Easy sponge cake
Our easy sponge cake recipe is foolproof. With only five ingredients this basic cake recipe just needs your favourite icing and you're sorted. It's a small sponge cake, made in an 18cm or 7in cake tin.
If you are looking for a larger recipe for a different tin size, or with some additional icing, try our sponge cake calculator for the perfect fit to your equipment or style.
Ingredients
- 125g/4oz butter or margarine, softened, plus extra for greasing
- 125g/4oz caster sugar
- 2 medium free-range eggs
- 125g/4oz self raising flour
- jam, lemon curd or whipped cream and berries, to serve
Method
Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease two 18cm/7in cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.
Cream the butter and the sugar together until pale and fluffy. This will take a few minutes using an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition.
Sift over the flour and fold in using a large metal spoon.
The mixture should be of a dropping consistency (see recipe tips); if it is not, stir in a little milk.
Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula. Bake for 20–25 minutes, or until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before turning on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Sandwich the cakes together with jam, lemon curd or whipped cream and berries or just enjoy on its own.
Recipe Tips
This easy sponge cake recipe can be jazzed up with whipped cream and seasonal fruit, or with your favourite jam or fruit curd.
When making a sponge cake it's really important that your butter is very soft so that you can effectively mix it with the sugar (watch the technique video for tips).
Take the time to beat the butter and sugar together very vigorously and thoroughly. You know it's ready when the mixture is fluffy and the colour has become lighter. At this stage there's no risk of overmixing. (For interested parties, what you are trying to achieve is lots of tiny air bubbles coating the sugar crystals. These expand when heated, which, along with the raising agent, is what creates a light fluffy cake.)
If the mixture starts to curdle when adding the eggs, stir in a tablespoon of the flour.
Sifting the flour makes it easier to incorporate and helps keep the batter airy (for a light and fluffy cake).
Once you have folded in the flour, work fairly quickly to get the most from the raising agents in the flour. Self-raising flour contains baking powder which is activated by moisture, so once the dry and wet ingredients are combined you need to get the cake in the oven pretty quickly for the best results.
Dropping consistency is when a spoonful of batter drops easily into the bowl when given a gentle shake.
If you want the two cake layers to be perfectly even, weigh the batter when dividing it between the tins to make sure you have the same amount in each one.