys their grandparents loved it too… you’re a great inspiration to all us bakers…
Hi Cath, The gelatin helps to stabilize their texture of the cake and yes this does help t prevent it from sinking in the middle. When I make this they are always lovely domed cakes. It is worth a try.
thanks for this amazing recipe.I don’t have cream of tartar and gelatine,so can I skip those ingredients ?
Hi Syahani, These ingrediends help give the cake its textre and stability so they really are key.
Hi made this cake for my Dad’s birthday and it was delicious. Had a minor emergency moment where the cake fell out of the tin but was able to rectify with cream and strawberries.
Wanted to make a chocolate version, what are your suggestions? Add some coco powder or melted chocolate?
Hi Nikky, Here is a link to Ann’s recommended recipe for chocolate cake: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/chocolate-cake-recipe/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hey Ann! Do you have to have the cream of tartar?
Hi Theresa, we recommend it to make this cake. If you can’t get it, you can replace with leom juice but it doesn’t work as well.
Hi Ann I’ve always been a fan of your youtube channel. I want to make this cake for my son’s first birthday but will this recipe still work without the gelatine powder. I can’t find it here in my place. Any substitute for it? Thanks in advance.
Hi momoftwo. Gelatine powder is usually readily available in supermarkets and online stores. You can also purchase it online. Gelatine is a common product used to set jelly among other thngs. It is really key to the texture and stability of this cake so while you could leave it out, it just wont be the great end product its designed to be. Usually if people can’t have gelatine we recommend replacing it with Halal gelatine which is a vegetarian form of the product made from agar agar or similar.
how would I half this recipe? Usually I would half all the ingredients but that would be 3 1/2 eggs
Hi Darren, The best way to use only half this recipe would be to use 3 large eggs.
I made this cake yesterday! thanks for the great recipe
Hi Abagail, That looks yummy. Makes me want a piece right now.
Hi Ann my birthday is this Sunday, and I am making my own birthday cake. I am wonderong if I should make the cake the day before or the day of serving. Also can this cake be completly iced in buttercream and covered in fondant? Thanks for your help ❤️
Hi SM Kabal, Are you using the sponge recipe? The fresh a cake is the nicer it will taste. If it is a fondant cake making it the day before is usually wize.
hi,I will love to know more about cake types and its superb designs……Ann you are wonderful….
When I use this recipe for cupcakes at what temperature should I bake them to give it a high dome? And For how long? Thanks for your help!!!
Hi Ramona, Cook cupcakes at 160c as per the recpe but shorten the time. Perhaps start checking them at 15mins to see if they are cooked.
Hiya, I want to make a Lego cake and am doing four different coloured layers inside, can I separate the mixture into four parts and if so what temperature and time should I put it in for? Thankyou xx
Hi Holly, Yes you can. Cook your layers at 160C fan-forced until cooked through. It will depend on the size of your tin, how long it will take to cook. Test by inserting a knif or skewer into the center of the cake and when it comes out clean, the cake is done.
Hi, Ann! Just wanted to say hello. I’ve been extremely busy lately but hope to get back to baking quite soon! 🙂 Do you have any suggestions for an autumn cake? I plan on doing an ombré-autumn-colours frosting pattern, but what should I bake for the cake itself? Hmm…. thank you so much!!!1!
-Leo
Hi Leo, an Autum Ombre cake sounds lovely. We don’t get a very distinctive Autum here.
Does it work to substitute agar-agar for the gelatin?
Can I add milk instead of cold water in yr sponge cake recipe?