My Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe is a light, soft sponge cake filled with raspberry jam and cream. A mouthful of absolutely deliciousness, this sponge cake is so delicate, and the toppings and fillings are totally customisable! Great for a birthday party, afternoon tea cake or just when you feel like some cake!
Recipe Overview: Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe
- ✅ Recipe Name: Sponge Cake Recipe
- 🕐 Ready In: 45 minutes (plus cooling time)
- 🧑🧑🧒 Serves: 8 people
- 💕 Perfect For: Birthday party, afternoon tea, morning tea.
- 🥣 Main Ingredients: Flour, eggs, sugar
- 📖 Flavor Profile: Light, fluffy, delicate, sweet.
- 😊 Difficulty: Medium difficulty - takes some practice.
- 💡 Quick Tip: Sandwich with cream, raspberries or fresh strawberries for an elegant cake!
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My Nanna was one of the best cooks I ever knew. Going to her house when we were kids was the best because she always had the most beautiful home-baked goods. She made the best cakes, pastries and pies and old fashioned desserts.
Her Apple Shortcake was always a favourite, and her Pavlova was always a hit! Vanilla Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Pudding - you name it, she had a recipe for it!
Lots of her recipes were passed on to me, but this sponge cake recipe sticks in my mind and is one that every time I make, it reminds me of her. Like my Lemonde Scones, this is a tried and true recipe that's been in the family for over 30 years.
Jump to:
Why We Love this Recipe
- Soft and Spongey - not too heavy, not too light, this sponge cake is the perfect texture.
- Customise the filling - I love this because I can customise the fillings as well. My go-to is jam and cream, but I love this cake with chocolate icing, or filled with fresh cream and raspberries.
- Pantry Staples - this cake is super simple, using pantry staples that I always have on hand.
- Dress Up or Down for an Occasion - I've made this cake for birthday parties before and dressed it up for a special occasion.
☀️This cake is the perfect end to a summer dinner party! Pair with my Thai Salad, and a Smoked Salmon Pizza for a summery feast!☀️
What Readers are Saying
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟I made this for a Memorial Day cookout. It was so easy and very fluffy! - Jennifer
Key Ingredients
❗This is an old-fashioned recipe which uses cups. You need scant of one cup of flour and one cup of sugar. For best results, use a digital scale to weigh your ingredients.❗
Flour - If you have self-raising flour, you can use it and omit the baking powder. However, if you don't, then you'll need to use plain flour and add 2 teaspoons of baking powder to make it rise.
Eggs - at room temperature. They need to be separated. Make sure NO yolk gets into the egg whites as they won't whip up properly.
Substitutions
- 🔁 Plain Flour - if you have it, substitute the plain flour for self-raising flour and do not add the baking powder.
Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe Step by Step Instructions
- Sift the flour in a mixing bowl (7 times!)
- Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks appear.
- Gradually add the sugar, beating after each addition. Then add the yolks in one at a time.
- Carefully fold in the flour.
- Pour into your prepared pans.
- Bake in a moderate oven for 20 minutes until browned on top and cooked in the middle.
Expert Tip 👩🍳
Place the cakes on the same rack, side by side in the oven so that they get an even bake.
Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe FAQs
My sponge cake recipe is a traditional sponge. Similar to a Genoise, but I use baking powder as my rising agent, alongside the whipped egg whites.
I use 2 x 8" or 22cm round cake tins. Start by tracing the cake tin onto a piece of parchment paper, then cut out the circles. Grease your tins with butter, then place the parchment paper round on the bottom. This will help the cake to not stick.
The fluffiness of the sponge cake can come down to two things: the egg whites and over-folding the flour. The egg whites need to be whisked up until soft peaks form. If not, then there will be no air in your sponge.
You also need to very gently fold the flour into the egg mixture, and work it as little as possible. Over-folding will result in a dense sponge.
Sometimes, if you tap the sponges or handle them too roughly, you can lose those air bubbles that you need to make a light, fluffy sponge. Tapping the pan on a bench removes the bubbles, leading to a dense cake. Handle your sponge with care! Over folding the flour also leads to a dense sponge.
Yes! They freeze well. I bought some gallon-sized zip-lock bags and placed my cooled sponge cakes in them, separated by a piece of parchment paper.
To defrost them, all you need to do is take them out of your freezer bags and place them on a cooling rack and bring them to room temperature before serving.
You will want to cook your sponge cakes in a 180C/350F fan forced oven for around 20 minutes. They will be a light golden colour on top, and you should be able to lightly touch them and they're springy.
If you've cooked them on the same shelf in the oven they should be ready at the same time and have an even rise.
After you take them out of the oven, let them cool in their pans for about 10 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edges of the cake pans (careful not to scratch the pans) to loosen the cakes up, then flip them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you have greased the pan well enough, they should slide right out. Let them fully cool before adding cream; you will melt your toppings.
Try to pour the batter evenly into the cake tin. If you want to be specific, it may be a good idea to weigh the batter in the tins. To make sure your cakes bake evenly, place them in the MIDDLE RACK on the SAME SHELF. That way they cook evenly.
Serving Suggestions
Decorating is a personal preference. For this particular sponge cake, I used layers of raspberry jam and whipped cream, then dusted the cakes with some icing sugar. This is my favourite way to eat a sponge cake.
Other favourite serving suggestions:
🩵 Raspberry jam and cream, topped with chocolate icing (one of my personal favourites).
🩵 Whipped cream with chocolate icing topping.
🩵 Raspberry jam, strawberries, whipped cream and icing sugar.
🩵 Whipped cream and slices of fresh strawberries dusted with icing sugar.
Other Suggested Old Fashioned Desserts
If you tried this Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and a 📝 comment below to let me know how it went. I love hearing from you!
📖 Recipe
Fluffy Sponge Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 2 8"/22cm round cake pans
- 2 large bowls
- 1 sieve
- 1 hand or stand mixer with whisk attachment
- 1 1 cup measuring cup
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup scant plain flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ tablespoon cornflour/cornstarch
- 4 eggs at room temperature, separated
- 1 cup scant sugar 1 cup, not quite full to the brim
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F/180C (fan forced)
- Trace the bottom of the cake tins onto parchment paper. Then cut out a round piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of your cake tin. Grease the tin lightly with butter, then place the parchment paper round in the bottom of the tin.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and cornstarch/cornflour 7 times.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks appear.
- Gradually add sugar, beating after each addition.
- Whisk in egg yolks, one at a time.
- Gradually and carefully, fold in the flour until just combined.
- Evenly pour the batter into the prepared tins.
- Place tins in the middle rack of the oven, side by side.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the sponge cake is started to brown on top.
- To test if it's ready, poke a metal skewer into the middle of the cake, the skewer should come out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in the pan for 10 minutes, before turning them out onto a wire rack.
- To turn out the cakes, carefully and gently run a butter knife outside the edge of the cake. Place a cooling rack upside down on the top of the cake tin, and carefully flip. The cake should come out straight away, if not, gently whack the bottom of the cake tin to loosen it.
- Cool cakes completely.
- Choose your desired fillings. If using jam and cream, carefully spread the raspberry jam on one side of the cake. Then gently spread the whipped cream on top of the jam. Place the second cake on top of the first cake. Then dust with icing sugar and serve.
Isabella says
I have tried the recipe and it taste so good and I love the sponginess. I wish u can taste it to feel it also