Vanilla Sponge Cake or even Hot Milk Sponge Cake is a name you may be more familiar, is a very light and delicate cake that is so very versatile with an array of fillings and icings to chose from.
It is a more dry style cake by nature, which requires a bit of simple syrup on the layers to make it shine at it’s best.
I have tried to simplify the mix method as best as possible, and honestly I have mixed this recipe several different ways and had great results every time!
So that tells me this a a very “friendly” recipe so don’t feel nervous when I say things like “liaison” and ask you to heat the eggs over a double boiler
Give this a go and see for yourself!
The combinations are endless here with this really great, basic cake recipe.
Read about What is Cake? to get a better idea of all the different styles of cake recipes to choose from and how to best pair up fillings and icings!
*Update: Now I hate to make anyone nervous about mixing this recipe since so many have had great success and LOVE this cake so much, it has now become their “go-to” cake recipe.
But others have had extreme failures here.
I mentioned in the video that this is my 5th time refilming this recipe and I have settled on a method that I found to be most “user friendly” but there are still some points to pay attention to for the best results for a nicely risen, fluffy cake.
The Ribbon Stage: Most important step here for your cake to be fluffy and light versus heavy and dense with no rise (as this is the complaint of most who have had failure)
A Sponge cake relies on foamed eggs to give it is lightness, airiness and most important- RISE.
This recipe has a bit of baking powder in it to help it along but a traditional sponge or genoise style cake will not.
The most important step in the mixing of this cake (well, there are 2) but #1 being that the eggs get foamed to their maximum possible foam-age but not over whipped to the point that they are going to shrink up upon baking and cause a tight crumb due to the overstretching of the egg white proteins.
Yes I know I just got all scientific here but it is important to understand in cake baking and well…CLICK HERE for more on “How to know if I’ve over whipped my eggs.”
That article was written more for egg whites and specifically for meringues and such, but the same scientific rules apply for whole eggs too, since whole eggs have egg whites in them right?
Although it is less apparent when you have over whipped your whole eggs than when you have over whipped your egg whites as I show in that video on that page.
So again I will stress that if you just do exactly what I do in the video (and achieving maximum foam-age in whole eggs is typically 5 – 7 minutes BUT the best way to know is to do the ribbon test.)
One you lift the beaters and the egg/sugar mixture falls back into the bowl forming ribbons that last about 3 seconds before disappearing you are good!
And last #2 Important Key Factor in the success of this cake, is do not over fold in the flour!
Originally I did the flour folding by hand, but I found that too many people were over-folding causing severe deflation of those eggs we just worked so hard to achieve!
So I adjusted the method to the mixer bowl so that on low speed it would incorporate the flour faster and more delicately, but *sigh* I suppose it is all up to the person mixing the recipe and how they perceive certain things. So if you feel like the mixer is going to be too damaging to the mixture by adding the flour that way, please by all means fold it in by hand!
I hope that this updated note will help folks understand just what the heck is happening in this recipe and why we have to be super careful at those 2 key points in the recipe.
But as always I stress: IF YOU MIX IT EXACTLY AS I SHOW YOU AND USE ALL THE SAME INGREDIENTS EXACTLY AS LISTED YOU WILL HAVE GREAT SUCCESS WITH MY RECIPES!
The milk / butter mixture should be hot (about 150°f) when adding to the liaison
A stand mixer is not necessary however it is the best at achieving the ribbon stage with the balloon whip attachment, a hand beater can be used but be aware it may take almost 20 minutes to reach ribbon stage
Grease pans with pan grease
Preheat oven to 350°f
- Eggs Large 4 (200g)
- Granulated Sugar 1 ¾ cup (350g)
- Whole Milk 1 cup (237ml)
- Unsalted Butter 1 Stick (8 Tablespoons) (112g)
- Vanilla Extract 1 Tablespoon (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour 1 cup (125g)
- Cake Flour 1 cup (120g)
- **most asked question: can I use one or the other of the flour? YES
- Baking Powder 2 teaspoons (10g)
- Salt ½ teaspoons (3g)
- In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer combine the eggs and sugar over a double boiler and whisk with a hand whisk until the sugar has dissolved slightly and the mixture reaches approximately 115°f.
- On high speed whip to ribbon stage, thick and pale colored and is almost 5X from original volume
- The eggs will take about 5 - 7 minutes to reach the ribbon stage.
- In the meantime combine the milk and butter in a microwave safe bowl or on the stove top and melt to just under a boil. Add the vanilla extract
- By this time the eggs should be ready, fold in the sifted dry ingredients
- Take out about 2 cups of the cake batter into a separate mixing bowl, and with a hand whisk add the hot milk-butter to that. Whisk vigorously
- Add the "liaison" back into the remaining batter in the mixer bowl.
- Pour batter between the two prepared pans.
- Bake in preheated 350°f oven for about 35 minutes or UNTIL IT'S DONE
Store this cake wrapped well and freeze layers until ready to assemble your cake. Otherwise use immediately to build a cake.
A Note on Doubling this recipe:
Most recipes are no problem to simply double or triple the ingredients amount and proceed as the recipe states to mix.
However with a recipe such as this one, that requires the eggs reach a certain volume, you may have trouble to double and especially triple the quantities here, because you are severely limiting the amount of room for the eggs to gain volume.
If you have a 7qt Kitchen Aid bowl, you can double the recipes, but I will not advise to triple unless you have a commercial 12Qt or 20Qt Bowl
CHOCOLATE SPONGE VERSION HERE!
- Eggs Large 4 (200g)
- Granulated Sugar 1 ¾ cup (350g)
- Whole Milk 1 cup (237ml)
- Unsalted Butter 1 Stick (8 Tablespoons) (112g)
- Vanilla Extract 1 Tablespoon (15ml)
- All Purpose Flour ¾ cup (95g)
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder ½ cup (57g)
- Cake Flour 1 cup (120g)
- **most asked question: can I use one or the other of the flour? YES
- Baking Powder 2 teaspoons (10g)
- Salt ½ teaspoons (3g)
- Sift together all of the dry ingredients and reserve aside
- In the bowl of your Kitchen Aid mixer combine the eggs and sugar over a double boiler and whisk with a hand whisk until the sugar has dissolved slightly and the mixture reaches approximately 115°f.
- On high speed whip to ribbon stage, thick and pale colored and is almost 5X from original volume
- The eggs will take about 5 - 7 minutes to reach the ribbon stage.
- In the meantime combine the milk and butter in a microwave safe bowl or on the stove top and melt to just under a boil.
- Add the vanilla extract
- By this time the eggs should be ready, fold in the sifted dry ingredients
- Take out about 2 cups of the cake batter into a separate mixing bowl, and with a hand whisk add the hot milk-butter to that.
- Add the "liaison" back into the remaining batter in the mixer bowl, folding gently to incorporate
- Pour batter between the two prepared pans.
- Bake in preheated 350°f oven for about 35 minutes or UNTIL IT'S DONE
651 Comments
yes sure you can cut it in half
Hi Gretchen,
Can I add juice of 1 lemon and lemon zest to make this a lemon sponge cake? And I plan to use real raspberry buttercream
I too would like to know how to get a lemon or orange hint of flavor in this cake without compromising the texture. I’m not sure a brushing of citrus liqueur is quite enough. I apologize if I somehow missed the reply to this question.
Yes to liquor, zests of the citrus and extracts all can be used
Hi Gretchen, Thanks a ton for sharing your recipes. I always fallow your blogs. Can I use strawberry extract and strawberry flavour instead of vanilla. I’ve a request for strawberry cake. Please let me know. Thanks again.
HI Thanks, yes you can but you may also want to just use a different recipe for more strawberry flavor CLICK HERE AND HERE
Hi gretChen…I can’t eat eggs.can i use condensed milk?
NOT HERE THIS IS FOAMED EGG RECIPE THAT WONT WORK WITH OUT THE EGG CLICK HERE FOR VEGAN CAKE (AND i HAVE A NEW ONE COMING SOON!)
Hello Gretchen,
Well I tried your sponge and it was a big flop. I managed to find how to make my own cake flour using 3 parts plain flour and 1 part Cornflour, but after following your instructions to a ‘T’ it did not turn out the way you said it should. But I think I know why! In your steps you say to take some of the cake mixture out and mix it with the hot milk butter component, which I did but then all you say to do then is put it back in the cake mixture and fold until combined. However, this step did not work so well, as the cake became very runny at that stage and not like the original cake mix. I think this is why it did not work. It might be better to do this step before folding in the flour as the flour would bring it back to the right consistency, what do you think? John
HI John, I’m sorry you had this trouble! But good for you to backtrack and research into why it could have happened! I do not have any trouble with this cake as it is written, and many others have had great success too… but with that being said there are still many who have had trouble with it, so your idea is definitely worth a try! Let me know how it turns out if you do indeed try again!
Same thing happened with my mixture and I decided to add some more flour to the runny batter. Had to throw out the cake that I bravely attempted for the Holidays. End result was a dense hard cake.
Hi Gretchen. I tried it and came out very well. I want to make it in a 26 cm square pan. How this measurements will be. Please help
2x the recipe
HI Gretchen… I love this recipe! I wanted to know when should I add the simple syrup to the cake? And if I always have to add it?
Hi Great thanks! It is your option to use simple syrup if you think it is a bit dry on its own. You add it when you are building the cake CLICK HERE FOR a visual as I am using it on this cake (skip to 9:15 in the video)
Thank you a lot dear , I’m going to bake this cake tonight after i read everything well, wish me a good luck
Hello
I really really love the vanilla sponge cake, but my question is how do I make this cake even more moist? Would adding more oil work or if not which recipe would you suggest for sheet cakes/ cupcakes.
I like the Butter Cake the best CLICK HERE for more info
Can i know cake flour…what is that…as i know…cake flour is same with all purpose flour…
Sure CLICK HERE for more
Helloo Ma’am, could you please tell us how to make a Perfect Lemon Meringue?
Also, Could you tell us how to get Melted Chocolate from the centre of a Chocolate Cookie!
Thank You!
HI CLICK HERE for LEMON MERINGUE and I do not have a chocolate lava cookie but I have these CLICK HERE
How do I make this for a 10 in pan
1½X recipe for 2-10″ layers
Hi gretchen. What if I don’t have cake flour?
you can use all plain or AP
Could you cut the cake so we could see how it ‘s suppose to look inside ( the vanilla sponge cake)
Sure CLICK HERE this is where I use this cake
Hi can you please send me the measurements for a single 6 inch chocolate sponge cake please
You can divide this recipe by 1/3 for 1 layer 6″ cake
Hi Gretchen ! I was confused with the line you inserted at the ingredient: “most ask question”
If I will make that, then I will use each of it ? or just any of it ?
The recipe calls for 1 cup cake flour and 1 cup all purpose flour, most people ask me can they use all- ALL PURPOSE or ALL CAKE FLOUR. SO the answer is yes. Obviously i wrote the recipe with both flours because that is the best way, but for those who do not have both flours, using 1 is fine (total flour in the recipe = 2 cups)
Dear Gretchen,
Separating two cups of the batter and adding the liquids (ie milk and butter) made is difficult
to whisk as most of it was on my body and parts of my kitchen wall!
Is this expected?
My original batter looked volumnous but after adding the liason, somehow became deflated.
Could I have just added melter butter only to that batter?
HI Ratna I think I explain in the video about the liaison and why we do it, did you get to watch the video?
Awesome recipe!!!
Hi Gretchen.you are amazing I dont know from what recipe I should begin..I want to make them all..but since I can find plain flour what can I use instead? ?? Or can I use only all purpose flour? ?? And last is it necessary making this cake using syrup on top???Thank you:)
HI Great! thanks! Plain Flour is equivalent to AP so that’s fine yes to simple syrup CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hello Gretchen
Can you please tell me the difference between All purpose flour and cake flour? As an Australian we only have self-raising flour and plain flour?
Sure CLICK HERE AND CLICK HERE
Please ignore my first comment. This is my second comment.
very nicely presented. Can I make cup cake with your vanilla sponge cake recipe? Thank you.
thanks! yes But Click here first
Hi Gretchen
Just wondering. Can I use this recipe to make a fondant cake? What cake recipe can you recommend for fondant cake? At the moment I’m using your moist chocolate cake recipe for the fondant cake I often make but I would really like to try a vanilla cake recipe. Thanks much.
SURE! CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hi Gretchen,
What is a ribbon cake?
Is it another name for sponge cake?
Thanks,
Mel
Im not sure I have heard of a ribbon cake? Unless they mean the “ribbon stage” which yes is what we are trying to achieve when making a sponge cake
Hey Gretchen, silly question… Can I put all this batter into a half sheet pan and bake it that way? I have looked at your post about cake pans but can not understand it… If you could clear it up that would be great…
Ethan 😉
Glasgow, Scotland
yes you can, typically any recipe that yields 2-8″ layers will also fit in a 12″ x 18″ pan for 1 layer
Would like try this receipe , but here in the U K we do not have Cake Flour what can i substitute it with ? Thank You .
CLICK HERE
Am I able to use a sugar substitute for any of your cake recipes and/or frosting recipes? I am trying to make a birthday cake for a diabetic and I love to use your recipes, but I need a diabetic friendly recipe.
yes but it depends on a few things CLICK HERE FOR MORE
OMG! Gretchen……..This was soooooo good the first time i tried it, so much so that i made it everyday for 2 weeks! This is my go-to recipe now. I don’t even check the recipe anymore……it’s all in my brain now! Lol. Thanks, Gretchen.
And to say that i’m in Nigeria….
Hi Gretchen:
Just baked this recipe, I use a 9 x 9 ( 2 inches deep) square pan with exactly the same formula. I anticipated that it should have some leftover since you are using 2 8 inches round pans. To my surprised, it filled the pan just nice! The cake did not rised up to fill up the pan either! What am I doing wrong? I am using hand mixer. I am not quite sure if the batter were in ribbon stage( I watched your video while making the cake) . Please help!
Thanks
The hand mixer is usually very difficult to reach ribbon stage since it does not have the power or the balloon whipping action of the stand mixer
Hi:
Thanks . Is it because of the eggs batter not in ribbon stage that resulted the cake unable to rise up?
YES MOST OFTEN YES
Hello Gretchen! i am a big fan of yours, i’ve been watching you back then and i’m very happy that you are continuously helping people who loves this art of baking!!anyways, i am planning to make a 2 sets of this (double recipe on a 40 x 30 cm sheet pan), will there be any changes on the oven temperature? would you recommend any filling for this? thank you very much!
HI Thanks and you are welcome too! As long as your mixer can accommodate the volume of eggs that will be whipped its fine to do it together, otherwise 2 separate batches is best. Temperature stays same, time will be less since it is a thinner layer in a sheet pan CLICK HERE FOR MORE
hi gretchen,
i need to know whether we can bake a cake without oven.i mean in a pressure cooker or on stove top.if can then i wish to know the clear way to make it.could u please help me
I have never baked a cake with out an oven
I baked a cheesecake in my BBQ once lol! When my oven conked out and I was in the middle of it. On 350, just kept checking it to make sure it didn’t burn. Everyone said it was the best cheesecake they’d ever had!
Hi Gretchen pls wot is d difference btw all purpose flour nd cake flour
CLICK HERE
Is it possible to divide this recipe in half for one 8 inch cake ?
yes
Hello Gretchen. I would like to use xylitol sugar substitute for a diabetic client. The cake will be diabetic friendly right? i love this recipe and will never go back! everybody loves it 🙂
yes it will work
Hey Gretchen! Woah was blown away by this cake and it’s been my go to recipe. However, I read an article on a different sponge cake whereby the proportions are more or less the same, but the baking powder is 2 tsp and the whites are whipped separately and the yolks are whipped together with flour sugar milk and oil. I tried that recipe but the taste couldn’t get compare with this cake even though it was lighter. So do you think I could try that method with this recipe?
sure go for it! let me know how it goes
Gracias por esta torta, la disfrutaré. He buscado mucho algo así. GRACIAAAS.
Is there a breaking point to how much baking powder you can add? Some recipes call for one tbsp and some recipes call for one tsp per cup of flour. If you could explain it that’d be great
best to always follow the recipe as it is listed
Hi I made this cake and the flavor was really good, but the top was kind of Crunchy Little bit hard and I left this outside overnight and was kind of hard next day.
Hmm, sounds like the sugar didnt dissolve all the way into the eggs and rose to the top while baking, try to use a superfine sugar next time and get it dissolved in the warming of the eggs
ALSO click here
I made this cake for the first time for my daughters 16th birthday. It was perfect. Everyone loved the cake, I paired it with a manderine layered gelatin, with a mascarpone whipping cream frosting.
I will definitely make this again.
Hi Gretchen this is my go-to recipe however I have to make a dairy free version and the dairy free alternative to butter is more of a margarine. Would it still work? Thinking I may have to heat the milk and then add the margarine and melt it?
Thanks
Click here for an OIL version
Hi, Gretchen. Can i just add strawberry puree into the batter to get a strawberry variety, or is it not advisable…… And if it is ‘okay’ may i know how much i should add please?? 🙂
not great to do that here, will make it rubbery and dense cake CLICK HERE for strawberry chiffon cake
Hi Gretchen
Thanks for the clarifications with the marble cake – they really helped.
I have another question. What’s the purpose of the “liaison” in the recipe? I guess I understand generally what a liaison does, but I keep wondering if the step is omitted in this recipe, would it make a big difference?
Thanks a lot.
Kerri
The liaison is there because if you just added the milk/butter mixture to the batter, it would just fall to the bottom of the bowl and not mix well with the batter due to the differences in viscosity
SO by whisking it with a small amount of batter it gets the consistency mush closer to the batter you are to mix it into
.
This is the best sponge recipe ever… have done it many times now
YES! HI! I have the little box still! with my name on it!! LOVE IT! Coca weighs less than flour soi naturally taking out that amount of flour will be less amount when adding back in the same VOLUME of cocoa
Hi Gretchen…made this cake, and the vanilla cake was fabulous! However, I wanted to make a chocolate one, too, and followed your instructions on the vanilla recipe, where you just add 1/2 c of cocoa to half the batter. Since I was making the whole batch chocolate, took it to mean I could add 1 full cup of cocoa to the batter. Well, not a great idea, I guess. It was very dry. Then I see the recipe for chocolate sponge above, and you actually added 30 grams less flour. As I was mixing this from the adaption in the original recipe, I was kind of wondering if it would be too much dry ingredients, and I guess it was. Wish I had seen the chocolate sponge recipe first, lol. Guess I’ll be adding some simple syrup, maybe add a little Kahlua to it. Yeehaw! LOL
Ah-ha! Thank you!!! Hope all is well with you!
yes 1″ makes not a big difference
Hi gretchen
Ive just subscribed to your chanell i was wondering do you have to sift the cake flour first before weighing because its lighter to get an acurate measurment i read that somewhere love your channel great recipes
Tricia
Hi Welcome! I made a blog post specific for that! CLICK HERE
Hey gretchen ,i just love you and your recipes. I can’t believe whenever i try any of your recipe it comes out perfect. Today i tried vanilla sponge cake and doubled the recipe . Thanks you soo much dear for helping us. GOD BLESS YOU 🙂
awesome! thanks for the feedback yes please post to my FACEBOOK PAGE!
Hi gretchen,, ca i use buttermilk instead of whole milk,, thanks
yes, just dont heat it too much – Buttermilk will curdle at high tempreatures
I have made this recipe several times over the past few months, and have even doubled it. I have not had a single problem with it. It is delicious, light, fluffy and easy and reliable. Thank you so much for this recipe. It is now my go to sponge cake recipe.
Awesome site! From NJ as well. What recipe (yellow cake) of yours do you most highly recommend for making a three layered caked that will be covered with butter cream and fondant?
Thanks!!
Hey! thanks!! I love the Yellow Cake and CLick here for more about covering cakes with fondant
Hello
If I don’t have cake flour
Do I doubled the amount of all purpose flour
NO, just substitute it same quantity
Hey Gretchen, quick question. How tall are these cakes supposed to rise? I just made this recipe and the cakes turned out to be aboutb1.5″ in height and yours looks at least twice the height. I followed your recipe to the T . Where could I’ve gone wrong? I also used 8×3″ cake tins so I’m wondering if yours were 8×2 since your batter filled almost to the top. Thanks!!!
HEY, yes MY TINS ARE 2″ HEIGHT AND THEY ROSE UP TO THE TOP
The 1″ more in your pans won’t make a difference in rising, they should have still rose up to 2″ each layer (if you filled the batter divided evenly in the 2 pans.
Did you read the blog post, where some have had trouble and the key factor here is the eggs, ribbon stage etc?
Hmmm, I whipped it for 5-6minutes and it passed the ribbon test I think. Maybe I’ll beat it a little longer today and yes I read it haha. If my milk wasn’t at 150°F would that affect it? Also the completed batternwas about 1050g so I just put 525g in each tin. So it shouldve been divided evenly
Hi Gretchen !!
That’s an amazing recipe and has got rave reviews from my clients. I use this cake for my fresh cream and buttercream cakes. Its too moist and soft. Now does this hold under fondant and bear the weight of the ganache and buttercream filling and frosting!?
GREAT! Im so glad you have success here since many have not with this recipe! CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON FONDANT
Gretchen I’m so confused 🙁 I made it again today, whipped on high (10 on kitchen aid) for 5 minutes, did the ribbon test and it passed, I folded the flour in extremely carefully, and it still rose to about 1.25″. Would Pam baking spray affect the cake? Not giving it enough support on the sides of the tin to latch onto and rise? Im just confused why it’s not rising.
Hmmm not really since I have used both the spray and the pan grease in this recipe time & again. I believe that you are doing it correctly, and Im sorry you are not satisfied with the result! How is the cake though (other than the height) is is soft, spongy, fluffy, light??
Cake looks lovely can’t wait to try it! Just wondering instead of a mixture of plain and self raising can you just use self raising? Also how long does the cake last once decorated? X
Yes just omit the baking powder and salt however CLICK HERE FIRST
The cakes shelf life really depends on the filling and icing (those are usually perishable before the cake would ever go bad)
Hello
You told that substitute the same quantity ( not having cake flour) substitute with what?
Can u brief a little
Thank u
I thought you said plain flour? All purpose flour? That’s the substitute CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hi I want to use this recipe to make cupcakes…can I use buttermilk instead of the milk . I want my cupcakes to be moist and last more long…..
yes you can
Hi Gretchen,
Good day to you. I have been using this recipe few times in making sheet cake or 8″ round cake and they always turned out gorgeous! Thank you for that!
Last weekend I used this recipe for making cupcakes and half of the batch turned out gorgeous as always but the other half of the batch turned out to be very dense 🙁
For your information, my little oven can only fit 12 pcs of cupcakes at one time. So I baked 12 pcs first and left the remaining batter on the kitchen counter first. The first 12 pcs came out perfect. Then when I was scooping for the next batch, I noticed that the batter was heavier and after baked, they are very dense.
Can you help to advice how to overcome this because I really love this recipe and I hope to use it again when making cupcakes. Is it because the batter was left out on the kitchen counter for so long, it deflates? Or should I have sifted the flour many many many times? Appreciate your input on this Gretchen.
Thank you,
Azila
Hi Azila! Great observation! You are almost there CLICK HERE FOR MORE!
Hey Gretchen, i have been making this cake and turns out amazing however made cupcakes with the same batter but cupcakes turned out way too soft, extremely light like feathers. although some may think wow thats exactly what you look for in a cake but cupcakes that light is not what everyone likes
need you expertise on this 🙂
Sponge cakes are typically not great cupcakes, unless (as you said) you like them that way. I prefer heavier batters like my White Cake is great for cupcakes
Also CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Hi, please help, im making a 16″x12″x3″ cake, how much of this recipe shall i use? Thanks
3X recipe for each 16″ Layer
2X recipe for each 12″ layer
(the excess can do for the 3″ cakes) fill pans half full with batter and you will be fine, they typically rise to double
hi gretchen, i am making a 12X4″ cake should i use 2X as suggested above?
Yes 2X for 1-layer, but just make sure you mixer bowl can accommodate the volume of whipped eggs that is required for this recipe to work!
Sorry Gretchen, I explained my self wrong, it is just one layer and the cake tin measures 16″x12″x3″?
Oh I though it was 16X 16
So this would be 1 recipe 9the entire batter) into the above mentioned pan
I found the answer as I read through the thread.
My cakes are now out of the oven and I am in cake heaven…bestest ever!! light, moist fluffy….oh my goodness! I substituted buttermilk for milk and added extra vanilla bean paste….cake gorgeousness!!!!
Where can I join your membership club with monthly payments?
Thanks thanks thanks!!!
Awesome! Great! You can sign up right here on the right column there is a sign up sheet that says BEST BAKER CLUB! and it is FREE!!
Hi, how do i alter this recipe to make just 12 cupcakes or just one 8″ layer cake? Do i just half the ingredients?
Please advise. Thanks! 🙂
yes you can half all the ingredients
Hi Gretchen,
Thank you for the link! It was very informative 🙂
I will just go for your Vanilla Cupcakes Recipe next time for cupcakes.
-Azila
Hi Gretchen
Is this recipe suitable for fondant coverage?
Thank you.
yes CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hi the whole milk you have used looks more than 1 cup or the ingredients mentioned is wrong?
the recipe is correct as written, I have the butter combined with the milk in the video so it looks like more
Hi gretchen!
I want to know that we cannot find cake flour in Australia so i subsituted plain flour mixed with a little corn flour and my cake rise properly than sank after taking out of oven. Is there anything what i can do? Waiting for ur reply. Thanks
You are an awesome chef and am loving ur recipes.
Hi Thanks! Im sorry that happened to you, is it possible you filled the pans too much, since that would cause a rising and then falling as you explained.
Otherwise too much baking powder also causes that same effect so be sure you measured correctly
Hi
There is no cake flour in the uk either. I tried making my own but the cake wasn’t great. However when i used self raising flour in place of cake flour along with the plain flour it was perfect. Have probably made it about 30x now and always great. (I still add the baking powder and salt too)
Hope that helps!
Aneesa
As cake flour isn’t available in our country, can I use all purpose flour instead, or it can be substituted with 1 cup all p. flour+2 tbs cornflour ?
Yes you can do the substitution as you mentioned (Or use AP – both ways works!)
Can I use 2% milk instead of whole milk?
yes
Difference in cake &all purpose flour?
CLICK HERE and also here for more info
I made this but used all purpose flour full it’s come out amazing and very soft and light….thanks so much for the recipe.
It looks so nice!! I want to do this for m father on friday but I only have one pan. Can I put all the mixture in 1 pan and bake it? Oh btw my pan is 8 or 9 inch
Just be sure not to fill the pans more 3/4 full over they will overflow and collapse (this recipe does great in a 12cup bundt pan)
Hey Gretchen,I’m issues with large cakes. I need help with how to bake large cakes like 10, 12, 14,16…
Its just a matter of doubling and tripling recipes. But if you keep in mind to fill the pans half way full (NO MATTER WHAT SIZE YOU ARE USING) you are go to go
1- 10″ = 1½X recipe
1- 12″ = 2X recipe
1- 14″ = 2½X recipe etc etc
What would be the proportion for plain alone from 1egg if not using cake flour and just ap flour?
Im sorry I do not understand this question
wow thanks for your fast reply!! i bought all ingredients today and can’t wait to try this recipe out on friday!:) but i just saw that my springform pan isn’t 8 or 9 inches, it’s 10 inches. do i have to double up the ingredients now? or can i still pour everything in one 10 inch round pan and it will come out big? thanks for your answer in advance! 🙂
sorry i’m asking much but i only bought wheat flour. can i use it instead of the cake and all purpose flour?
All flour is made from wheat, so Im not sure if you mean WHOLE WHEAT? in which case no. You need a softer flour like Cake or All Purpose for making cakes CLICK HERE
1½X recipe for 10″ Pans
Hai Gretchen,
I am from Kerala,I love ur cakes so much.All of them are mouth watering.I try many of
them. Would you please give your recipe of CARROT CAKE with oil instead of butter?
Hi Thanks! Sure I actually give you the conversions for OIL on the recipe for carrot CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen
im really hoping you can help me out with this. Im making a 2 tier cake for the first time. The bottom tier is 8 inches and the top is 6. If i am using this Vanilla cake recipe should i double the recipe or is 1.5x going to be enough? will that be enough to feed 30 people?
THank you so much for taking out the time to answer all our questions 🙂
HI! Sure thing, 1½X recipe YES you are exactly correct.
However Im not so sure that will feed 30 people! The 8 is for about 14-16 (you can squeeze out more if you cut small) the 6″ just about 4-6 people
I would have an additional 8″ cake just for cutting in the kitchen to cover the guest count
Please tell me how to bake this cake in a oven C° ?
SURE! CLICK HERE
Hai Gretchen,
I am so happy and inform my gratitude for your fast reply.I will try your carrot recipe today itself.
Love this cake ! I did a few test bakes on the 8″ this week to prep for a my first wedding cake.
How much batter would I need for a 12″ cake pan? I’m guessing 6 cups. I usually weight everything but could not find weight of batter anywhere.
What is your opinion on using cake strips around the outside of the pan when it is baking.
Hi! Great! Im so glad you had success (some have had trouble with this recipe!) So Just be sure when you double & triple that the mixer you use can handle the volume of eggs necessary to get to ribbon stage. Also, I do not go by weights on batter, so as long as you are filling the pan half full you are good. For a 12″ Layer you will need 2 X the recipe
Hi Gretchen. This recipe, and the cake, look delicious! i’m trying to come up with a good go-to crumb cake recipe and your vanilla sponge cake seems like a great place to start. Do you think it’ll hold up well to a thick, crumb topping?Thank you.
HI! thanks! I do not think this recipe will hold up – the crumbs will fall right to the bottom here. You need a thicker batter like a pound cake –
Hello Grentchen,
I have tried this recipe and commented before on how satisfied I was. I have a question, now, about whether this recipe would go well to soak with coffee and cover with a whipped cream cheese frosting as a tiramisu cake. Tiramisu is my husband’s favorite dessert and I wanted to turn it into his birthday cake. Also, I do not have mascarpone here, so I have to improvise. Any suggestions will be appreciated!
-Chimène
Great! and YES this recipe would do fabulously in the Tiramisu! (You can use cream cheese in place of mascarpone in my recipe- no other changes required)
Hi Gretchen,
When I made this sponge vanilla cake It comes out with holes at the bottom.
When I flip the cake over ,after 10 minutes of taking out of the oven the cake has this holes.
It happens lately a few times; would you please tell what can cause this? Thanks a lot for your time.
a couple factors may play into what is called “tunneling” in cake batters.
1- overmixing the batter will create a tougher gluten formation which does not allow for the leaveners to rise through the batter as easily as they would otherwise
2- too much leavener
3- not sifting flour to distribute the baking powder can cause this also
Hi Gretchen,can I use this cake as a layer cake for strawberry filling sponge with whipp creamThanks
Not great to add fruit purees here, I prefer you use this recipe (2x for 2- 8″ layers) substitute the strawberry puree in place of the key lime juice
How do I make a lemon variation of this? And I’m thinking of making a grapefruit buttercream but not sure whether to use a lemon sponge as I’m not sure the flavors go together or if I should just make this vanilla cake and do a grapefruit juice soak. Any suggestions regarding the two flavors I’d like to incorporate in my cake?
I prefer to use the Chiffon for Lemon Cake CLICK HERE your choices sound nice
I tried this recipe and it is very yummy,my husband liked it so much. Thanks ms. Gretchen for this yummy recipe.
Could you tell me how many times I need to x’s the recipe for a 12×18 sheet cake pan – any graduation cake ideas?
1X recipe for 1-layer 12″ X 18″
Can I use all purpose flour alone (same quantity) instead of using both self raising and all purpose flour?
I live in Dubai and I couldn’t find self raising flour here.
I do not use self rising flour ever. It is cake flour here which is different from self rise CLICK HERE FOR MORE
But to answer your first question, yes you can use all AP
Could this cake be used under fondant or would it be too light?
Thanks
yes it can be, CLICK HERE
This cake was the softest cake I ever made. Thanks a lot!
YAY! WOOHOO!
Made a naked cake with this recepie. Turned out great! Thanks for the recepie!
hi,hats off to u dear.i never make vanilla sponge cake so perfect like this one.it was delicious and just yum yum yum.luv u for this recipe………..can i use veg oil instead of butter for those who dont like to have butter.if yes…..what will be suitable quantity for that.thanks again.
HI Great! Yes to oil and I already have an Oil Sponge Cake CLICK HERE
Hello Gretchen!
I wanted to bake Blackforest cake so is it suitable to use your chocolate sponge cake recipe?
Thanks in advance
yes will be great!
Hello Grechan
I am wanting to make
an eggless white sponge cake. Pls help. Thank you.
Hi There, I have not yet mastered AQUAFABA for sponge cakes, but it is on the list
Is this recipe suitable for mix-ins like chopped chocolate or fruit?
yes, however since it is a very light batter (not viscous) the add ins may fall to the bottom even if you toss with flour first. A heavier batter like the butter cake or the white cake (is best) will hold the add in in suspension better
Hi Gretchen! I’m currently on the hunt for my ‘perfect’ cake recipe, and this one looks like a prime candidate! I’m just wondering, on a scale of 1-10, how buttery is this cake? As in, how strong is the butter flavour. I’m looking for a cake recipe that has a slight butter flavour, not too strong but strong enough for you to notice that it’s there. Thanks in advance for all help, Liz.
this one has very little butter (thus little butter flavor) this is a sponge cake so it will tend to be lighter, airier, it likes to take on the filling flavors and also an infused simple syrup would be nice. You may like the buttercake though! Try both!
Hi Gretchen!
Just took these out the oven. Made for a bbq party we are having tomorrow. Was a bit sceptical to try coz I didn’t want to be one of those for whom the recipe didn’t work. “Big sigh of relief” They look and smell FAB! Perfectly flat tops and so soft. Can’t wait to dig in 🙂
Was the milk still hot when you added it to the batter? If yes, won’t that cause the eggs to get cooked?
Hi Yes it is hot and no it doesnt cook the eggs
Gretchen Hello I have a question that relates to cake flour. It is the box (Pillsbury)? That says it takes all purpose flour 3/4 cup flour 1 cup and Cake? those two ingredients is the same? Thank you!
CLICK HERE FOR MORE ABOUT CAKE FLOUR
That says it takes all purpose flour 3/4 cup and cake flour 1 cup? Those two ingredients is the same? Thank you!
cake flour is not All Purpose Flour CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Gretchen Thank you for your information. I served much help and I want to tell you That your Spanish is good. I’m Puerto Rican and I speak Spanish Hinders me what is the Inglés !!
Gretchen Thank you for your information. I served much help and I want to tell you that your Spanish is good. I’m Puerto Rican and I speak Spanish Hinders me what is the Inglés !!
Muchas Gracias!!! ; -)
This is a nightmare! What did I do wrong? I’d like to send you the picture. The middle collapsed in both cakes. I didn’t open the oven. I did bake at 325 like always. Help, Gretchen!!!!!
Hi , Im so sorry to hear that. It is really difficult for me to know what you did wrong if I have no information other than a center collapse. BUT a center collapse can be caused by a couple things: too much batter in the pan is the #1 cause since the batter will rise up nicely but once it reaches the top of the pan and has no place to go – but DOWN!
The best advise I can give it to ask you to re-watch the video and be sure you did everything the same as I did and used all the same ingredients.
Note from the blog post: Now I hate to make anyone nervous about mixing this recipe since so many have had great success and LOVE this cake so much, it has now become their “go-to” cake recipe.
But others have had extreme failures here.
I mentioned in the video that this is my 5th time refilming this recipe and I have settled on a method that I found to be most “user friendly” but there are still some points to pay attention to for the best results
Turns out I screwed up. I did all ingredients 1.5 times EXCEPT THE SUGAR, WHICH I DOUBLED!!!!! Stupid me. It still tastes good. I’m gonna make cake pops out if it. Back to the drawing board! Thanks, Gretchen!
Yep, 9 X out of 10 is is a measuring error! Good catch! Now you know! 🙂
Hello
I made this cake n it turned out awesome I m very thankful to you for this recipe I have a question that can we use oil instead of butter. Whats the difference between using butter n oil
Thank you
HI Great yes you can, however I already have an Oil Based Yellow Sponge CLICK HERE and also CLICK HERE for info about what the differences are
Hello Gretchen,
Here I am again. Love this recipe but I need to make a 10 inch cake. Any recommendations?
Thank you!
-Chimène
1½X recipe for 2- 10″ Layers
Hi Gretchen. I want to use this cake but only subtly infuse lime and grapefruit flavors. Was thinking of adding zest of both fruits and maybe 1 1/2 tablespoon of each fruit’s juice. Do you think it sounds ok?
sounds great
Thanks Ms Gretchen. I baked the vanilla cake and it was amazing with the perfect flat top and taste is just yum. My son loved it.
Can u plz show to make chocolate mousse cake too
Great! Sure CLICK HERE
I can use vagetable oil is ok
yes fine
Hello Gretchen,
Just had a taste of this cake…It is amazing!!!! Thank you for the recipe!!
I was wondering if I can use 1 cup of sugar rather than 1 3/4?
Also would this recipe work if I substitute flour with gluten free flour?
Thanks
Hi Great thanks! It will work with Gluten free yes, the trouble with lowering the sugar is you will have a dry cake that resembles cornbread
May the “liaison”method be used on a regular chocolate cake recipe I have?
for foaming cakes yes
Hi Gretchen, I baked another sponge cake recipe. But my cake’s bottom was soggy, top of may cake was fluffy. Please could you tell me, what was the wrong?.
Thanks.
It’s hard to comment on other peoples recipes, Im not really sure without seeing the recipe or what you did to mix it
Hello my name is Sam. I love all of your recipes so much and I decided to try this one for the first time. Although it taste great the top is quite dark do you know how I could prevent that from happening in the future.
Thanks,
Sam
HI Sam thanks! It sounds as if your oven temperature may have been a bit too hot (causing the overbrowning of the top) I would lower the temperature half way through baking to avoid this next time
Hi Gretchen can i use just cake flour?? We haven’t got AP flour in UK
yes
I want to make a sheet cake size (9×12). How do I adjust the quantities or can I simply put the batter in the rectangular pan?
all the batter into that size pan will be fine for a thick layer
Hi Gretchen. Its my sons birthday and i want to bake him this cake. It looks so divine.
hi can i use evaporated milk or fresh milk instead of whole milk? thank you
yes
Hello can I use vegetable oil & how many mls instead of butter
yes same quantity 60ml – 4ounces- ½cup
Gretchen… Great recipe!! However, the cake made a pointy top in the middel while baking? How do i avoid that? I also used the fan oven… And the cake Got really Dark. Do you use fan or not?
Thanks in advance. From Pernille in Denmark 🙂
I do not use the fan setting for this recipe (its possible that is why is got a domes top) also convection ovens run hotter and probably why it got over browned on top
i m confused in the recipe we use 112 gms of butter will that make up with 60ml of oil?
Im confused by your question. If you are using butter, it is 112g (1 stick) if you are using oil it is 118ml
What would be the proportion if we use 1 egg and no cake flour
I do not recommend to change this recipe- it is delicate the way it is and changes to it will not work out well
(You can cut all the ingredients in half for 1 layer if that is what you mean, but not “1 egg” – cake flour is fine if that is all you have)
in one of your replies above you mentioned 60ml of oil instead of butter, that’s what confused me
I will try this recipe as soon as possible I can’t not wait thinkyou
Hi Gretchen! Love watching your Youtube videos. I think the recipe above for the Cocoa Powder is just a little off – 1 Cup of Cocoa Powder = about 4 ounces which is 113.4 g. So a 1/2 cup as in the Chocolate Sponge recipe above would be about 57 g. I went with a 1/4 cup or about 1 oz or 28 g and the cakes turned out wonderfully. Am I thinking this through correctly?? Thanks
Great thankyou ! I will check it out and update the recipe thanks for looking out for me! 🙂
Hi Gretchen, thank you for putting together all your recipes on your blog and on youtube for us! I know how much work it must be and I really appreciate it.
I have a quick question about the sponge cake – I would like to make a strawberry version. Do I substitute the milk with a puree? Or would you recommend just substituting the vanilla extract with strawberry extract?
Hi Thank you for the acknowledgment! and you are welcome too! Not great to add puree to this cake, it makes it dense and rubbery, I recommend to make the Strawberry Chiffon OR CLICK HERE and substitute strawberry puree for he orange
Thank you so much Gretchen!! I made this cake (twice, because I only have one pan) and they were both soft and yummy! Although The second time my cake had a thin layer on the bottom which was quite dense/rubbery. Any ideas?
Great! Yes the problem with a cake like this one is that it cannot sit around and wait to be baked CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hello Gretchen, loved the recipe and it worked absolutely perfectly. However, I’m making a friend’s 70th birthday cake (very soon!) The cake will be 9″ square and my question is: How can I adapt the recipe quantities to either make 2 cakes to be sandwiched together, or one cake to be split (I think you say tort in US) into two or maybe three layers? I do hope you can help.
Have watched several of your videos and have learned so much from you, there’s nothing like this in the UK.
Many thanks.
Hi Great! You can divide this batter between 2=9″ cakes no adjustments, they will be thick enough to torte them into 3 layers OR divide into 3 -9″ pans for exactly equal layers
My dearest Gretchen,
I could kiss you!! I have been baking for over 15 yrs (and old enough to be your gramma lol). and dread the sheet cake orders. I have a 1/2 sheet to do this week and for some reasons I was guided to your site (again) and decided to try the Vanilla Sponge and Chocolate Buttermilk cake. I 1 1/2 timed the Chocolate Buttermilk and is was the perfect amount for my 1/4 sheet pan (magic line 2″); it gave me about 64 oz of batter and I need 63. The vanilla sponge I did the same thing but it was so fluffy I loaded it up half way and still had enough batter left over for a dozen cupcakes. The chocolate cake didn’t sink in the middle and neither did the vanilla. I bake at 335* and I set the timer for 50 min for the chocolate and it was done most likely at 45 but under bake and they sink…..next time I’ll check at 45. The vanilla took a little longer but baked up perfect. I downloaded your recipe book and look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
Thank you,
Colleen Charles
SweetCakes & CheeseCakes
Excellent! thankyou so much for the feedback! These are 2 recipes some people have had some trouble with so I DO LOVE a success story!!
Hi I wanted to make a doll cake for my daughters 4th birthday .. would this recipe be okai.. asking, as to, can it take the shape of the skirt tin..
Also what is this cake flour apart from all purpose flour.
Thank u in advance
Im not sure how well this cake will bake as a deep pan (the doll skirt) I would probably stick to a more dense cake like the butter Cake or white cake Im only guessing though since I dont do too many doll cakes and I havent used this recipe for such a deep pan
CLICK HERE FOR FLOUR
hello gretchen i was just wondering if you could give me the mesurements for half of this receipe thank you 🙂
Sure! You can just use a calculator and divide all the ingredients by 2
I love this cake! It is definately my go-to vanilla cake recipe. I need to make a 3 tier fondant covered bridal shower cake next month, but I am not sure if this would be a firm enough cake. Would you recommend it? If not, what recipe would you recommend?
Great! Yes will be fine for a 3 tier cake click here for more and also here for cakes covered in Fondant
I want to make eggless sponge chocolate cake. I have cake gel and egg free concentrate. How can i use them in my batter? And can i use melted chocolate in batter ?
I havent tested this recipe with those ingredients, you are free to try – follow the instruction on the box of cake gel & egg free product you have. Let me know if you do and it works. You cannot add chocolate to this batter- Cocoa powder yes, chocolate NO.
CLICK HERE for a chocolate cake recipe
Hi Gretchen,
Just a quick question. Does this recipe absolutely need the fat of the whole milk or can I substitute it with soy or almond milk?
you can sub it
Hi Gretchen I want to ask we must add both kinds and amount of the flour or one of them ???
Plz reply u r so helpful
I have both flours here ( i like the combo) but you can use one or the other if you only have 1
Hi. One question. in my country Iam only find all purpuse flour. Could I use only this kind of flour?
Thanks for your help.
yes fine
Hi Gretchen,
Thank you, this recipe sounds great!
I’m planning to make this for my mother in law’s 70th Birthday.
I’m planning to use 2 of the 16″ round pans.
I’m worried about cake not baking properly due to the large size.
Do you have any tips regarding baking this cake in large pans?
Thanks so much h
Nilu
Its not the cake baking that I am worried about with this recipe (if it is your first time?)
Sadly many have had trouble with this recipe BUT many have had great success as this in one of my most popular recipe here.
That being said I will like for you to make a test batch first to get the mix method down, see how it goes.
You will need to DOUBLE the recipe for each 16″ layer and the problem there lies in what I wrote in the blog post about the eggs getting whipped sufficiently to sustain the structure of this cake, or you can end up with a dense heavy cake.
If your mixer can accommodate DOUBLE all these ingredients for 1 layer=- GREAT! if not, I would not recommend to make this particular recipe it does not like to sit around and wait for you to make another batch 1 at a time
Thanks Gretchen,
I will be using my friends mixer, which has a big bowl, I will do a test batch first and see how it goes!
– one other question I have is, this cake is for 55 people, so I’m thinking doing 2 16 ” rounds might be too much? -because I’m also planning to top this cake with Wilton’s giant cupcake as well.
Please let me know if you think I should perhaps use a 12″ or 14″ pans instead.
If so, please let me how I should calculate the correct amount of ingredients for each pan.
Thanks so much,
Nilu
maybe 14″ is better
Still make 2X recipe for each 14″ layer- just fill pans slightly more than half way ( you may have extra batter, bake cupcakes or something with it)
Hi Gretchen,
I have to say that this cake is delicious. I followed the recipe exactly, but I realized that I didn’t liaison properly.
I have some questions:
1) I found that my sponge cake rose slightly with a dome, instead of baking flat, but didn’t rise as much as I’d hoped. (It didn’t rise to the top of the pan) I also used 2 9inch pans. What do you think I did wrong?
Did I over beat the eggs and sugar? Or was it that I poured all the hot milk and butter mixture all at once?
Thank you!
I will definitely make this again.
I think you answered your question: “I didn’t do the liaison properly”
2- 9″ pans will make your cake slightly thinner than the 8″ pans I used, so this may be why you feel they don’t look as tall as mine, however the proper mixing of the eggs and the liaison are the 2 key points in the success of this recipe
Hi!
Why do you use 1 cup all purpose and 1 cup cake flour? Is there a reason? Does it help the cake rise better?
Or can I use two cups cake flour?
Thanks
When I started out on youtube several years ago, I adjusted all my recipes to work for the masses in a home environment.
This meant changing many of my recipes calling for cake flour to AP flour, since so many people could not get cake flour!
BUT as I have had to start over 2 times, and the last time here with Gretchens Bakery, I began to go back to the original recipes.
However I also liked the results from some of my recipes with the AP and decided to get the best of both worlds and so now I use BOTH in some recipes
Many professional bakers will use blends of flours they think is a better balance than just straight up Cake or AP which is essentially what I am doing here.
To answer the second part of the question, can you use one or the other? sure~ although it is always best to follow the recipes as written since they are written a certain way for good reasons.
However I do understnad you may not have accessibility to both kinds in which case
subbing one for the other will often work.
BUT some recipes specifically (the white cake recipe) I use AP since it absorbs more liquids that cake flour. In a recipe with a high liquid content like that one,
I like to use AP to ensure a stronger matrix.
So, it is not as if I just do this or that for no reason, but many people will still use what they want to although I would love it if they would follow my written recipe!
Hi Gretchen
Could you please tell me how deep are the cake tins you use on this recipe? Thanks
i use 2″ deep pans for all my cakes
Hello again,
I just bought some 2″ deep cake pans, more precisely 6″/8″/10″/12″/14″ diameter!
Please help me, any chance to find out how much cake batter do i need for them pans? Recipe please?
I dont really calculate my batter in terms of “cups”.
Most recipes are designed to yield 2-8″ cakes but that doesn’t mean you can ONLY make 2-8″ cakes, if you just fill the pans a touch more than half full you will get perfect layers everytime no matter what the recipe
You can CLICK HERE for more, but I have found that blog post to confuse some people more than help! I hope you are one that will helped by it! LOL
Well i dont knw how the express the happiness rite now. After failing n trying so many diffrent recipe i thought of trying it one last time n the results were amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this lovely cake recipe.
Loads of love.
Hi..loved ur tips. I am going to bake cake for first time tom for my daughters cake smash and will use this recipe. But i will ve using the “egg replacer” instead of the eggs as we are vegetarians. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Great! thanks! I would love to know your results, as I havent used the egg replacer. Since this is a FOAMED egg cake, I wonder if it is possible? I would say that the new magical AQUAFABA will be better but again I havent tried it with that either 🙁 Im sorry!
Hi
Good evening. Want uo make vanilla sponge. But i dont have a double boiler to melt the sugar in eggs. Cant you please tell me what i can in place of the double boiler. Thank you.
You make a double boiler out of a pot of water with a bowl set on top
Dear Gretchen,
For chocolate sponge cake, shall I replce milk with Joghurt and hot water? And half oil and half butter? I baked the cake by replacing things but my cake didn’t rise as vanilla spong cake. But tasye was amazing. Please let me know. Thanks in advance.
You cannot really just replace things in a recipe unwittingly, since baking is essentially science with delicate ratios and balances of ingredients.
For a cake closer to what you mentioned – I would recommend my Chocolate Buttermilk Cake (and yes you can replce the buttermilk with yogurt- but I write all about that in the blog post)
I will be cutting rounds from the cake. Do you know if the recipe fills 1 sheet tray or more?
One sheet pan 12″ X 18″
Hi Gretchen.. In what proportion should I replace quantity of egg with oil.. we are vegeterian so dont use egg
You cannot make a foamed egg cake recipe with out eggs, sorry.
CLICK HERE
I already replied to this comment but here it is again: You cannot replace oil for eggs in a foaming egg cake recipe CLICK HERE for vegan cake
Hey Gretchen I reallyIke your recipies and videos.
I have subscribed to your channel on youtube and have also left many comments I dnt know where all my comments go, I also emailed you but no reply to that too.. dnt know what went wrong..
Hope to get reply for this comment.
Hello, I have seen your comments here and on youtube (youtube comments were flagged for spam since you sent the same comment 5+ times) I have replied to you here and on youtube. I try to answer everyone as fast as possible, I get hundreds of emails a day thank you for the support
Hi! Just wondering if I can simply halved all the ingredients if I only need one 8″ cake?
Thanks!
yes exactly
Made 2 test cakes, they came out absolutely perfect!
Next, I’m getting ready to make two 14″ round cakes.
Should I put 2 flower nails per pan, to ensure the larger. Cakes bake evenly?
Thanks!
YAY! Great job! I have never felt the need to use them, but many do so if you feel better about it! Go for it!
Hi gretchen
I think my quest for the best vanilla cake is over!! This was so moist and yummy!! I want to use this recipe for everything now!! Please can you tell me if i can add some pineapple puree into here so it is a pineapple sponge cake? I love a pineapple sponge with coconut frosting but can’t find a good recipe. They are usually for upside down pineapple cakes which i dont like. Pleaseeee advise!! Thank you!!
Ps pls do a tutorial for a hummingbird cake!!
Love your blog too btw!!
Big fan!
Aneesa
Hi Great!!! I dont recommend to add fruit purees to this cake because it will leave you with a hard dense rubbery cake. Use the Chiffon recipes for fruit based cake
Hi Gretch,
Can i use this kind of cake to be covered with a fondant? Tnks for your response…
yes click here for more about covering cakes with fondant
hi I love your recipe all of then and I have a question can a double this recipe to do a 9x 13 cake pan to get the 2 inch high because I try it the single its only rise to a inch in this type of pan thanks
Hi Great thanks! Yes to double (read the notes here for the doubling part)
Hi Gretchen
This recipe is enough to fill a 13×18 pan and give the height I need to be able to cut
it in half and fill
THANKS
a 12X 18″ pan 1″ height is good for all the batter in th is recipe, if you want 2 layers make it again
Hey Gretchen good to hear from you.
I have tried your recipie for ferrero rocher cake and mocha layer cake. It was very delicious me and my family loved it…
Thank you…
Hi Gretchen,
Can I put this cake in the freezer and as amble in a week without cake loosing spongy texture?
I always freeze my cakes CLICK HERE
Hi there!
So, I want to make 2 circle layers 9″X 1.5″ out of this cake for a small pool party in a few days. It will be for about 10 people (but u didn’t need to know that ).
I will be layering mint Oreo gelato, cake, gelato, cake, gelato. Do you think that is a bad idea? Also is the quantity of one batch enough for my 2 pans or even too much? (if not ok plz give new measures)
Thanks, your response will be greatly appreciated,
A talented kid baker who bakes better that her mom,
Me
I love the ice cream cake idea! Your yield should be perfect with this recipe in 9″ pans to give you exactly 1½” heights, since I used 8″ pans I got perfect 2″ heights, however read the trouble shooting with this recipe since some people have had flopped dense NON risen cakes 🙁 yes I know, its terrible! But others have great success so just be sure to follow exactly as I show you here!
Sorry, I meant 3 tier wedding cake.
PleaseI would also love it if you forward a nice cream recipe that I can use on my vanilla cakes.
Thank youuu Gretchen!!
I have not shared a fruitcake recipe yet Im sorry. CLICK HERE for more cream fillings & Icings
Hi Gretchen,
Thank you for sharing your recipes. I have practically no experience in cooking, and even less in baking. This is why I would like to apologize if I seem confused.
I want to try the vanilla sponge cake recipe, but I want to replace the unsalted butter with canola oil. Is that possible?
Also, I do not have a food processor for the granulated sugar. Would dissolving the sugar be enough to prevent them from rising on the surface of the cake?
Finally, if I batter the cake manually, how should i move my hand? Is there a specific pattern?
Thank you!
Hi Anna! Welcome to the world of baking! Yes to oil and no problem for the granulated sugar – you may not have that problem (only some have and I am guessing this could be the cause) but I thank you for reading the entire blog post first!!
Hello Gretchen
Thank you! Thank you! For your recipe you are a life saver. I was trying to make a sponge cake for a birthday yesterday. I was trying a Japanese recipe for sponge cake first attempt was a complete failure, second attempt was a failure too I followed all the instructions and this cake was just mission impossible. I gave up on the cake and decided I was just going to buy a cake. Until I found your recipe in YouTube. I loved your energy, the way you teach and how you talked about all the issues that people had encounter making a sponge cake. I decided to make your cake and it was delicious the best sponge cake recipe I have ever made in my 5 years baking. Your recipe was so easy to make, so moist and fluffy. Thanks to you I was able to bring a home made cake after I was completely sure I was never going to be able to make a sponge cake. Your cake was a hit!!! It was all gone after 10 minutes and everyone wanted more. I shared your YouTube channel you might see an increase of subscribers all my friends wanted your recipe. Thank you so much for saving my day!
HI! Thankyou so much for this message! It will be so helpful to others who are not sure to try it! I am so happy you had success! (since others have not! bravo!) Great job! Thankyou for sharing me! That is the BEST way to help me ensure I can continue doing what I love! and that is helping everyone become better bakers and sharing my recipes!!
Hello Gretchen,
After trying few cake recipes which turned into disaster,I found the perfect one here… which turned into great sponge cake. then I tried some recipes from your site in last 4 months . Since then my husband is always asking to make cake.
Thanks Gretchen for such an easy and yummy cake recipes. These are really helpful for beginners.
What reciepe is best for sheet cakes? I want make a large half sheet cake in vanilla but cant find a reciepe thats moist enough.
any cake recipe can be baked into any pan you wish, but first you have to find a cake that you like CLICK HERE FOR WHAT IS CAKE so you can get familiar with the different styles of cake
Also CLICK HERE for a list of all my cake recipes
Hi Gretchen
My 2 round tins are 26cm (10″) would I double your recipe to get two nice high level cakes to sandwich together for nice height and what about baking time??? and temperature I presume remains the same.
thanks in advance
yes typically I do 1½X recipe for 2- 10″ layers, but you can double then fill pans slightly more than half full to ensure you get a good rise to the top of the 2″ pans (use extra batter for a cupcake or two!)
Hello Gretchen! Firstly, thank you for all the resources you have provided us and appreciate the effort you make in providing guidance to our questions.
With 1.5x recipe for 2-10″ layers, how high would each layer yield approximately after baking? I’m doing a layer cake and trying to work out how many cake layers I would need.
My oven has 4 racks and I usually bake cakes on the second rack from the bottom. Would you recommend to bake 2-10″ pans at the same time and if yes, which rack should I use? Or should I half the recipe of 1.5x and bake in two batches?
Also, would baking this be a problem if my oven is forced-fan function only? Can I reduce the oven temperature by 20 Celcius? I recall your comment that this should be baked with non-fan function.
HI Great thanks and you are welcome too
The layers for me are always about 2″ high (as you see in the video I use 2″ pans and the final layers are almost to the top)
Always bake the sponge cake batter immediately do not let it sit while you bake 1 pan at a time.
Yes to reduce temp for forced pan but they will bake nicely with the convection setting. Im not sure I said “it SHOULD be baked non fan” but I do not typically use the fan setting because many people do not have that setting and I try to keep things consistent here
Hi Gretchen!
Thank you for all that you do! What a generous heart you have, I’m so glad you have shared your knowledge and spirit with the “World”. You’ve been my pastry teacher since your first incarnation on You Tube with the Woodland Bakery. Thanks to you I continue to improve and develop my baking and decorating skills. You are the best!
Looking to make a vanilla sponge today I found this lovely one, and read through the recipe, instructions and the comments before starting. I foll.owed everything and all went smoothly. The cakes are in the oven now. Thought I would just share this: At the point just after whisking in 2c batter into the milk and butter, I had ‘Pause” moment – when mixing that back into the liason (batter in the mixing bowl) I thought…hmm, should I mix together well? or will that just be too much mixing?, no, it must be even … so very gently I mixed it all together to an even batter. But gently with a hand whisk. Maybe that’s where some people mess up – either they don’t blend it evenly or they too vigorously mix an deflate the batter. Hope this helps someone to success!
Hi Thankyou so much for this kind message and also for your support AND the feedback of your experience with this recipe! Excellent observation and I hope others read first as well!
Hi Gretchen, thanks so much again for sharing your recipes and just being a bubble of joy each time I see you on YouTube ☺
Anyways, quick question! I tried your vanilla sponge / golden sponge cake recipe a couple of times but I keep getting this problem. There will be part of the batter that sinks to the bottom of the cake that makes in really really dense at the bottom but nice and fluffy at the top. Is there something I might be doing wrong?
Hi Thanks and you are welcome too!
It sounds like you may not be mixing the liaison part into the rest of the batter well enough, this will create 2 different densities in batter which can cause this trouble, additionally as I mention in the troubleshooting section here, the ribbon stage of the eggs is most important
Hi Gretchen, lovely recipe. Isn’t 1 stick of butter 216 g? That’s 1 cup? Please clarify.
1 stick = 8Tablespoons= ½ cup= 113g
Hi Gretchen!
I have made this recipe about 6x in the last 2 weeks! So perfect every time! My go to vanilla recipe now. Thank you so much as i was hunting forever!
My question is will this recipe work just as well for cupcakes? And which is your favourite vanilla cupcake recipe that you would use?
Thank you so much!!!
Big fan!
Aneesa xxxx
Great! yes to cupcakes however CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
I like this recipe for cupcakes
Lovee this cake!! I too like most of us been searching for a nice sponge vNilla cake n this is the best!! Thank you for sharing your recipe.. i cant wait to try your other ones.
Can i ask, if i want to do this recipe in a 1- 8×8″ pan, is it possible? How long shld i put it in.
Thank you, you are a life saver!
Great thanks and you are welcome too! 2- 8″x8″ squares if you only want 1 half the recipe
Hi, thanks for for so detail steps, tried step by step instructions but my cake taste little bit bitter…
Hi Gretchen I tried one sponge cake and it turned out rubbery 🙁 i am going to try out your recipe now. I want to bake this in a 9/13 sheet cake pan. Do i need to double this recipe or 1.5x this recipe? If i have to make 2 layers will I need to bake this cake twice? Thank you for your inputs.
Be sure to get the eggs to ribbon stage and also fold in that liaison really well, if it is 2 different consistencies you may experience a rubbery texture.
1X recipe for 1- 12″ x 18″ pan so if you want 2 layers, yes you need 2x recipe
Thanks Gretchen! A bit lost….I wanted it for the 9/13 sheet cake. And your response is for the 12/18 . Thanks!
Oh ok, well then make it 1½X total fill pans half way full for 2 layers 9X13
If i half this recipe will i get 2 layers for a ccheckerboard cake?? Quick reply plzz i hv to make it!
this FULL recipe yields 2 layers, if you half it you will only get 1 layer
Good morning, pls I have a problem with my cake recrecipe which is not a sponge cake, the recipe I use is 1kg butter, 1kg all purpose flour, 1kg eggs, 700g sugar, 1tsp baking powder and other spices. The problem is the cake comes out well but turns dry and a bit hard when it gets cold. I use this recipe for baking two 12inches cake coz in my ccountry pple don’t really demand sponge cakes. Pls I neneed ur assistance for a moist and soft cake.
Hello! Can I just ask why the milk and butter have to be hot and will it be sufficient to just melt the butter in the milk?
it helps the batter stay voluminous- others have tried it with NOT Hot milk and have had poor results
hey Gretchen! love love your recipes ! i’ve done this recipe a million times and it comes out perfect each and every time,=… so soft moist and fluffy! however when i tried to do the marble version, it comes out dense and not fluffy at all !! i dont know what im doing wrong….the chocolate bits are so dense while the vanilla bits are fluffy! is it because i add the cocoa to the batter at the very end after adding in all the liason? but isnt that what im supposed to do ? its very frustrating ! because the plain vanilla one comes out so fluffly and moist every time ! or maybe i over folded? but i always fold till i see no flour and then stop, it just takes so long to fold because the batter becomes really thick and sticky…which is always the case….maybe i should add the cocoa with half the dry ingredients before mixing in the liason and divide both batters to begin? please help !
Hi, Can i put confetti to make a confetti cake? Thanks
I prefer the WHITE CAKE for that
Hi Gretchen, followed step by step ur recipe and I think there s too much milk in this recipe, I’m not very happy with the consistency of my cake 🙁 . Can I send you a pic for you to analyse it? The cake is cooked I believe the mass was too liquid before putting it into the oven, result doesn t crumble…
Sorry to leave you one star but I don t think this recipe is for me, I don t enjoy eating that cake nd trust me I love cake
Hi there, many people have had great success with this recipe (as do I) and they will not use another recipe~ but others have had failures. I do write about it on the blog post (what to look for and the KEY: important steps to ensure success of this recipe) Im sorry it didn’t work out for you it’s unfortunate that I get a low rating though when most likely it was a mixing error or even possibly a measuring error. Take a look again at the mix method (maybe re-watch the video- I tried so hard to explain how important it is to NOT deflate the ribbon stage eggs) and the liaison part is an important step too.
please tell
is it must to heat eggs in double boiler ??
if eggs are heated upto 115F in boiler then will not they get damaged ? thanks
when i heat eggs in boiler then beat it when lukewarm, it becomes thick like custard sauce in 2-3 min only. when i beat normal eggs they beat well and foamy, airy in 5-7 mins. my cake didnt rise at all. can i skip egg warming as i use castor sugar not granulated sugar ?
Hi Gretchen
How long should I leave the cake in the pan after baking? In the past I have baked this cake and although the cake is perfect it has tapered inwards
from the bottom.
Yours always have straight sides
Regards
Mike
Hi Gretchen, do you have a caramel cake?
Kinda sorta CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen
Can I,
1) use this recipe to make a giant cupcake? (Will this cake be too soft for 3D Wilton giant cupcake)? And I plan to cover it with fondant.
2) add lemon juice and zest to make a lemon sponge cake?
Thsnks
Nilanka
I prefer this recipe for all that (change key lime juice to lemon juice)
Hi Gretchen, so glad i chanced upon this recipe. I made it twice within a week and everyone just loved it. Will definitely my go-to recipe for vanilla cakes.
Thank you so much!
Hi Gretchen,
Sorry, I wasn’t clear, can I add juice of 2 lemons and lemon zest to make this a lemons sponge cake?
I will be making a 14″ round cake
Thanks nilanka
I do not like to add juice to this recipe as it changes the texture so I prefer to use this recipe here and replace the key lime juice with lemon juice OR make the lemon chiffon, whichever you prefer
Hi Gretchen,
I want to make a two layer cake with two 9″ round pans using this recipe.can I use the same measurements or do I need to take 1.5* of the above measurements.can I get around 20 pieces if I do that?
I do not fell that 1″ makes a difference here, sicne this cake will rise to the top of the 8″X2″ pans, you will just get a slightly thinner layer thats all
Hello Gretchen can I reduced the sugar in this recipe because it was too sweet
yes but not by much, taking out the sugar will cause it to be dry – some have done it and regretted it
Thank you for the sponge cake recipe ,I am a huge fan of yours. I have learned a lot from you. . I live in kerala,india. Here in bakeries fresh cream cakes are made of sponge cakes. They soak in sugar syrup. So to my knowlege they use traditional sponge cake recipe. 3 eggs and 90 gm sugar 90 gm flour, little bit of butter. This can be kept in fridge after frosting with whipping cream. Whenever we take out of the fridge it will stay soft. So Please tell can we substitute for fresh cream cakes with this sponge cake. Which will be better for fresh cream cakes. Will it stay soft if kept in fridge. Thank you for the recipe
geetha
Hi Thanks CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hi Gretchen,
Tried this recipe, I made 12 cupcakes by cutting the recipe in half added some lychee (cut really small) and they came out perfect! Thanks Gretchen
From St. Catherine, Jamaica
Hi,
I made this yummy sponge cake and it turned out wonderful. I have a couple of questions though:
1) The cake was way too sweet for my taste. As you have mentioned, that reducing the sugar will cause the cake to dry out. so is there any way of fixing this?
2) The cake turned out nice, light and airy, but as i kept it on the wire rack to cool down, the top started becoming soggy. Started sticking to the hands? What could have caused this?
3) when i cut the cake in half horizontally to add whipped cream, a lot of crumbs came loose. And as i applied the whipped cream, the crumbs kept coming off and mixing with the layer of the whipped cream. How can i avoid this?
HI Great. It is possibly you just may not like sponge cakes though since if you take out some of the sugar yes it will be different and more dry than it is even under normal circumstances. You may like a Butter Cake instead
Im not sure why it would be soggy especially if you coooled it on a rack
I always work with frozen cake layers so I avoid excessive crumbs upon building the cake click here for more
HI GRETCHEN!! WOTS COOKING?
YOUR VANILLA SPONGE CAKE IS THE BEST RECIPE EVER.
AV MADE IT SEVERAL TIMES AND IT ALWAYS COMES OUR PERFECT.
THUMBS UP TO U DEAR
KEEP IT UP
THANKS FOR SHARING
MAY THE GOOD LORD CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN AND ABIDE WITH U ND UR LOVED ONES
Hi Gretchen,
Thanks for your recipe! I’m really excited to use it this weekend! I just had one question though, I know your recipe says it calls for 2 8″ pans, but I have 2 6″ pans instead. Can I still split it evenly among my pans or will that affect the rise? Thanks!
You must use 3 – 6″ pans for this quantity of batter
hi, do i need to decrease anything if i am only using one round pan instead two ?
yes you can only fit half the batter into 1 pan – so you should HALF the recipe
I have a question, you say to melt the butter in the milk to just 115 degrees. Then add vanilla which will cool it off. Then it also says the milk/butter mixture should be hot (150 degrees) when adding to the liaison. So where does it get from 115 to 150?? I did everything you said and then put it in 9″ pans because I don’t have any 8″ and it seems to be raising to the top while baking. I did not have the mix heated to 150 at any time.
HI Janet, the 115°F is in regards to the eggs in the first step over the double boiler.
The 150°F is in re: to the milk/butter mixture.
I will be honest I do not ever take the exact temperature of any of these ingredients; since originally when I started sharing this recipe I just said “hot milk & butter” and get the eggs “warmed to the touch”
But what has happened over time, is that folks seem to need EXACTS as they could not imagine what “warm to the touch & hot” meant.
So I started implementing exacts.
This is not something that will be affected if you add vanilla to the mixture, that small amount of vanilla will not change anything.
if your cake is rising to the top while baking EXCELLENT! It sounds to me like you did it perfectly!
BIG HIT!!!! SUCCESS!!!!!.. Am totally new to ovens and baking itself.. so far i have managed to only make good choco chip cookies and a not so moist or soft blackforest. I came in here to thank you for the clear and easy recipe, but now having looked at the comments i like the fact that you patiently reply to all of us more than your website. GREAT JOB INDEED!!! I used your recipe to make two 9″ sponges and sandwiched them with whipped cream and strawberry jam. You just turned into my baking teacher. Awesome. Thank you.
awesome! I am so happy to hear you had seuccess with this recipe! Some have not! GREAT JOB to you too! 🙂 and thanks!
what icing or filling will be done on vanilla sponge cake like pineapple cake.
Whipped Cream would be great, but really anything you like!
do u have pineapple vanilla sponge cake with icing recipe like strawberry chiffon cake
I do not but you can make it pineapple by adding pineapple puree and maybe some pineapple bits too
can i use buttercream
sure why not
Will there be a problem if I use a pan with 8″ diameter 3″ height? Thanks so much
no, but you still need 2 pans- all the batter wont fit in one pan it wont rise properly
my cake didnt rise much. thatswhy it was a little sticky also. did ribbon stage. measured everything. i kept eggs in lukewarm water fr 5 min then broke it bcz in boiler i overheat eggs somehow.milk-butter was hot
My God… this was the best vanilla sponge I ever baked!!! Thanks for the recipe
YOU ARE THE BEST BEST
THANKS FOR ALL RECEIPE
Hi Gretchen, I have never succeeded at whole egg sponge cakes before but am tempted to try your recipe. I notice when you mix the milk/butter mixture with the batter, and when you mix the liaison back in, you used the ballon whisk instead of the spatula, wouldn’t that deflate the egg mixture too much? I think all my sponge cake attempts failed previously because the moment I start folding in the flour, everything just deflates. Appreciate your advice! Thanks! ANgie
HI Angie for me it is better- but everyone works differently so as I mention in this lengthy blog post you have to find what way works best for you. if the spatula is better by all means…
Hi, i made this cake in a bundt pan. it came out wonderful. thanks. Need to have a filling to ganache this cake?
awesome! No filling needed if you dont want to!
hello gretchen, it was my first time in baking cake. And i followed your recipe and it was wonderful. i really wanted to thanks because of you i was able to impress my husband. I dind’t find any difficulties during whole process as i have heard about alot of things. thank you
the texture is not very fine like market sponge cake or sponge sheets. there r very tiny same size holes in market cakes. its some other recipe that i tried at home.
Hi. Thank you for the best receipe. I tried this cake and it was light as feather and taste wise very nice. Only one query my cake rises BuT later it falls down. What will be the reason for that? What mistake I am doing? Also my cake had a break on middle top. Why that happened? Also I have baked only one 8 inch cake. Divide all ingredients in half. My batter was creamy and consistency was little thin. Is this fine?
HI Hmm, it’s hard to answer this since it seems so many conflicting things happened all at once?? I can only say what I always say to everyone when they have a recipe trouble: If you mix it exactly as I show you and measure the ingredients correctly you should have no trouble. I always ask that you go back and re-watch the video to see if perhaps you did something differently
if you use superfine sugar does it change the measurement of sugar?
no it is the same
How many layer can we have from one 8′ cake ?
You can cut it into as many layers as you wish
Few queries-
– Approx. How much is the one cake layer height?
– I understand from your post that 1 cake pan will give 1 layer, so if i want to prepare Birthday cake with fresh cream icing in between, then i have to bake it in 2-8″ pan to get 2 layers – am i getting it right?
– how much is your 1 cup measurement (250 ml or 200 ml )?
thankyou 🙂
I use 2″ pans and as you can see in the video here my cake layers rose up to the 2″ perfectly
Yes to 2 layers
250ml but please click here for more about measurements
Question – if using plain flour – what should be the proportion?
same as listed here. If you are following cups measure or weights
Hi please advice why when I ice a cake in butter cream. And place into the fridge why does my vanilla sponge gets densed and looks raw . But if I don’t put it into the fridge, it stays fine, like a normal cake. Please advice, I have tried many recipes , the same thing happened
Sure click here for why
Hi Gretchen,
I’ve made this many times but of course after never having problem before, I start getting trouble as I’m making it for my own wedding cake!!
The cakes look fine when they come out of the oven but then they sink, I cut the cakes to start assembling layers and the bottom half of the cake is very dense in the middle and looks raw, the top half isn’t as bad but still dense. The outer inch of the inside is fine.
I’m using double the recipe and putting it into 2 x 9 inch pans, is that too much batter?
Or is it just a simple fix of the folding, I timed the whisking of the eggs so I think I can be sure it’s not over whipped eggs.
Many thanks and keep up the good work
Yikes! Isnt that always the way! But you answered your own question- YES TOO MUCH BATTER! Since 1X recipe is for 2-8″ cakes, you are putting double the amount into a pan that is just 1″ bigger. 1″ here really won’t make a difference or negatively affect the outcome of the layers. 2X recipe is for 10″ or 12″ cake layers! If you are ever unsure, you will only fill batter half way up the sides ofhte pan (this way you wont have to guess no matter what size pan you have…. half way up you are good to go!
Hi Gretchen! Thank you for sharing all your awesome recipes.This is the best vanilla cake! Just made it, super moist ,soft , fluffy and yumm!
Just had one question, can this be used under fondant? Or your vanilla white cake will be better under fondant for a birthday party?
Will using all oil give the same result? Or is it better to stick to oil.
Thanks a lot!
Great thanks you can use oil yes and yes to fondant click here for more
Hi Gretchen! This is the best vanilla cake ever.Just made it and it came out super moist, soft , fluffy and yumm.
Just wanna check can this be used under a fondant cake?
How much simple syrup can be added?
Thanks once again?
You are the best!
Great! Yes CLICK HERE simple syrup is just a light brushing but like everything it is also your preference
hi gretchen. how would i go about doing this recipe if i want to separately foam my whites then fold it in?
fold them in last
Hi Gretchen
I want to make this cake in a 12″ roundpan 2 days in advance for an event. What is the best way to store it until Im ready to put BUTTERCREAM and finish assembling cake?
I heard best to wrap and freeze cakes until ready to assemble. Should I do that with this cake?
Thsnks!
Yes CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen!
how can i turn your Vanilla sponge cake recipe to a mocha sponge cake? Please reply as soon as possible!
Thanks
Nazia
sure, use the chocolate variation as listed here and then add instant coffee granules to the hot milk (about 2-3 tbs)
hi.i want to ask you….many recipes have this 1:1 ratio on flour sugar and butter.when you use little butter and a cup of milk does this make it more moist cake?i usually make it with the 1:1 ratio and the 3-4tbs milk but if i add the cup..it will make it rise more?or be more moist than dense?thanks
Hello
I really really love the vanilla sponge cake, but my question is how do I make this cake even more moist? Would adding more oil work or if not which recipe would you suggest for sheet cakes/ cupcakes.
Hi! I love this recipe! My question now is..im planning on making a rainbow cake using this recipe..should i add food coloring after i mix in the liason or together with it?
after
Hi Gretchen,
I tried making this cake. I ended up having enough batter for 2 cakes. I gave them away and I am still getting messages on how great this cake is. Thank you for sharing your wonderful recipe:)
I tried this cake and it was lovely. My hubby who never eats cake ate about 1/2 of it. I did follow the instructions exactly except I didn’t have whole milk. I subbed with 2% and heavy whipping cream. Love!!!!
It was a lovely recipe. It was by far my best sponge cake. I loved the texture, and it came out almost like the same shown in the video. I just improvised a little as I had to make a rectangular cake 15′ by 11′ and had to make 1.5 times of what has been suggested.
But I faced some issue with the baking time. First cake came out with dry hard crust on top with a 40 min baking. Next one came out better in that sense, but it rose a little less than the first one with 37 min baking. So, can you suggest something on this?
Hi again Gretchen – as a newbie to the site i am stil trying to come to terms with what you mean using American names for things we refer to differently in the UK – however i think i am getting there.
In the UK we have a Victoria Sponge – is this essentially the same thing as your Vanilla Sponge. Also we have Madeira Cake is this the same as your yellow cake?
John
Hi John since I am not too familiar with UK terms we are in the same boat! I will say yes to the Victoria Sponge being closer to my BUTTER CAKE recipe I am not sure about a Madeira cake sorry!
Victoria sponge uses a creaming method and the weight of all ingredients is the same, so it’s not really the same as this sponge cake which refers to the foaming method of cake making. This is much lighter than our victoria sponge here in the uk. Hope that helps!
Hi Gretchen
I tried the chocolate version and was soft and moist. So glad to find a sponge cake recipe with butter flavour. Most sponge cakes are made with oil. Will try lemon version next. Thanks
Hi Gretchen! I tried this recipe and it turned out nice, thanks for sharing it. Do you have any build-on recipes to really jazz it up though? Looking forward to your next uploads, keep workin’ it! 🙂
Hi Gretchen
For the first time i tried this recipe , it came out so well. Loved your recipe and you explained it so well.
I just have a question, what should i do to avoid air pockets in the cake?
Greetings from Indonesia! So in love with this recipe❤ The result came out as a soft, rich in flavour cake and definitely i’ll make it again! but this time, i wonder if i could substitute the flour with ‘ketan’ or ‘sticky rice’ flour (I’m not sure how to say ‘ketan’ in english ). Here in Indonesia, we call it as ‘cake ketan’ or ‘sticky rice cake’. what do you think? Anyway, thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. Gonna try your other recipes soon!
Hi Thanks! Since I am not familiar with those things at all, I really couldn’t say! Im sorry! It is always worth a try though since you never know until you try!
Hi Gretchen
Made this cake soooo many times and its my fave vanilla cake recipe. I need to make a rainbow cake though. Can i use this recipe and half it before the liasion stage, then add 2 different colours to half of the milk, then mix each bit separately? And repeat 2 more times to get 6 different cake colour layers? I have seen your rainbow cake recipe and you mention using the white cake recipe but i really like this one. Please tell me if it’s possible!
Thank you!!
Xx
I prefer the white cake because it is white and the color will take better, also it is more durable meaning it can withstand the time out of the oven while you mix in colors, where this sponge cake can deflate pretty quickly with all that manipulation and extra mixing to get the colors in
Hi Gretchen, absolutely love this recipe, thank you so much for sharing this. My son wants me to make him a pistachio cake, how can I vary this recipe for that? Or should I go for a different recipe all together for best pistachio cake results?
Many thanks again for all your help
Great thanks, depends how you plan to add the pistachios, CLICK HERE for one that may be better
Thanks a lot Gretchen, you are a rock star!
Hi Gretchen. I just made the vanilla sponge (didn’t have vanilla so I substituted with 1.5 tsp rose essence). It came out perfect! So soft! I honestly doubted whether mine would be a success. Great recipe! Thank you!
Dear gretchen
I was trusted by my church to prepare a pre-Christmas celebration cake and the request was nothing to do with chocolate or cheese. So i came up with a fresh pandan idea. But all my pandan recipe is chiffon style or japanese cotton with the egg white whipping method and considering my idea for the filling later, i need a sturdier cake. Googling pandan cake wasn’t helping at all because I need a cross between butter cake and chiffon and the internet is showing either or. So i found you(thank god) and edited your recipe. I swapped vanilla with fresh pandan and swapped whole milk with half coconut milk. I baked it at 150°c fan forced in a huge 10.5 inches pan for 30 minute exact and it was a total success. Please head over to my instagram page ellie_mak to see the pictures. I’ve mentioned you but i cant find you on instagram.
Hi Great thanks! Im at Gretchens_Bakery on Instagram
Querida Gretchen: Agradecerte por tan buena y rica receta, por la simplicidad de dejarte entender, la he preparado y me salio perfecta, deliciosa, la cubri con un mousse de fresas y la adorne con frutas del bosque .Gracias
Sara
Un saludo con gratitud de Perú
thankyou! and you are welcome too!
Hi gretchen:
Awonderful sponge cake
Ihave been doing it for 3 time really iwant to say thank u very much. One question dear how can i make it pistachio sponge cake ?shall i cut cup of flour and added cup of pistachio? Thanks
HI Thanks! You can follow the recipe here for Coconut Sponge but substitute pistachio instead of coconut
Hi Gretchen, I used only one tall loaf pan to baked this cake.
It takes longer time to bake.
The cake a bit dry.Is it because the temperature is too high (I used 180 celcius).
Do I need to reduce the oven temperature? Thanks in advance
this cake is not for loaf pans. It is meant to be baked in layers.
Too much batter for this cake style in a loaf pan it is no wonder it is dry, takes too long to bake and the outside will get dried out.
Bake in the recommended cake pans and you will have great results
Hi Gretchen,
I feel like this might be a little too sweet for me… I read your post on editing recipes but I want to make sure- do you think I could add around 250g of sugar instead of 350g?
Thanks. 🙂
This recipe does not do great without the full amount of sugar, its makes it dry and cornbread like- so I would recommend only to take out 50g
Thank you so much! Today is my birthday, family coming over, so I decided to try this cake. First try and it came out perfect! Will spread with peach mash and decorate with boiled butter cream 🙂
Hi
Gretchen can iadd carrot and wallnut to this recipe.
This is a very touchy recipe already so I prefer you did not – this is GREAT recipe for adding carrots and walnuts!
CLICK HERE FOR CARROT CAKE
Do eggs need to be in room temperature befor heating it on double boiler?
Not necessary since the double boiler will get them warm fast
Thank u gretchen
Hi Gretchen,
Can this recipe make 3 layers cake?
yes 3- 7″ Layers
Hi Gretchen,
I like your website. it is so helpful.
I am cooking sponge cake and my pan is 12″ , how many of batter i need for 12″ pan?
Thanks
great thanks! 1X recipe for 1 layer 12″
Hello Gretchen,
I made this cake again today, and as usual, it tastes and looks amazing! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe. There are thousands of recipes online and I’ve tried quite a few over the years, but nothing comes even close to this one!
excellent thankyou so much!
Hi Gretchen!
I made this cake for a friend’s wedding. Added some lemon extract and lemon syrup. It was a hit! I can’t thank you enough for this. Made 1 1/2x this recipe for a 10″ round. Will keep this and will be my to go sponge cake recipe. Thank you all the way from Manila 🙂
Frogot to rate this a 5 star!
the best cake recipe ever. i dont have a mixer so i had to do it by hand for half an hour omg lol…but it was worth the time…i made two 6 inch cakes with this recipe…awesome. Thanks Gretchen xxx
Hi. Do you used the whole recipe for your 2 6inches pan? Cause I want to use my 2 6×3 inches pan for this recipe.
Hi
Made this cake yesterday for the first time love love love it now my go to cake recipe
So glad i came acrossyour you tube channel
Can this cake recipe be used to cover cakes with fondant?
yes click here for more
Hi Gretchen!
Can I use Vanilla Essence instead of Vanilla Extract? #StudentBudget
If so, how much essence should I use?
Sure since extract is stringer more concentrated flavor you may want to double the amount to use
Hi Gretchen,
I am a ‘new’ baker and live in Cape Town South Africa and noticed from this recipe that it calls for Cake Flour, as well as All Purpose Flour, which we dont get in this country and I was wondering what I can use in its place? Could I just use cake flour only? Any suggestions would be helpful.
One other thing….your 8” (20cm here in SA) cakes tins, what depth are the one’s you use.
Many Thanks
Tessa
CLICK HERE FOR MORE
My pans are 2″ deep
Hi Gretchen,I have tried this cake so many times and it is always a hit.Thank You very much for the wonderful recipe.I want to bake this cake in a sheet pan.So how long should I bake and what should be the temperature.
Great! Sure thing all the batter into a 12″ X 18″ pan bake until its done (about 25minutes??)
Hey Gretchen, I’ve made this a few times now with no problems, absolutely delish! Thank you so much i’m about to make this cake again tody and realised i only have semi skimmed milk, will this be ok to use instead of whole milk?
Thank you as always for all your help
The fat from the milk is helpful but I think you will be fine with the skimmed
Hi Gretchen!! I love your recipes and had great success with them. This sponge cake was a little tricky but I think I’m figuring it out. 🙂 But one thing I can’t get is for the cake to come out flat and even on top. Mine came out with a little dome. How to you get it to bake flat? Please advise. Thanks!
Hi Great! Im not sure what could have caused your dome top, mine comes out flat everytime. but CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO
Hi
Can I make a quarter sheet (9×13″) with this recipe?
I just need a 1 layer. Also want to know how long in the oven? Same??
yes fill the pan half full, same temp bake until its done
HI there….I needed to make two 9″ round. I’m wondering how do I adjust this recipe to accommodate this cake. Please help…. Charmaine
no need to adjust anything, 1″ will not make a big difference here
Hey,
I saw your blog and I am so pleased, as I am making a three-tiered cake for my sister’s eighteenth birthday this weekend. I only have one question. My sister has an intolerance to gluten, and my family has a flour that works as an exact substitute in most recipes. Will the flour change anything in this recipe? It is a dairy flour, and the brand is Cup4Cup. Thanks,
Edie
Hi While I am not an avid Gluten Free baker, many who are have used my recipes with a straight up sub with no trouble!
Love love this recipe. It came out so well the cake was soft and fluffy. I torted the cake made into a strawberry and cream cake by filling fresh strawberries and whipped cream and cream cheese frosting was just yumThanks Gretchen for this wonderful recipe.
Need to bake 9×13″
How much do i need??
All the batter into a 9″ X 13″ pan (just be sure not to fill more than half full for proper baking (You may have a bit extra in that case, make a cupcake or two)
Hi Gretchen. I would love to try this cake but I only have 2 6x3inches round cake pan? Do I need to adjust the recipe? Please help me.
sure half recipe is fine
Thank you so much Gretchen. I’m so delighted that you replied.
Awesome!!! I am lucky to find your article. thanks for sharing this nice article…
Hi can i use this recipe for a naked wedding cake?
yes sure
HI Gretchen,
IS it possible to add Hazelnut Flour to this recipe to have a different type of Hazelnut cake?
This recipe is touchy already, but you could replace some of the flour with hazelnut flour here, however I prefer to use the hazelnut Cake recipe already worked out for that specific recipe
Hello.
Would this recipe work well for stacked naked wedding cakes?
I was thinking of using this for a 2×8″ and 2×6″ cake. Would it hold?
Thank you.
yes sure! CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hi Gretchen, love your channel and blog. Questions about the milk. What percentage fat is the whole milk you use?? What is the lowest amount of milk fat you would use??
Hi Thanks, I use whole milk which is considered to be about 3.5%
I would go only as low as 2%
Hello,
I am about to use your recipe and not sure if you have addressed this already. Any suggestions for high altitude above 8000′ (Breckenridge Area) possibly using self-rising flour in place of AP and finally is using one 9″ round in place of 2 8″ ok or should the recipe be cut in half? Thanks for your time!
Sure CLICK HERE
AS for using 1-9″ pan there will be too much batter so be sure to half the recipe (never fill pans more than half full)
Hi Gretchen.
I need your help asap.
I always make this recipe for my sponge vanilla cake but I just made a batch and my cake deflated . I made twice and the same thing happened.
What do you think the problem was?
I always make the same way.
Thanks a lot for your help.
❤️❤️❤️
Hmm, it could be a couple things. Typically it is too much batter in the pans. But you said you always make this? Perhaps there was a measuring error? 9 times out of 10 that is the cause for a recipe flop. Did you double check your measurements? Too much leavener will also cause a rapid rise and a severe fall.
Overwhipping eggs can sometimes do this too CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Good afternoon I am baking a wedding cake and I doubled the recipe it was baked perfectly and when it was cooling it flattens out is this normal
it will shrink slightly upon cooling, but not too much. The final layers should be about 1½” tall (from a 2″ full rise immediately after baking)
Click here for some info about overwhipping eggs (if you has severe shrinkage)
Hi Gretchen,
Greetings form India!
Love your recipes and tried this one, It came out perfect! How can I make a chocolate cake in this texture?
Hi Great thanks! Take out ½ cup flour and replace with ½cup cocoa powder
Hi Gretchen,
Can I reduce the sugar to 150 g instead of 350g. Will the texture be the same? I am trying to make a cake for someone who is diabetic.
This recipe will come out with a dry texture and taste more like cornbread if you take out the sugar in that amount – I do not recommend to take out more than ¼ cup
Click here for more info on substituting sugar and other ingredients in recipes
Hi There are yellow cake and vanilla cake recipes and the yellow one is oil base cake and vanilla one is milk+butter cake.
I wonder..If I make a birthday cake..Which one is better? How is the difference between yellow and vanilla sponge?
I like moist and light texture.
Please let me know so I can decide to make one for special day. Thanks 🙂
They are similar however the milk sponge is more like a genoise style cake in taste and preparation CLICK HERE FOR MORE the yellow cake as I noted was most similar to the one I sold in my bakery more like a (dare I say??) Box Yellow cake?? So as for which is “better? Better is a matter of opinion but I will say the yellow cake is easier to mix (some people have major fails with the sponge recipe)
Dear Gretchen,
Is it possible to use this recipe for cake pops or would it be better to use other cakes?
I find any and all cakes to be suitable
Hi gretchen
I tried this recipe at home .it was amazing but can I put water instead of milk because of the allergy
Thanks for your recipes first. I baked the cake it’s rising up nicely but last 5 min before it’s go down why is that?
this is normal to have it drop slightly. If it drops too much its most likely because the pan was overfilled?
Hey Gretchen! This is a young Baker posting from India…. Tried your recipe yesterday and it came out soo goood! Everyone loved it! Looking forward to try out more of your amazing recipes 🙂 and I love how you take time to reply to each and every single comment unlike most bloggers! Kudos!
Great! thank you for the comment so other can know that this recipe is GREAT! Keep going!
Hi Gretchen …here the weight of eggs mentioned is 200gm.it s with shell or without shell? If i half the recipe then what will be the timing for eggs to reach the ribbon stage in stand mixer.
that would be without the shell
The time for the ribbon depends on some things, but around 5 minutes is usual
Hi Gretchen your cake looks really great! I plan to try it this week. Can this cake be covered with fondant? I mean is it firm enough to handle the weight?
Hi Thanks YES! CLICK HERE for more
Hello
I have a 2 questions.
I don’t see any of nut ingredients for vanilla cake. My daughter has a nut allergy. I just want to make sure before I make this cake.
Also How much better for 1/4sheets cake?
Double or 1 1/2?
Please reply. Thanks!
all the batter for 1 layer 12″ x18 cake (which is a half sheet) so you can divide this batter into 2- ¼ sheet pans
Hi, gretchen, your recipes are wonderful. thanks a lot for these.
I have tried most of your recipes and they came out great, best cakes i have made.
I am a baker and also an android developer, would like to know if i can have your permission to put your recipe in my baking app, and would definitely give all credit to you.
Hi thanks! What’s the app? email me at gretchensbakery3@gmail.com
Hi Gretchen: Just love your recipes and this is really the most amazing sponge cake. I just want to know if I make the sponge cake and ice it and refrigerate it, how long will it stay fresh?
Great thanks! Yes you can, it depends more on the filling & icing you are using not so much the cake. Once the cake is iced the icing acts as a seal keeping the =cake inside fresh for a week! So just check on the longevity of your filling first! CLICK HERE for an example
Hi Gretchen. Your recipes are wonderfull and this is the best amazing sponge cake. I bake it severaltime for my husband birthday or another events. I am from Iran and live in Germany. Your recipe has been baked in Iran and my family really enjoyed it. thanks you so much. and I have a Question : Can I replace Hazelnut flour with all purpose flour in chocolate version?
1 cup cake flour and 3/4 cup hazelnut flour, Is it possible?
Great thanks! I actually have a hazelnut sponge recipe you can follow! CLICK HERE
thank you for sharing all the ingredients and the instructions with us. you also gave us an idea of how much time it will take to be ready to eat. It is really helpful for all of us.
Hi,
Please advise to keep cake soft even after keeping in refrigerator. Because many times it become little hard after keeping in refrigerator with icing.
Hello Gretchen, This recipe is amazing! It doesnt crack on top 🙂 —my cake always crack on top:(. My daughter likes vanilla cake very much and she asked me to make a vanilla ice cream cake. Can i use this cake to make ice cream cake? Tqvm for the great recipe!❤️
Hi Great thanks! yes you can CLICK HERE FIRST before you decide though!
hi gretchens thanks for such amazing recipe….great success for me always
i wanna make chocolate version of this cake….just curios to know that if by adding coco powder it will get good colour and also richer in taste
thanks
Hi Thanks I prefer this way if you want good chocolate flavor CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen, Thanks for sharing. I always have problems baking cake because most of the time they do not rise. Even if they do, they will fall back to the same height as the original batter. And sometimes, they concave like a volcano. I am very nervous each time to make cakes. I am suspecting my oven.
I was taught to whip the whole egg to a very foamy ribbon stage which is more than triple in size. Of course, they all collapsed even in the oven. Yours is very liquid ribbon stage. Does it need to be that much butter and milk? What is the degree to bake at, and is bake mode or convection mode with fan? Appreciate for any help.
Hey sure, this may help! CLICK HERE
thanks for replying and sharing. I have watched your video long time ago. I have no problem in whipping whites. I have tremendous problem getting the whole egg whipped. I tried your recipe and similar recipe. they all turned out 2/3 of bottom to be dense and would not rise. What have i done wrong? Appreciate any help.
Did you warm the eggs with the sugar? This helps tremendously
Hi Gretchen, Thanks for sharing this recipe. It is a hit among my family and friends. I have tried Vanilla one and everyone loves it. I used 50gm less sugar quantity than mentioned in the recipe as my hubby doesn’t like very sugary cakes. Now I have to bake a cake for a friend who is diabetic. How can I replace sugar with sugar free? What ratio should I be using?
Thanks
Sam
Hi Great! Thanks for the feedback! 50g is about the max you can take out of this recipe before it starts tasting like cornbread!
You can use Splenda for baking with no trouble I have not tried Stevia though (however I feel it would work) but only sub half the amount if you do, since it could produce a dry result if you sub all of the sugar
CLICK HERE FOR MORE
Hello Gretchen
I love this cake recipe. It is a staple for me. The only problem is that the fat falls to the bottom of the cake during baking. the top of the cake is nice and light but the bottom is dense and darker and color. I mix the milk and the butter well before making the liasion so that the butter does not remain on top. I am not sure what I am doing wrong. Thank you!!
Hmm It doesn’t really sound like you are doing anything wrong, since clearly you understand the liaison method. Are you sure to get the eggs to a thick ribbon stage? thats the only other factor and then dont over mix once you put the liaison in, then get it to the oven immediately. perhaps raise your oven temp to 375 for the first 15 minutes then lower for the rest of the bake time
Hi Gretchen! Its me again! Sorry for always asking you questions but your recipes are always my go-tos.
I am building a 2 teir cake for 50pax. According to a cake guide online, the base layer would be a 10inch and the top would be a 6 inch.
How would you go about double or halving the recipe for 2 – 10inch cakes and 2-6 inch cakes that will be torted to 4 layered cakes individually?
Thank you!
Regards, Irsyad from Singapore 🙂
Sure, the recipe for 2-8″ cakes typically will make 1- layer of 10″ when multiplied 1½X but to make your day go more efficiently double the recipe and make the 6″ + 10″ layers at once then make the recipe again for the second layers of 6″ and 10″
Be sure your mixer bowl can accommodate the doubled recipe of the eggs though or you will not get great results. the ribbon stage and whipping of the eggs is the most important part of this recipe
Hi Gretchen,
This is my first time attempting your sponge cake recipe and I just had a question about volume. I cut your recipe in half and only baked in one 8 inch pan, but my layer is just about 1 inch thick, not two as it is in your video. I definitely got my eggs to ribbon stage, but don’t feel like they increased by 5x the volume. I gently folded in the flour and didn’t knock out much air. The consistency of the cake is great, but I was expecting a much thicker layer. Did I do something wrong or are the cakes in your video make with more batter? It looked like in the shot where you pressed on the top to see if it was done, it was a much shorter layer than the one you turned out. Just want to make sure I didn’t screw something up. Thanks!
Hey there, sounds like you really did everything right and understand the key points too. I did not add more batter, the recipe I showed in the video is exactly the recipe as written, so– 2 pans after baking, each cake layer rise to 2″ high as that is my pan height.
Its hard to say where the trouble is for many as I tried to really hit the key points in the video and written instructions as well. Id say try again, and see if you have better luck
I have tried again but with the same results. I have done everything the same as you and used the same ingredients, but they wont rise as much. It looks like I don’t have as much batter as you do when they go into the pans. I took photo/video of each stage but can’t upload them here. Can I get them to you somehow? Thanks for the help!
gretchensbakery3@gmail.com
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Thanks for sharing such a wonderful information, we have some new designs and ideas for more details please visit
This is my go to recipe! Comes out so fluffly and perfectly flat tops every time too, and the aroma just YUM. <3
Hi, I have been using this recipe for a while now and I love it. However the problem is whenever I take the cakes out do the oven and leave it in the pan to cook they shrink away from the sides. Pls what am I doing wrong.
it is normal to have SOME shrinkage but CLICKHERE for more
Hi Gretchen, I love this cake it’s delicious!!!! Thank you so much for share your amazing recipes. I have 2 questions, #1 can I double the recipe at once? I need to bake two 10″ cakes. #2 how can I make it a little more moist? When I do all the process necessary to cover it with fondant, it drys a bit or could you please recommend me other recipe for this purpose
Hi Thanks yes to double and sponge cakes are naturally more dry CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
Try this recipe instead CLICK HERE
Hi Gretchen! Love your fun videos and recipes. I have a question might already be answered somewhere but I’m in a tight schedule hehehe. I have a gas and electric and convection oven. I am going to use the convection oven but wanted to know if it will stay at 350 for baking or does the temperature change?
HI Thanks! You can lower the temperature to about 335 for convection
Hi Gretchen,
Between this and your yellow sponge cake, which is more moist? I find that all the sponge cake/light cake recipes I’ve tried are always a bit dry- can I substitute oil in this to make it more moist?
Yes then try this Yellow Sponge Cake
Hi, Gretchen. I am going to make this cake for a co-worker’s birthday. I am going to dust the top with confectioners sugar. I just have a question. Instead of using the circular cake pans, I was thinking about using a bundt pan instead. Would the recipe or baking time change? Thanks.
sure you can use a bundt pan, bake time will be longer CLICK HERE
Hi, Gretchen. I just wanted to thank you for sharing your recipe. I baked the cake for my co-workers birthday, and not only did she love it, but my other co-workers along with my boss loved it!!! And it smelled so good. I am sticking with this recipe. I used a candy thermometer to check the temperature for the egg and milk mixtures. Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!!
Hi Gretchen, I love your recipe and have used it many times with great success. Today I baked one recipe in an 8″ square pan and it only rose to 2.5″. I was just wondering if it should have risen a bit more? Thanks.
Hmm, and entire recipe in 1-8″ pan would be alot of batter. Square pans and round pans are quite interchangeable, so I would still have divided the batter into 2 pans or at least just put half the batter into the 1.
Thanks for your reply! It more or less confirms what I suspected! I will bake again with just half the recipe.
nice
hi gretchen i cant wait to try it
but i had to ask you something i have a lamona single multi fuction fan assisted oven but i dont really know how to use it in the instruction manual for a sponge cake it says put it in the bottom shelf on 200c for 20-25 min so im not sure to follow the manual or what ur recipe says and because its a fan oven iv heard that u have to lower it down by 20c from what the recipy says
i hope u help me thanks!
yes I would lower the temperature for the fan assist function
Hi Gretchen, Hope you are doing good.
I have a cake bakery and always search for new recipes , i would like to bake this cake. Thanks for the Same
This cake recipe is amazing.. i love it ..is just perfect
Can i use for three milks cakes but in two or three floors ?
YES click here
I love this recipe ! Definitely my go to cake recipe. I have made this many times now. Generally make it with layered fruits and whip cream topping or good as is !! I’m going to try the chocolate version of this today
Hey! nycc recipe…i have an 8 x 8 inch (1.5 inch deep) pan. How much of the ingredients given must i use??
same as the round pans I used, no difference
Hi Gretchen! First and foremost I would like to say how much I love your site! You have helped me in many areas of baking, and I keep learning every time I open your site! I do have a concern and a question. Concern: whenever I use a creamed butter recipe my cakes rise beautifully, then fall in the last few minutes of baking. What am I doing wrong? New baking powder, checked the oven temp, used purchased and home made cake flour.
Question: What recipe would work the best for a 4 tier wedding cake, and how do you fcalculate how much batter you will need for the different size cake pans?
Thank you in advance!
Hi Tammy, thanks. Odd for a creamed cake recipe since those are the most forgiving, but maybe you are OVER creaming? Possible? Otherwise too much batter in the pans will cause that too, always fill not much more than half no matter what size pans.
CLICK HERE for wedding cakes
Great
Hi, I know it’s been a while since you post this.
I have done this recipe many time, but I always have some issues. if it is in big pan it turns out great but if it is in 6 inch X 3 inch pan it is too thick and not fluffy.
What do you think the issue.
when I mix butter and milk. Do I heat them together or the milk is already heated when I add butter. also, In your video you said get caster sugar or superfine sugar or ground granulated sugar in food processor but the written recipe does not say to I am confused here.
which butter and baking powder do you recommend?
The pan size really shouldnt make a difference, just be sure you are not filling them too much (not more than half full)
I heat the milk and butter together, superfine (castor) sugar is best (or granulated in a food processor) I used regular cheap butter here and baking powder= rumford
I really do not know what I did wrong. I love the recipe and all your recipes. I want to get same texture when I bake it in small pan.
When I heat the butter and milk, butter does not melt. I think I overheated it. It formed a layer on the top of the milk. This is why I asked about butter. I thought I should get better one. How I can send you pictures so you know whay I am talking about. I really do not want to try different recipe I love this
I use rumford baking powder also. Swans Down cake flour,Gold medal all purpose flour, Great value whole milk, Great value granulated sugar but I did not do it in food processor since it is not mentioned in the wrriten recipe next time I will try. Does it make a difference. How many minutes should I heat butter and milk.
Hi, Gretchen! Do I need to use the APC and cake flour altogether? Or either APC or cake flour. Planning to bake this on my birthday. Thank you.
I do a blend of both as listed in the ingredients, but you can use all AP if that is all you have
Hiya Gretchen! I’m gonna make a rainbow cake and I was wondering when should I put the food coloring in. Thanks!
I wouldn’t recommend using this recipe for the rainbow cake number one you’ll have to do a lot of extra mixing to get the colors in properly dividing the batter into small balls this takes time time will deflate this batter and he will end up with a heavy dense cake that being said if you search for white cake here on my blog in the search bar that would be a very great cake recipe to use for rainbow cake
Also can I use this recipe to make cake pops?
Yes
Hello, I just had the biggest cake failure of my life with this cake, srsly. I made a cake and batch of cupcakes, the cake grew a lot for some minutes, it reached at least twice de size and the it sort of explored and it came down, now even smaller than at the beginning, I guess it’s pretty obvious it turned out with and extra dense, hoody and greasy texture. Pretty much the same happened with the cupcakes, there was literally nothing left in the paper cups and a mess in the oven. I guess I might have done wrong more that one thing, the oven temperature was a bit too high and I noticed when it was too late, also, based on what you mentioned in the post about overbeating the eggs I figured that could be it as well (even though I was really careful with that), another possible explanation could be that I prepared half the recipe, anyhow, it doesn’t sound much reasonable to me. I hope you can give me some advice on this and will be trying again the recipe despite de dissapointment 🙁 . Thank you.
Hi it sounds like there could have been several variables that caused the failure the number one thing that sticks out for me though in your explanation is that you prepared half recipe is it possible you still used the leavening for the full recipe?
Nine times out of 10 recipe failures are due to improper measuring especially when dividing recipes or multiplying recipes
Dear Gretchen, this cake is absolutely amazing. I am new to this, this is my first ever vanilla sponge cake and it was delicious. Thank you so much 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Gretchen,
Can I use the chocolate cake version of this to build on Brown derby cake ? I love this sponge cake recipe and made it many times. My family loves this cake.
Dear Gretchen,
Can I use the chocolate version of this recipe to build on brown derby cake ? My family loves this cake and I’ve made it many times with great result each time.
Thank you !
yes sure!
i make american sponge cake by seperate egg foaming method from joyofbaking.com site. sponge is good but its little sticky. when i eat it, it feels that something is sticking in my mouth. I make cake flour then use it. I use castor sugar, fresh eggs. am i overmixing?
Some people have said the top of their cake is sticky as well, I have not had this problem, but I do recommend the castor sugar and heating the eggs to dissolve the sugar will help too.
do bakeries use any special flour/ ingredient in sponge. I dnt get many things in India
No, I used regular flour for sponges
Hi , Thankyou you for sharing your recipes. This one sounds great. I have few questions :
1) Can I use this recipe for a two tiered stacked cake?
2) If yes, please could you give me the quantities for a ten inch and six inch cake ?
Many thanks
Hi thanks to you too!
1) Yes CLICK HERE FOR MORE
2) 2X the recipe
Hi Gretchen, I’m so excited to try this receipe. I’m going to use one of those Number Pans for a special birthday. Its a 14 x 10 x 2 pan shaped like the number 1 – should I double the receipe or 1.5 times it? Should I extend the cooking time ?
Thanks
Hey there, yes to double, but be sure your mixer can handle that volume of whipped eggs because THAT is the #1 key to this recipe success, be sure to read the entire blog post before you begin
Hi I am planning to make this as 14″ round 2″ high cake pan. Should I double the recipe and what temperature should I bake at
yes double for 1- layer 14″ (bake time will be about 40 minutes? CLICK HERE FOR MORE! )
be sure your mixer can accommodate the volume of eggs though, since that is the key to success in this recipe (*read entire blog post please, to make sure you get the key points for success here)
Any vanilla rum cake recipe ?
Hmm, not technically but this is close! CLICK HERE
Hii Gretchen ….I love ur hotmilk vanilla cake …it’s suoerbit in my family …want to make this recipe for 3 tier birthday cake with blueberry filling n white chocolate ganache frosting with fondant or my son …now my query is will this cake b able to take the weight of white chocolate ganache n fondant ?? Else what s ur suggetion ?One more querry …can I make blueberry compote out of dried blueberries? Regards
Hi Thanks, yes to dried blueberries,but you will have to reconstitute them with more liquid than the recipe states (not sure what recipe you are using, but typically they call for fresh or frozen berries with very little liquid)
Yes to ganache frosting and fondant CLICK HERE FOR MORE
While I wrote that blog post years ago, and I was never one to use ganache under my fondant (as you will read) but many people nowadays DO with no trouble
Thanks a lot Gretchen
can i put this whole recipe in a 9″ round tin?
No, it will be too much batter, you have to fill pans only slightly more than half full for proper baking – this recipe is perfect for 2-8″ rounds or 2-9″ rounds for a slightly thinner cake layer, and 9″ cake layer will bake a few minutes less
Do you think is possible turn this recipe to whole wheat?
whole wheat flour is a heavy dense flour that will weigh down this delicate foamed sponge
Can I use oil instead of butter?
yes
I’ve made this cake for my work colleagues, family, and friends, at Christmas and for birthdays…now I get requests to make as its SO good. Making my tenth today for visiting family. Walnuts plus sultanas for sure! Thanks, ALL. 🙂
can i divided this batter into 2 7″ round tins? will it be too much?
Unless you have 7″ x 3″ pans, yes it will be a bit too much. the 8″ pans I used in the video (as you see) they rose all the way to the top of the 2″ high pan
Hi Gretchen,
Firstly, your recipes are really inspirational and I use them a lot and everyone is a big fan.
I’m baking my sister wedding cake (eeeeek)
Would it be okay to bake the cake in one 8inch pan rather then two? Also does doubling this recipe work? Or would I need to bake two batches?
Thanks for your help!
Hi Thanks! This recipe will make 2- 8″ pans, you would not be bale to fit all the batter into just 1 pan. It’s too much and will overflow in your oven. The cakes rise to almost the top of my 2″ high pan (as you see in the video) so definitely No to that. Doubling the recipe is fine ONLY if your mixer can accommodate a double batch of ingredients, read the blog post where I talk all about the troubleshooting and keys for success in this recipe
Amazing Information that you share with us thanks for sharing most valuable information.Keep Going the Good Work
The recipe was just awesome – I don’t think you will get tired of hearing it hehe.
Tried it for the first time and only after keeping all my ingriendents ready realized my thermometer ran out of battery. Still went ahead and observed closely to see the sugar had melted. I used castor sugar (as suggested in your video). The batter was so fluffy and light! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Will be my go-to recipe for all my cakes 🙂
awesome! thanks for the feedback! Nope, never too many compliments on this recipe! 🙂
Hi gretchen, if i make this cake a day in advance and dont want to freeze it should I leave it out or put in the fridge(unfrosted)?
wrap it well and refrigerate
Can I just say that this recipe was amazing! I have a question though, can it be used as the base for a funfetti cake?
Great thanks! The batter is quite thin though and does not hold up “additions” well I would recommend