4-Ingredient Sponge Cake (Video Recipe) (2024)

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I love this sponge cake recipe. It’s easy and you can make hundreds of different cakes with this base. This is a classic European sponge cake (aka Genoise). Once you have this recipe down (you’ll memorize it after a couple rounds), you’ll be baking things that look and taste like they are from a fancy bakery.

This cake base takes on moisture really well from fruit, frostings, liqueurs and syrups. As you can tell from my cake recipes, I’m a sucker for moist cakes. Read on to see 11marvelous recipesyou can make using this sponge cake base.

Over the years, I’ve testedcountlessdifferent ways to make this cake and this is thebest, most fail-proof method for genoise that I’ve tested. This isnot like American cakes and readers oftenquestion if it can really be that easy and only have 4 ingredients.

I want youto discover this gem of a cake and succeed EVERY TIMEyoumake it. I hope you find this video helpful. We had you in mind! 🙂

Watch How To Make Sponge Cake:

Tips for Success (Read First!):

1. When no streaks of flour remain in the dough, fold a few extra times to ensure you aren’t missing pockets of flour at the bottom

2. Bake the cake layers right after foldingin the flour – they should not sit too long

3. Always use a conventional oven setting (not a convection/fan setting)

4. An electric hand mixer will take 2-4 minutes longer to beat the eggs

5. Tip from reader, Hilda: “How do you know u get the right consistency? Lift up your beater (whisk) from the batter. Make a figure “8” using the batter that drip off the beater. Then count to 10 seconds. If the figure 8 still remains on top of the batter, then u have the right consistency. If the figure 8 sinks into the batter before 10 secs, then u need to beat it longer.”

6. Bake in the center of the oven

7. Place cake in a fully pre-heated oven

8. Do not open the oven door to check on the cake until towards the end

9. Let the cake cool in a room without any outdoor draft which can make it seem eggy

Sponge Cake Recipes you can master at home:

Blackberry Lemon Cake – soft and moist and hasa fluffy lemon blackberry buttercream frosting.

Charlotte Cake –layers of raspberry mousse, lady fingers and fluffy cake.

Poppy Seed Cake –fluffy and moist with a hint of rum and it’s not overly sweet.

Strawberry Sponge Cake –boasts1 1/2 lbs of fresh strawberries. You’ll love the simple and delicious whipped cream cheese frosting.

Black Forest Cake – A chocolate version of classic genoisewith1 lb of kirsch infused cherries and whipped cream. So good!!

Russian Apple Cake (Sharlotka) –Just 5 ingredientsand15 min of prep then your oven does the rest!

Poppy Seed Cake Roll – Moist, generously filled with a cream cheese frosting, coveredwith velvety chocolate ganache and pummeled with salted pistachios.

Pomegranate Christmas Cake – With a crown of glistening pom seeds, this one’s a stunner for the holidays.

Story Book Cake Roll –This cake roll is moist, rolled with a vanilla butter cream, covered in decadent chocolate and the cookie crumbs give it a subtle crunch.

Kiwi Berry Cake – If you love fruit, this cake willmake your dreams come true. Layer after layer of gorgeous berries.

Tiramisu – if you like tiramisu, you will love this!

I told you I loved this cake base. I’m Completely smitten 🙂