Light, airy, and versatile, our easy sponge cake recipe is the perfect base for syrups, liquors, and fruit sauces. We show you how to make this basic recipe using just 3 ingredients, complete with all of our tips so any level of baker can me this perfectly every time!
When it comes to making a dessert for any occasion, this easy sponge cake is one of our favorite recipes to turn to. It’s light and airy in texture and a great base for a variety of delicious fillings, frostings, and syrups.
Better yet, this is an ideal make-ahead cake because it’s better to bake at least a day in advance. This gives you plenty of time to prepare a dessert for any gathering or party without the stress. Try our berry roll cake or lemon layer cake that both use sponge cake as the base.
Brilliant results and easy. Thank you! – Tracey
Very light and refreshing cake. It tastes superb! Worth the try. – Salimah
Why you’ll love this recipe
Beautifully tall, fluffy, and light, sponge cake is a type of foam cake with a tall and airy structure that comes from whipped eggs, rather than leaveners like baking soda or baking powder you find in other recipes.
In addition, classic sponge cakes, like this one, are fat-free, meaning there is no butter or oil in the batter to weigh it down.
- The best base cake to pair with all different flavors. They tend to be on the drier side, but this is actually an advantage! The dry layers easily infuse with flavor and moisture from syrups and sauces.
- Easiest cake recipe for any skill level. Whether you’re new to baking or a seasoned pro, this is a seriously easy recipe, made using just 3 ingredients: eggs, sugar, and cake flour.
- A bakery-style cake that’s simple to make at home. This classic sponge cake is the perfect canvas for all kinds of layered recipes, like our lemon layer cake or pineapple layer cake.
Key Ingredient Notes
- Eggs – Be sure to use room-temperature eggs, because they’re easier to beat air into.
- Sugar – Superfine sugar, or caster sugar, is ideal for sponge cakes because it dissolves more quickly than regular granulated sugar.
- Cake flour – For a lighter, more tender crumb. Compared to all-purpose flour, cake flour is higher in protein and lower in gluten, resulting in softer, more delicate texture.
No cake flour? No problem!
If you don’t have cake flour on hand, don’t worry! Simply measure 1 ½ cups of all-purpose flour. Then, remove 3 tablespoons. Replace the 3 tablespoons of flour with cornstarch, and sift it well before using. It’s seriously that easy to make!
Sponge Cake vs. Angel Food Cake vs. Génoise and Gâteau
The main difference is the ingredient to help the batter rise as well as if there is a fat in the cake. Sponge cake is leavened by whipped eggs and doesn’t contain leavening agents or a fat like butter or oil. Regular butter cake, on the other hand, relies on a leavener like baking powder and baking soda to rise.
- Angel food cake uses just egg whites, while sponge cake uses both whites and yolks.
- Génoise and gâteau are also a type of foam cake. However, unlike sponge cakes, they have a little bit of butter in the batter.
How to make this easy sponge cake recipe
Before you begin:
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- Line the bottom of one 9-inch springform pan (at least 3 inches tall). (Alternatively, you can use two regular-sized 8 or 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper.) There’s no need to grease the pan.
- Separate the egg whites from the yolks, making sure not even a single drop of yolk gets into the whites.
Separate cold eggs
It’s easier to separate the egg yolks from the whites when they’re cold, straight out of the fridge.
1. Mix the egg yolks and sugar
- Whisk the egg yolks and ½ cup of sugar in a mixing bowl with a whisk attachment until pale and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes.
2. Prepare the flour
- Meanwhile, sift the flour and salt.
- Don’t skip this step! Sifting the cake flour aerates it. More air equals a taller cake!
3. Beat the egg whites
- In a separate mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites at medium-low speed until foamy.
- Add the remaining ½ cup of sugar to the egg whites, 1 tablespoon at a time. Continue to whisk until soft peaks form, gradually increasing the speed to medium-high, about 7 minutes.
4. Combine the batter
- Add ⅓ of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, and gently fold until the mixture is mostly smooth.
- Add the remaining egg whites, and gently fold until smooth.
- Add the sifted flour into the batter in 3 stages, whisking the batter well after each addition.
5. Bake the cake
- Pour the batter into your prepared baking pan, and smooth the top.
- Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Avoid opening the oven for at least the first 30 minutes!
6. Cool and remove from the pan
- When done, let the cake cool completely in the pan. Then, run a knife around the edges to loosen the sides and remove from the pan.
- Wrap the cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or up to 1 week. The cake is easier to cut when it’s thoroughly chilled.
Expert Tips
- Be careful when separating the egg whites and yolks. Egg whites won’t whip into stiff peaks if they’re mixed with fat. This includes a drop of egg yolk and even leftover grease in your mixing bowl! Here’s how I separate egg whites and yolks using separate bowls and the shell-to-shell technique.
- Cold eggs separate more easily, but room-temperature egg whites whip better. I recommend separating the eggs right away when you first bring them out of the fridge. Then, let the whites come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes before you start making the sponge cake.
- Properly whipped egg whites are the key to a successful sponge cake. It’s very important to correctly whip the egg whites and to whip them for the correct amount of time. You need to incorporate as much air as possible into the whites because we’re not using any chemical leaveners. Properly whipped egg whites make the cake rise! Take a look at this meringue 101 post for more tips and tricks.
- Whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form, but don’t overwhip. You’ll know it’s done if it’s glossy, and you can flip the bowl over without it sliding down.
- Properly whipped egg yolks should become creamy pale and at least tripled in size.
- Bake the cake as soon as you make the batter, and don’t let the meringue sit for too long.
- Don’t grease the cake pan. There is no need. Sponge cake sticks to the sides of the pan while it rises in the oven and stays nice and tall.
- Don’t open the oven door for at least the first 20 minutes, or you risk deflating the sponge cake.
- It’s easier to cut the cake into layers when it is fully chilled, preferably overnight. Freshly cooled cake falls apart easily and is difficult to cut into layers. That’s why this is the perfect make-ahead dessert!
- Add flavorful toppings. When assembling sponge cake, brush on simple syrup or any kind of flavored syrup, liquor, or fruit sauce to moisten the cake layers. Otherwise, the cake will be dry. Sponge cakes take on flavors beautifully!
Make-Ahead Tips
Sponge cake batter cannot be made in advance. However, a baked sponge cake can be made up to 1 week in advance! Allow the cake to fully cool. Then, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and store it in the refrigerator until you’re ready to decorate.
Ways to Decorate
You can make any of the following tasty sponge cake toppings ahead of time. So, you’re ready to decorate as soon as your cake comes out of the fridge!
Storage
Allow the sponge cake to cool completely. Then, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 1 month. Frosted sponge cake is good for up to 5 days in the refrigerator.
FAQs:
There are a few secrets to a good sponge cake! First, whip the egg whites until thick and tripled in size, with soft peaks. Second, be very careful when mixing the flour into the batter, because you don’t want it to deflate. Lastly, adjust your baking time based on the size of your cake pan. A single, large springform pan will take longer than two or three smaller-sized cake pans.
A basic sponge cake recipe consists of eggs, sugar, and flour, and doesn’t include chemical leaveners like baking powder or baking soda. Some sponge cakes, like angel food cakes, only use egg whites. However, most sponge cake recipes use both the white and the yolk. Sponge cakes can taste a little dry and plain, which is why they’re meant to be drizzled with simple syrup or fruit syrup, and decorated with frostings and fillings.
There are several different types of sponge cakes, with a handful of them being the most popular. A traditional sponge cake contains just eggs, sugar, and flour, and uses both egg yolks and egg whites. Angel food cake contains eggs, sugar, and flour, but only uses egg whites. Génoise sponge cake adds a little bit of butter to the batter. Chiffon cake is similar to angel food cake but also contains egg yolks and oil.
Air-leavened cakes are called sponge cakes because they’re meant to soak up various sugar or fruit syrups like a sponge. Also, the texture of the cake resembles a sponge.
More Delicious Sponge Cake Recipes:
Easy Sponge Cake Recipe (3 ingredients)
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs separated
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar divided Note 1
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) cake flour
- ½ teaspoon table salt optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line bottom of one 9-inch springform pan (at least 3 inches tall). No need to grease the pan.
- Separate egg whites and yolks, making sure not even a little bit of egg yolk gets into the whites. (TIP: It's easier to separate the egg when they're cold right out of the fridge.)6 large eggs
- In a mixing bowl with whisk attachment, whisk together egg yolks and ½ cup of sugar until pale and tripled in volume, about 5 minutes.1 cup granulated sugar
- Meanwhile, sift flour and salt.1 ½ cups cake flour, ½ teaspoon table salt
- In another mixing bowl with whisk attachment, beat egg whites at medium low speed until foamy.
- Add remaining ½ cup of sugar 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to whisk until soft peaks, gradually increasing the speed to medium high, 7-10 minutes.
- Using a spatula, add 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture and gently fold until mostly smooth. Add the remaining egg whites and gently fold until smooth.
- Add sifted flour into the batter in 3 stages, whisking the batter well after each addition.
- Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top.
- Bake the cake until inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Don’t open the oven for at least the first 30 minutes!
- Let the cake cool completely in the pan. Then run a knife around the edges and invert onto a cooling rack. Wrap the cooled cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. It'll be easier to cut when the cake is thoroughly chilled.
- The sponge cake, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, can be refrigerated for up to 1 week, or frozen for up to 1 month.
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Tips & Notes
You can use any size of cake pan for this recipe. I’ve tested this recipe in one 9-inch pan at least 3 inches tall, two 9 or 8-inch cake pans at least 2 inches tall, and three 7 or 6-inch cake pans at least 2 inches tall. In one 9-inch springform pan, the cake comes out 2 ¼ inches tall, perfect for slicing into 3 layers.
– One 8 or 9-inch cake pan – about 40 minutes
– Two 9 or 8-inch pans – 25-30 minutes
– Three 7 or 6-inch pans – 25-30 minutes Storing:
– Allow the sponge cake to cool completely. Then, tightly wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
– Freeze the unfrosted cake for up to 1 month. Frosted sponge cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published on February 20, 2019.
Very light and refreshing cake. I usually do the caramel almond with whipping cream icing. it tastes superb! Worth the try
Yay, so happy you tried and loved the recipe. Thank you so much for your feedback, Salimah!!