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
Stores that sell my book listed by country:
http://bit.ly/ARcookbook
All recipe quantities in the book are in grams, ounces and cups.
Hello Ann.
I Am one of your YouTube subscribers and never make cake from scratch. Your cake looks so good, I want to try it. I live in the United States, does Cream of tartar equal to heavy whipped cream? Can I replace with whole milk to get the same result? Thank you. Daisy
Daisy, cream of tartar is not a dairy (milk) product at all. It is a white powder found in the spice section of the grocery store used to help in the whipping of the egg whites.
Hi Daisy, Cream of tartar is the commercial name for tartaric acid. It is sold as a fine white powder in the baking section. It isn’t a dairy product.
Hi Ann
I’m vegan instead of cream of tatar what can I use
Thanks
Hi Rahila, The cream of tartar is fine for vegans. It is not a meat, egg or dairy product.product. However the cake does contain eggs.
Hi,
My oven is a bit small to put two cake pan… Is it possible half of the mixture will be put in the oven after hour of waiting for the first one to cook?
Also I cannot find a gelatine powder here in Belgium… there any other substitute to it?
Thanks
Hi Donna, after a quick look online it appears that you can get gelatine powder in Belgium as there are a number of European suppliers. Try an online supplier if it is not stocked in your local supermarket. It seems to be readily available via cake decorating stores and health food stores.
I have the same question with donna. I also have small oven. Is it okay if the half of the mixture will be put in the oven after an hour?
Hi xandra, If you can’t cook the two tins together, then cook separately. Obviously for best results, you should prepare the batter and cook without letting it sit for extended periods.
I have tried several cake recipes, they come out light but dry. I stumbled over your post and thought “this must be it!” and really,I am so excited @ the outcome,I can only say a BIG THANK YOU! For sharing
Hi Cakes ‘n’ Ice, thanks for the feedback. This is my favourite sponge recipe and once you have made it a few times it becomes the best, no fail recipe in your recipe book. Happy Baking.
Hi Ann! I was wondering if i could add cocoa powder in this to make it a chocolate sponge cake? Would i have to take away from the flour to put in the cocoa so there arent too much dry ingredients? Also could i add substitute the water for cold coffee to add flavour? I know you already have a chocolate cake recipe but im looking for a light fluffy chocolate sponge cake recipe. Thank you so much xoxo
Hi Christine, Ann likes chocolate cake to taste chocolatey and to do that she recommends a different recipe: https://wellness-wave1.news/public_html/best-chocolate-cake-ever/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Hi Ann, thanks for this awesome recipe! Just wondering where you get your cake pans from? I am currently using these springform pans but it doesnt make the cakes cook evenly although it works just fine with your sponge cake recipe… Can you please suggest good ones, I live in Melbourne, thanks so much!
Hi Krisii, Ann currently has Baker’s Secret springform pans.
Hi Anne I’m going to try and make this cake for my grandmother’s birthday and I wanted to know what will happen if I leave it in the fridge with the cream on it.Also will the cream melt when I’m taking it to my grandmother’s house in the Australian heat
Hi Juilette, It would be better to assemble the cake at your grandmothers with freshly whipped cream.
Hi. If i use the mixture for cupcakes how long should I bake it for ?
Hi Fadz, it will depend on the size of your cupcakes. If there are standard and not mini, start checking around the 15minute mark.
Hi Ann! I wanted to ask that can we skip the gelatin ? Or is it compulsory to use it?
Hi Sarah, the gelatine is key to the texture and stability of this cake.
Hi! I’m planning on making a two tiered cake for my birthday and is looking for the perfect cake recipe. This one looks great and with all the great comments, it is one I would really like to use. I just have some questions, that I would like to know about. Can you freeze this cake (without frosting, I need to make the cake some time before decorating it) and will it do well for stacking (won’t have to be stacked for to long) and I can’t find powdered gelatine where I live, are there any substitutes?
-love all of your work, much love from Fie
Hi Fie, Sponges always taste best when they are fresh. You can however freeze these sponges when totally cool. Wrap them in an cling wrap and put them in a sealed plastic container or bag before freezing. Gelatine powder is readily available in post parts of the world in common supermarkets. It more readily available than gelatine sheets. You can also easily purchase it online. If normal gelatine can’t be used then Halal gelatine is the next best alternative.
Hello, Is this recipe good for cupcakes?
Yes A, It makes lovely cupcakes.
Hi Ann! Love your work 🙂 i have a question, i want to make this cake in a glass bowl. Is that possible? Because i see that you do not grease the pans :/ and what about the oven temprature and duration of baking. Thank u.
Hi Madjida, as long as it is an oven proof bowl it should be fine. Spray it with a little vegetable oil before use. You may have challenges getting it out. The baking time will depend on size and amount of mix. You would need to trial it.
Hello, Ann — I come from a line of professional cake decorators and I have to say that I have rarely seen such fabulous work as I’ve found on your website. Perhaps I should have known — my Mum learned cake decorating in Australia during the war and wowed Canadians when she practiced here.. At any rate, I’m about to make your sponge cake recipe for a doll cake I’m doing this weekend and I’d like to do it as a lemon cake. Can I simply substitute fresh lemon juice for the water in the recipe, and perhaps add some lemon zest? Thanks!
Hi Kathy, Thanks for the feedback. Ann hasn’t experimented with this so she was wondering what impact the additional acid might have. You would need to keep an eye on that. Ann suggests definitely adding the zest and maybe replacing part of the water wit lemon juice, maybe a quarter and see if you are happy with how it turns out.
I wants to try ur recipe but before that i would like to know why r u using gelatin in cake?
can i omit the gelatin?
many thanks
also is someone else tried without gelatin?
looking for answer plz
Hi Madiha, The gelatin helps to great the fluffy, light yet stable texture if the cake. It is not the same without it.
Is this a good recipe for a 3 tier naked cake? I’m using 10″,8″,6″ pans. How much of the recipe should I make for each pan?
Hi Kaye, This recipe makes 2 good sized eight inch sponges. One and a half times the recipe should work for your quantities,divided between the 3 pans. I prefer to serve them with just cream and strawberries on top and between the layers. They could be served naked but much better with some kind of frosting on the top of each tier and between layers. These cakes ‘dome’ nicely so layering the cakes without trimming the top may make the cake unstable.
Thank you for this recipe! Made a three tier cake out of this. I had 3 pans– 6, 8. 10 inches in diameter and 3 inches high. I first made 1 batch divided between the 6 and 8 inch pans. Baked the 6 inch for 55 mins then the 8 inch for 60 mins. Was able to cool the 8 inch cake upside down without worries (btw, my pans don’t have handles, i just placed two mugs under the sides of the pan where they don’t touch the cake). But my 6 inch fell off after 5 minutes of cooling, which made marks on my cake.. Then I baked another batch for the 10 inch pan. I tried cooling it upside down but I immediately turned it back over upon seeing that the top is cracking, afraid that it would just split into two.
The baked cake was around 40cm high for the 6 and 8 cakes, while 50 cm for the 10 inches after leveling off the dome. I didn’t slice much off because it didn’t dome as much as expected. I guess putting a damp cloth around the pan while baking did the trick 😉
I sliced the cakes into two equal parts and started layering with swiss merengue buttercream frosting. I found the cake to be sturdy enough to handle the stacking. I just placed improvised dowels (bubble tea straws) to support the whole cake. My only problem was the cake shrunk a bit and the sides slanted inwards. So when i tried putting the bottom slice of the cake as the top layer, the shape just looked off.
I left the cake “naked” with just thick frosting in between layers and thin coating on the sides. Also placed silk flowers on top for decorations. I didn’t use fresh flowers for the fear of insecticides, yet i can’t use gumpaste flowers because I can’t make them. Lol.
Overall I think it’s a great cake. Considering it’s my first to make it and it turned out okay, I was proud. Thank you for this recipe. 🙂
*sorry for the long post. I just felt the need to share my experience to express my gratitude and also to help others who might be thinking of trying to make this
Hi Kaye, Thanks for letting us know how it went. so glad it worked well.
hi, could you please tell me why my cakes turn hard once put into the fridge? And even after keeping it out from the fridge for some time , doesn’t make it soft. what can i do? this happens to most of the recipes out there. please help.
Hi Ferdous, Sponges will dry out in the fridge. If you have covered it in cream and need to store it in the fridge, then it needs to be completely covered with plastic or in an airtight container to maintain some freshness. The longer it is in the fridge, the drier and harder it will become as it is going stale.
hi, i am trying to find a perfect light gingerbread cake. can this recipe use for it?
thanks.
joanna
Hi Joanna, You could flavour the sponge to have a gingery flavour but it won’t really work for a gingerbread cake.
Hello… I’m from pakistan nd a bigg fan of your baking… Ur skills are exceptional… Really admire it.. 🙂
Ihv already tried this recipe several times nd the results are always tasty. 😉
Actually our school is organizing a bake sale so can I add oreos into the batter to make it oreo cupcakes with cookies nd cream frosting ? 🙂
Hi Ann i was wondering do I have to use gelatin for this recipie?
Hi Hanni, Yes it is key to the texture and stability of the cake.
Hi I have a question about this recipe.. Did you add vanilla to the recipe.. Or is not necessary to add the vanilla extract?
Hi Mary, You don’t need to add vanilla but you can if you prefer the flavour.