1. Relax, it takes time.
This might sound like a silly first tip, but baking is a skill that sometimes takes a little time to master, and even the most experienced have cake fails sometimes. You might strike it lucky on your first sponge cake attempt, or you might not. Don’t fret, with a little patience, practice and know-how from our tips below, you’ll be turning sponge cakes out with ease soon enough.
2. Precision pays off
This is not a spaghetti bolognese, and as Donna Hay says, “the fewer ingredients, the more precise you have to be.” What does precision look like? It means using a knife to level off your flour in the measuring cup, or even better using scales, measuring your liquid using a measuring jug as closely to the line as possible and paying attention to the size of your eggs.
3. Eggs for Excellence
Eggs are one of the main ingredients in a sponge cake, so it’s important to know the size of the eggs hanging out in your fridge. A 700g carton of eggs will give you individual eggs approx. 58-60g, which are ideal for our Raspberry Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe.
4. Room temperature, please.
To assist beating, bring your eggs to room temperature at least 30 mins before starting your cake. You can speed this up by cracking your eggs into a clean, glass bowl, which will allow warmer air to circulate around them.
5. Give it some air
The magic of a light, fluffy sponge with tender crumb is to incorporate as much air in as possible. After all, it is the entrapped air that expands in the oven, creating the magic of the cake rising. Anyone that has ever blown bubbles will know how quickly they pop, so you don’t want to hang around checking your text messages or instagramming your mixture when making a sponge cake. That can happen after it’s out of the oven!
6. Dig out those electric beaters
While we love our stand mixers (such as Kitchenaid, Kenwood or Breville), these mixtures are actually TOO efficient and vigorous on those delicate, eggy air bubbles. If you can, try mixing with a hand-held electric beater. Your eggs are ready when you can stop the beaters and create a figure 8 in the top of the mixture, which doesn’t dissolve back into the mixture (a handy CWA tip!).
7. Go Glass
Once again, another egg secret. Eggs don’t like plastic, so be sure to use a glass of metal bowl when beating your eggs to ensure they stretch and incorporate lots of lovely air bubbles.
8. Your oven is the answer
This is one of the big sponge cake secrets – it’s all down to your oven. While our recipe suggests 160C for a fan forced oven, your oven might run a smidge hotter or cooler. This is when practice becomes important (see tip #1). If your cake is too tough, try a slightly hotter temperature so that you don’t have to cook it for any longer than 15-20 minutes.
9. Fold like a pro
A good folding technique is essential for sponge cakes. When folding flour into the beaten eggs, use a spatula to “cut through and lift” just like Donna Hay in her video here.
10. Love thy scales
Skip the challenge of cutting your finished cake in half and instead pour the batter evenly into two prepared cake tins. For two perfectly even cakes, weigh the mixture into each cake tin.
11. No skewer
Your finished sponge will be so delicate; a skewer will cause that precious air to deflate! Instead, gently press the top of the sponge. Once ready, they will lightly spring back.
12. Turn it out!
Unlike most cakes, you are best to turn sponge cakes out onto a wire racked lined covered with three tea towels within a couple of minutes of removing from the oven. This will prevent those unsightly wire rack marks appearing on your delicate cake.
And just like that, you now have a beautiful sponge cake! We hope you enjoy the bright, honest flavours of our Classic no-fail Sponge Cake with irresistible passionfruit icing and share it with those you love most.
– The Queen team
FAQs
Tips for moist and fluffy sponge cake
- Make sure that the butter you use is not too cold. ...
- You want your cake to be pale yellow and fluffy. ...
- Cover your tin in baking paper, butter up the sides, top off with butter on the baking paper and bake up wonders, cook. ...
- Bake your prepared batter immediately when it is ready.
THE SPONGE CAKE FLATTENS
- You didn't use enough dry ingredients (flour/ cocoa/ sugar). ...
- Poor quality dry ingredients. ...
- You mixed everything on high speed. ...
- You opened the oven in the process of baking.
- You got it out of the oven too soon.
- You used a spoon or a mixer to combine the wet and dry ingredients. ...
- The dough isn't baked.
Room Temperature Butter / Don't Over-Cream
Most cakes begin with creaming butter and sugar together. Butter is capable of holding air and the creaming process is when butter traps that air. While baking, that trapped air expands and produces a fluffy cake. No properly creamed butter = no air = no fluffiness.
Why is my sponge cake not light and fluffy? ›
Make sure that all of the ingredients are at room temperature. If the ingredients are at different temperatures then they may not combine properly and the cake will be dense. If the eggs are stored in the fridge then remove them several hours before using, so they are properly at room temperature.
How to make sponge cake rise? ›
Add a leavening agent to the flour. Most cakes will call for a leavening agent like baking powder or baking soda. These create the bubbles you need for the cake to rise. If the flour you use is self-raising, it already has a leavening agent in it.
What makes a sponge cake moist? ›
Eggs are the key to making your sponge cake fluffy and moist. You will want to beat your whole eggs with the sugar until the volume increases by three times. You will want to make sure you don't overbeat the eggs, as this will result in a flat cake.
Is sponge cake better with oil or butter? ›
The high fat content of butter keeps the sponge moist and tender whilst also providing a delicious buttery flavour that you won't get with margarine or oils.
How do I stop my sponge cake doming? ›
Use Cake Strips to Prevent your Cake from Doming
Simply soak them in water, squeeze out the excess, and wrap them around the outside of your tin. This simple step is a game-changer for achieving a perfectly level cake.
What causes sponge cake to fail? ›
10.3 Common Defects in Angel Cake and Sponge Cake Products and their Probable Causes
- Low volume. Presence of small amount of fat. Sugar added too soon or too rapidly. Low quality eggs. Slow beating rate. ...
- Low volume (shrunken) Overbeating before sugar was added. Sugar not well blended into meringue.
The way Queen Victoria would have enjoyed her cake was what we have come to recognise as the definitive Victoria sponge cake today. That is, two sponge cakes which are filled with cream and jam then dusted on top with sugar. This explains how the cake is also often referred to as a Victoria sandwich cake.
Leavening Agents
Since we're talking about cake and not yeast bread, we'll focus on chemical leavening. The reaction of baking soda or baking powder with the liquids in the batter releases carbon dioxide, which forms air bubbles to help your cakes be light and airy.
What is the secret of soft and fluffy cake? ›
Leavening agents, such as baking powder and baking soda, play a crucial role in making cakes rise and achieve a fluffy texture. These agents produce carbon dioxide gas when combined with liquid and heat, creating air pockets that lighten the batter.
Why is my sponge cake so flat and hard? ›
If you end up with a flat cake, there are a few possible causes. Overbeating the flour will overwork its gluten, so fold in dry ingredients with a light hand. Remember to add the raising agent – self-raising flour already contains this, but if you use any other flour you need to mix in baking powder.
Why is my sponge cake too soft? ›
Too much liquid. Not the correct temperature in the oven. Didn't cook long enough, because the oven was not pre-heated before inserting the cake into it. Missing ingredients.
What is the secret to light fluffy sponge cake? ›
Whipping the eggs is a very important part of the process, so don't skimp on the time! You need to incorporate as much air into the eggs as possible, as this is what levels the cake and will give you a light and fluffy sponge.
Should you beat eggs before adding to cake mix? ›
Martina says, “Late in the mixing stage, eggs will incorporate better if you lightly beat them before adding to the batter. The finished cake may be slightly shorter than expected, but its flavor and tenderness shouldn't be affected.” For egg-leavened cakes, the eggs are crucial.
What substance makes the cake soft and fluffy? ›
Therefore, a powder added while baking bread and cakes to make them fluffy and soft is baking powder.
Can you over beat a sponge cake? ›
Sponge cakes—like chiffon and genoise—have similar cause for concern, as they will deflate if overmixed. Flourless cakes, however, or those relying on gluten-free flours, are some of the least sensitive to overmixing (if they don't rely on whipped egg whites).
What is the secret to a good cake? ›
The next time you're baking a cake, keep these simple tricks in mind:
- Prep the ingredients. Have all of the ingredients at room temperature, unless the recipe directs otherwise. ...
- Use the right flour. ...
- Prep your pans. ...
- Alternate wet and dry ingredients. ...
- Preheat. ...
- Release air bubbles. ...
- Test for doneness. ...
- Cool down.
This means that the leavening agents, baking soda and/or baking powder, have more time to react before the top sets. The cake rises in the middle, but the edges can't rise as much because they heated up so quickly that the crust has set. The cake is probably browning on the edges when the middle begins to rise.
Depending on what your taste buds prefer you can always use just strawberry jam and whipped cream as is traditional in a Victoria Sponge. I prefer raspberry jam or lemon curd instead of strawberry jam myself. In a chocolate cake you can try cherry conserve and cream. In an orange cake I use marmalade.
Why put butter in sponge cake? ›
For The Sponge
Butter can give a great flavour to cakes and coats the proteins and starches during the mixing step and results in a more delicate crumb. It also impacts richness and flavour.
