EASY VANILLA SPONGE CAKE

Easy Vanilla Sponge Cake made with just 4 ingredients & tastes incredible topped with strawberries & cream! It’s perfect for any occasion & quickly comes together!

This easy sponge cake recipe with plain flour is so versatile to make and the possibilities for serving it up are endless. To create a soft, moist, simply delicious treat, read on for how to make sponge cake at home!

Simple Sponge Cake Recipe

This cake has got to be the EASIEST recipe on the planet, it is so simple and quick. Making this vanilla sponge cake recipe is one of my favorites and I have made it at least a dozen times or so over the years. We love turning this into a strawberry sponge cake by adding fresh fruits and whipped cream over the top, but you can just as easily stack cake layers and turn it into a frosted delight. Give it a try today and see what we mean!

Why you’ll love this simple sponge cake recipe

• Use any pan! You can bake this cake in almost any type of pan and have a standard cake, short cake or even a trifle. I have experimented with different baking pan styles, depending on my needs or event, it never disappoints and is always a sensational dessert.
• A light dessert perfect for summer. This sponge cake is wonderfully light and tastes incredible. A great change of pace from heavier and richer cakes. Try this during the Spring or Summer months and taste just how refreshing it is!
• Only 4 ingredients! It is crazy to think that a cake with 4 simple ingredients can produce such a moist and delicious cake. But it is possible, this cake is the real deal!

Easy Sponge Cake Ingredients

Flour: You will need 1 cup of plain all-purpose flour for the base of this cake recipe.

Sugar: Use 1 cup of granulated sugar to make this cake perfectly sweet.

Eggs: You will need 4 large eggs to give the cake great texture and a nice rich taste.

Vanilla extract: Adding in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract will make this cake taste fabulous.

How to Make Easy Vanilla Sponge Cake

Prep

Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F. Then, using your choice of baking pan or cake pan, spray it with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

Make batter

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the eggs and sugar until it is well mixed and fluffy. Then, add in the vanilla extract and the flour.

Next, combine the flour into the batter using an electric handheld mixer, on medium speed, and mix for 8 minutes to incorporate a lot of air into the cake batter. If you do not have an electric mixer, use a whisk and do as much of the 8 minutes as possible. This is key to making this cake nice and spongey.

Bake

Proceed to pour the batter into the greased baking dish and bake in the oven for at least 25 minutes. The actual baking time will vary depending on the pan size used, so check back often with a toothpick. If you are using a smaller, shallower pan, check about in around the 15-minute mark and see how it looks and if a toothpick comes out clean.

Serve

I like to serve this cake with some fresh berries and whipped cream, but this cake is so fantastic that it will pair well with all kinds of different toppings.

Slice, serve and enjoy!

How to Serve Sponge Cake

This sponge cake can be served as-is for a simple treat or can be made even sweeter by dusting the top lightly with powdered sugar and garnishing with fresh berries. I like to use homemade whipped cream and some fresh berries and serve it up like a shortcake. Even topping with some chocolate ganache sounds like a delicious idea too! You can go the simple route and add a thin layer of frosting with some fun sprinkles on top.

Tips for getting successful results:

• Do not let the cake batter rest for too long after incorporating the flour. Have the oven preheated and ready to go so that you can pour into the cake pans and bake immediately. The longer the cake rests, the more air it will gradually lose.
• Don’t open the oven door. As tempting as it may be do not open the door until at least 15 minutes have passed. Opening the door too early can cause the cake to fall.
• Not a bundt cake recipe. I do not recommend turning this cake into a bundt cake because it will be very hard to remove from the pan. this cake batter is sticking so you want your cake pans well-greased, possibly coated in flour and a nice lining of parchment paper at the bottom can also be useful for cake removal. 

How Do You Store Sponge Cake?

You will want to store this sponge cake in an airtight container and at room temperature. This type of cake will dry out more quickly if kept in the refrigerator. Stored this way the cake should be good for 3-5 days. If you want to freeze it, you can do that too. Wrap it in plastic wrap first, then put it in a ziplocked bag, it will stay good for up to 3 months.

How Do I Know If I Have Mixed The Batter Enough?

When I say that it will take about 8 minutes to beat together and combine the batter, I’m not joking. It really will take several minutes, so be prepared. Your goal is to get the batter to hold the figure 8 in it when drawn with a spoon. It must hold the shape of an 8 for 10 seconds without fail. If your batter can do that then it has enough air incorporated to hold up well.

Why Is My Cake So Dense?

If your cake turns out dense and eggy in taste or texture this is usually a direct result of the egg mixture not being beaten long enough. Please see my tip on making sure that you have beaten the batter long enough before baking the cake so that it can turn out perfectly every time.

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Easy Vanilla Sponge Cake perfect for any occasion & quickly comes together! This basic vanilla cake recipe uses just 4 ingredients and tastes incredible topped with strawberries & cream!