I’ve had the hardest time making a quality vanilla cake. They always come out way too soft compared to the kind you get at a good bakery, and when I have managed to get one that was dense, it was dry too. I literally have half a shelf full of professional baking cookbooks too, and every time I’ve tried one of their recipes, I’ve clearly screwed something up. They’re all scaled to a professional kitchen, meaning that they make 10 cakes instead of 1, and clearly I’m failing at math when I try to scale it down.
Last Saturday morning I woke up at 4:50am with Mommy guilt because I hadn’t make a first birthday cake for Sophie. Her party is this coming Saturday, and awesome food blogger that I am, I ordered her birthday cakes from my favourite bakery… but on her actual day, I had nothing. And to me, the one thing you just HAVE to have on your birthday is a cake. Thankfully, my mind was working that early, and I remembered Woodland Bakery (unfortunately now closed).
This isn’t a bakery I’ve ever been too, I don’t even think it’s in the same country as me, but I stumbled upon their Facebook page a year or so ago and am always so excited when I see their posts. It’s done by Gretchen Price, a professional pastry chef, and she posts the same recipes she sells at the bakery. And so it is that I used her recipe, Best Vanilla Sponge Cake (I used to link to her original recipe here, but she had since shut down her site), and I will never look back or try another. I’m including her recipe below, but if you follow that link I just posted she’s also included a few important notes, as well as how to make a marble version. Go, bookmark her site, it’s so worth it!
Here’s what I whipped up though. And I mean that I whipped it up. The cake was surprisingly easy to make, and turned out as good or better than any I’d bought before. I just iced it with a basic buttercream, and on the inside (it was four layers), I did a thin layer of the buttercream between two, and a layer or strawberry jam in the center. That’s the easiest thing to do. Just dump a bunch of your favourite jam in a bowl it, beat it on medium speed until runny, then spread it on your cake. I’ll grab a slice shot later today to show you.
Try this cake with my salted caramel buttercream and sauce!
I can’t stress how perfectly this cake turned out. I have never had one bake up so evenly (no big bulge in the center), or be so dense and moist at the same time. Absolutely phenomenal recipe!
Bakery Style Vanilla Sponge Cake
A moist and flavourful bakery style vanilla sponge cake. This is my go-to vanilla cake and works great as a layer cake!
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, room temperature (200g) (very important)
- 2 cups white sugar (400g)
- 2 cups cake flour (250g) or sub all purpose flour (260g)
- 2 tsp baking powder (10g)
- ¼ tsp salt (2g)
- 1 cup whole milk (8 fl oz)
- 8 tbsp butter (112g)
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF with a rack in the middle position. Grease two 8" circular cake pans.
- Whip the room temperature eggs in your mixer on high speed (using the whip attachment), until foamy. Very slowly, pour in the sugar. Continue to whip until the mixture reaches the ribbon stage (when you lift the whisk out, the mixture with flow off in a wide, thick, pale yellow ribbon), about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt, and mix on low speed until combined.
- Put the milk and butter in a medium microwave safe bowl (or in a pot on the stove top), and heat until the butter is melted and the mixture is hot.
- Whisk 2 cups of the cake batter into the hot milk mixture. Add it all back into the remaining batter.
- Add the vanilla and mix until evenly combined.
- Pour the batter evenly between the two cake pans.
- Bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 325ºF and continue baking until finished (about 10 minutes, watch carefully). The cake it done when you gently press at the center and it springs back immediately.
- Remove from the cake pans and let cool completely on wire racks before slicing or icing.
Notes
Once cooled the cake can be wrapped well in plastic wrap and frozen until needed.
Doubling the recipe isn't recommended unless you have a very large bowl attached to your mixer, because of the need for the egg mixture to reach a certain volume.
Katie @ Recipe for Perfection
What a gorgeous cake! I like simple cake recipes, so my preferred one is a 1-2-3-4 cake from “The Perfect Cake,” but this one definitely looks worth trying! Beautiful decorations, too.
Katrina
Thanks Katie 🙂
Bhumika Govindani
Thank you! At our bakery, perfection is always the key ingredient. Every recipe is crafted with love, precision, and a passion for excellence.
Kristin
Hi Katrina! Do you have a recipe for the frosting you used? It looks perfect! 🙂
Katrina
Hey Kristen,
I just used the wilton buttercream recipe (but used all butter for flavour, instead of butter and shortening.) http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing It was actually my first time using it – I picked up the Wilton cake decorating course materials on a ridiculous sale, and am starting to play around. It was really easy to use because it’s nice and stiff… but it’s not my favourite tasting buttercream.
If you’re looking for the best tasting icing though, My go-to is always the one used here: https://www.kitchentrials.com/2014/11/18/salted-caramel-macaroons/ It’s in a macaroon recipe, but just making the icing from in. You can make any flavour, just sub for the salted caramel sauce (my go-to’s are pureed strawberries or raspberries).
angelina ❤
i just made this cake for my daughter’s first birthday! i came across your post on foodgawker well over a month in advance and it is exactly what i was looking for. totally fell in love with your decor, too! i baked it in 6″ pans and made cupcakes with the remaining batter. i’d stupidly overfilled my pans when i first attempted the recipe, so the cakes tore. we of course had to sample it and my husband insisted that i use the same recipe when i baked again. it was easy to make and is really such a classic, yummy white cake! i used cook’s country’s meringue buttercream to frost it and filled it with organic raspberry preserves. i posted a picture of it at the link above…thanks for a great recipe!
Katrina
I LOVE this so much! Your cake looks amazing, and I’m so glad that you and the husband enjoyed it. My husband had the exact same reaction that yours did too. He starts to get frustrated when I do too many cakes in a row that are a little heavy on the *try* flavour wise. He was in heaven to just have a simple cake that was really, really good. You made my night last night when I saw this comment, so thank you 🙂 I hope your daughter had a great first birthday! (also, love the tumbler name!)
Aisha shehu
Really marvelous
Natasha
Hi. Just a quick question. Do the eggs when cracked need to weigh 200g?
I’ve been looking for a cake that is white when cut so this looks worth a try. I hope I don’t mess it up.
Also is the cake strong enough to hold another on top?
Thanks for your help.
Katrina
Hey Natasha,
For the eggs, just using four will get you close enough to the weight, but make sure they’re room temperature – that helps you get the lift in the cake. When I’m in a hurry I’ll put the eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 3 minutes.
The cake it pretty sturdy, and I don’t think you’d have any issue putting a smaller tier on top. To be extra safe, I would put three dowels (thin wooden poles, you can grab them at the hardware store) in the bottom cake if you can. That’s typically what bakers do to support the upper tiers, and not have them squish the bottom tier, regardless of how sturdy the cakes are.
I hope that helps, and that you like the cake 🙂
Natasha
I’ve tried the cake when I sent my original question. Turned out really well. Family and friends loved it.
Making it again today. Just want to be double sure I have the eggs right. I was weighing them in the shell. Should I cracked them first?
Katrina
Hi Natasha,
I always weigh out of the shell… but usually I just grab four large eggs out of the fridge for this cake and don’t bother weighing. Glad you all liked it! I’m making it again next week for my daughters birthday too 🙂
Lamiaa
Thank you it’s great I use it every birthday
Ferzeen
Lamiaa,
Can I cut down on the sugar or will that compromise the recipe? I made it and the texture is wonderful but it tastes a bit too sweet once I added buttercream.
Bri Lopez
Hello.
I stumbled upon your website from Pinterest. Im a Wilton Instructor so I make tons of cake. I love to experiment with flavors since on average I make 4-6 cakes a month. Ive tried and failed many a vanilla sponge recipe, TILL NOW. 🙂
Im so glad i found this recipe. I LOVE IT! Its everything I was looking for and then some. Thank you thank you!
Katrina
Bri, you just made my morning!!! Thank you so much ?
jacinta
Is this a really sweet sponge with the 2 cups of sugar
Katrina
Hi Jacinta, I’ve made this cake a handful,of times for dinner family get togethers and no one has commented on it seeming overly swear. I’ve got a sweet tooth though, so Not much is sweet to me. My husband, who hates most sweets, really liked this cake though!
Siddharth
I made half amount of the cake and halved the ingredients accordingly however I found my cake very sweet. I would suggest to use a little less than a cup for the original recipe
Donna
Can I make this in fluted cake pan?
Katrina
I think you’re fine to make this in a fluted pan (just watch the time, it’ll be done faster) ?
Martha
Hi Katrina!
I have a question, I tried baking the cake it rised but then fell flat 🙁 any advise as to where I might of gone wrong? Thanks.
Martha
Katrina
Hi Martha! I tried to hunt around a bit before getting back to you. The most common reasons are either too much moisture (where do you live? That could even play a part in it), the flour may have been off, the oven door opened to check on it before the half way point of baking, or it just not being completely done when removed. Did you check the center of the cake with a toothpick? And lastly, let me know what size pan you baked it in. That might help me help you figure out what went wrong ?
Martha
Hi Katrina! I live in Las Vegas. I did my own research also lol, I think I may have done the creaming of my eggs, sugar and butter wrong. Im not to sure what its suppose to look like. Im going to give it a second try though 🙂 thanks for your quick response.
Martha
Oh and I used a knife to check the center and I used a 10 inch pan to bake it. Thanks again.
Rayo'
Very very awesome cake. Is it possible to put less sugar and still get the same outcome?
Lindsay
I have been searching and searching for the perfect sponge cake that’s soft and moist but strong enough to be made into large cakes with lots of decoration. I decided to have a go at this recipe without really expecting much but WOW, it’s perfect, so so tasty and the texture is amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
Lindsay
Also for those asking, I put slightly less sugar (because I stupidly hadn’t stocked up on sugar) I put 325g and it was still Delish!
Jyoti
Hi Katrina,
Saw your recipe, I am struggling a lot to make a good cake which is not very dense and dry. Will definitely give it a try. 1 question I had to ask is that should I use 3 eggs instead of 4 if I am using the extra large eggs. Thanks !!
Katrina
Hey Jyoti, sorry this took so long, I missed the comment when you first sent it. Still use four eggs. When using extra large eggs, anything 4 and under you just use the same amount as called for. If the recipe called for 5 eggs, then you would use 4, and if it called for 6, you would use 5. 4 large eggs though – still use 4 extra large 🙂
Sonia
It looks delish! I will be making it shortly. How many servings can I get out of it?
Katrina
Hi Sonia! I would say at ten? maybe 12?
Chantell P.
hi! can i make cupcakes instead of the sponge cake if so do i still need to change temp from 350 to 325? and will the cook times change? Thanx in advance.
Tovah
Can this be made in a tube pan?
Katrina
You shouldn’t have a problem (I haven’t tried yet though), but it’ll probably be finished cooking a bit faster, so just keep your eye on it.
Tovah
Thanks!! Made it in a tube pan came out perfect, just had to add 5 min to the Bake time
Beatriz
Ditto on the cupcake question Chantel asked also I tried making this as a cake but I must have do everything something wrong because the middle to top half of the cake were perfect but the bottom was a disaster really dense. What did I do wrong?
Ruth
in Nigeria we don’t have whole milk, butter milk what can I use
Pink
Hi Katrina… I tried the recipie and it turned out great. Thank you so much.
Do you have a recipe for chocolate sponge cake or can I add coco powder to this one ?
Thanks
Katrina
Hi Pink,
Sorry I’m late in getting back to you – I haven’t figured out the perfect chocolate sponge cake yet. They always seem to be nice and dense but too try, or really moist but too soft to hold up with a lot of layers and frosting. I haven’t tried just jacking up this vanilla version with some cocoa either – but that’s a great idea for a starting place, and something I’ll definitely try soon! I’ll let you know how it goes 🙂
Tonya
Is there a way to give this cake a slight lemon or orange hint of flavor without compromising its texture? I want to pair it with fresh strawberries for a take on strawberry shortcake for a wedding. I thought maybe just brushing it with a citrus liqueur might be enough but the last sponge cake I made asked for lemon juice and zest in the batter. It had an impeccable flavor but is much too delicate for a tiered cake. Do you have any suggestions?
Katrina
Hey Tonya! Yes!!!! And it would be great (you guys keep giving me ideas this weekend, I’m gonna gain ten more pounds!). Replace the vanilla extract with lemon juice (or if you want a really strong lemon flavour, use lemon extract, I’ve done that for a loaf and it’s amazing!). I’d add the zest of either 1/2 a lemon, or a whole lemon, depending again on how lemony you want it. Hope you love it!
Brenda Brown
Thank you SO MUCH! I made this recipe!! SO PERFECT! I also linked you on the post via my blog. =)
dan
Perfect recipe! I’ve been looking for a good sponge cake recipe for ages- this one is no fuss and no fail, results in a delicious, moist cake that everyone raves about!
Katie
Wow! What an amazing cake! So delicious and the recipe was really very simple. I followed it to a tee and I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out! Best cake recipe ever!!
CANAN TEKIN
Hi there
Thank you so much for your recipe. I can’t wait to try as I am a nanny and looking for a nice moist birthday cake recipe for the little one I look after. I am in UK I hope I won’t mess up with measurements ? first question is, can I use white chocolate ganache with this cake and what type of jam or marmalade I can use with your filling?? Thank you so much,regards,Canan
Katrina
Oh man does a white chocolate ganache ever sound AMAZING! If I was doing white chocolate, I would pair it with a raspberry jam. If I wanted to take it a step further, I’d figure out a way to add some almond flavoring too, maybe a really thin layer of marzipan rolled out and layerd in the cake (cake layer, topped with thin marzipan, topped with raspberry jam).
I hope you love the cake! I’m sure that little one will be thrilled with whatever you make her ?
Lilian Timms
Hi, I’m from the UK what is cake flour and what is all purpose flour?
I have self Raising flour and also have Plain flour. Which should I use as you have baking powder in your recipe too.
Thanks
Lilian
Katrina
Hi Lilian,
Cake and pastry flour is one that’s sold in North America. It’s just a plain white flour with cornstarch added into it. It does give cakes a bit of a nicer sponge (that may just be personal preference though). Some people here call white flour all purpose flour, so you have that already. If you want to make the recipe with cake flour (how I always do), whisk together 1/4 cup cornstarch and 1 3/4cups flour (that gives you the 2 cups required of cake and pastry flour).
If you ever want to substitute in other baking recipes, for every cup of flour it has, put 2 tablespoons of cornstarch in a 1 cup measuring cup, and fill the rest of the cup up with white flour.
I hope you like the cake!
BevH
I’ve been baking for years, always searching for the perfect recipe. All the recipes I have used so far claim to be “game changers” but they rarely are.
I’ve just tried this recipe and I now have 3 perfectly flat sponges (ie. no levelling required AT ALL) sitting on my side, waiting to be iced. Sturdy enough to handle but beautifully light in texture. Husband has just eaten three cupcakes, which was from leftover batter. He loved them and he is not even a cake person. I am so glad I found this recipe, it will now be my go to recipe for vanilla sponges.
Gamechanger!
Azlia
Hi, I’m cooking with a 6 inch an cake. I can reduce the measurement right? and if I reduce the sugar, would it be a problem?
Katrina
Hi Azlia, you’re absolutly ok to reduce to fit a 6″ tin – but I’m not sure about the sure as I haven’t tried. It’s not a super sweet tasting cake though.
Bronwyn
Could oil be substituted for some or all of the butter??
Katrina
Hi Bronwyn, I’ve never tried subbing oil, so I’m not sure how it would turn out. I warn that it’s a finicky recipe. When it’s followed to a T it’s perfect every time, hut I would be nervous trying substitutions and then having it not turn out after all the work. Sorry I’m not more help.
gladys
HI IS THAT SELF RAISING FLOUR U USE FR UR CAKE XX
Katrina
Hi Gladys – it’s just plain, white, all purpose flour 🙂
Sky
Hi – this looks like something that is simple enough for me to do (yay!) – the only thing is my kids want a purple cake (for their dad’s birthday tomorrow haha). I’m assuming I just add food coloring into the mixture? Do you know at which point I would do this? Maybe with the vanilla? Thanks!
Katrina
Hey Sky! Love that the kids want to make it purple ? That’s totally something my guys would ask to do. You’re 100% correct, just add it in with the vanilla 🙂 mix it on low to get in all incorporated. Happy Birthday to your husband!
Sky
Great – thanks so much for the quick reply! I’m getting all the stuff ready now, so it’s right in time 🙂 Thank you for the birthday wishes!
poornima
I tried your recepie. First time it came out really yummy , but texture was like it took too much time to cook on center than on sides. Second time tried taste wise good but the same problem. Third time I thought to heat milk and butter first and keep aside and at last again made milk mixture just warm and added. But it didn’t rise. Please let me know how should the egg be beaten and when to add sugar. Should the milk and butter be too hot or warm?
Diane
Do you have recipe measurements for this recipe for a 9″x13″ sheet pan? I did this recipe and split the layers and filled with whipped cream and strawberries. Iced with whipped cream as well. Yummy. I want to do for a 90th birthday and am thinking it would be easier to serve as a sheet cake. If you have adjustments for this I would appreciate it.
Aaisha
Hi Katrina with Gretchens recipe you had to do the egg and sugar over a double boiler do I not do that with this recipe
Katrina
Hi Aaisha, every time I make this (which is more often than it should be, lol), I do it exactly as in this post 🙂 No need for the double broiler.
Sarah mc donnell
Hello I have selezione casillo soft wheat plain and soft wheat self raising flour which is 00, can I use either of these? Do I still need baking powder? Thanks
Katrina
Hi Sarah, I’m sorry for the delay – I’ve been up at a cottage with no wifi and a really spotty cell signal all week. I would think you could make it with the soft wheat plain flour, I just don’t have personal experience with it (I’m sorry I’m not more help!). I wouldn’t use the self rising, as I think you would still need to add additional baking powder, but having not used it in this recipe, I don’t know how much to tell you.
Anonymous
Found your recipe when I first started my caking obsession and it’s remains my favorite one! Thank You!!
Katrina
Thank you so much for taking the time to tell me, I really appreciate that you did ?
Christine Lemire
Found your recipe when I first started my cake obsession and it remains my favorite! Thank You!!
Katrina
Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and write this Christine ? You made my day!
Sal
Hi Katrina , I am going to try this cake for my son’s birthday next week but I have a question, Is it 8 tbsp of Melted butter? Thank you
Sally
Katrina
Hi Sally, It’s 8 tablespoons of butter, that you put with the milk while it’s still solid and warm together until it melts. You need to measure the butter out while it’s still solid 🙂 I hope your son has a wonderful birthday!
Ana ochoa
Hiii I’m excited to try this for the butter of the cake is it salted or unsalted ?
Katrina
Hi Ana, I always use salted butter because it’s what I keep in the house, and I hate keeping two different kinds in the fridge. You can use either one though 🙂
MALA
Want to try small cake. May I try with half of all measurements?
Neet
Hello !
This recipe looks perfect ! I am making a cake with mango frosting, I wanted to add crushed up pistachios to the cake would that effect the balance of the cake too much ?
Katrina
This was a tough one for me to answer, just because I’ve never tried before. I want to start by saying that this is probably the most finicky cake batter recipe that I use. Now, the fact that you’re making a mango frosting (delicious sounding and I’m jealous because I’m allergic to mango but LOVE the flavour so much), and you want to add crushed nuts, tells me you probably know your way around a cake. So, I’m not worried about you making the recipe, but I don’t want to screw you up either.
So, the “experts” a la google have told me that you can replace up to 50% of the flour in a cake recipe with ground nuts and be ok (more than 50% and you risk it not holding together). Because this is a more delicate batter though, I would probably stick to no more than 25%… maybe even 20% just to be safe the first time. That should be enough to still get the flavour through.
Please come back and let me know how it turns out. This sounds like such an awesome cake!
Navneet Kaur
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, making it today fingers crossed. I might just do a layer of pistachios in the middle of the filling and keep the cake simple.
Anonymous
How can i substitute eggs? As i am a vegan… never found perfect eggless cake.. can u please suggest the substite for eggs jn your recipe… TIA
Anonymous
Thank you so much for this incredible recipe! Made this a 4 layer cake, with the salted caramel and salted caramel buttercream…delish! The family loved it as well. Can’t wait to make it again!
Katrina
Woo!!! I love hearing that other people love my cakes, especially this one because it’s my own favourite!
bblfoodzzz
It looks wowwwww!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Danni
Have you used this for cupcakes? If so, how many does this recipe yield?
Btw, I made your salted caramel cake and added pralines! My customers loved it!
bblfoods
wowwww!!!!!!
Sinead
Hi! This is turned out beautifully! Such a lovely soft delicious cake.
I have a question though…. I want to make it with a marshmallow frosting…. so with the frosting using only egg whites il have a bunch of egg yolks left over… will this recipe work with mainly yolks? I will have 5 large yolks left over..:. Would this work with maybe the yolks and two additional eggs? Or would I not get the correct ribbon stage
Katrina
Hi Sinead, I’m sorry I didn’t get to this sooner for you. Third lockdown / homeschool has taken my computer away from me by the littlest.
This cake cake be super finicky, so I wouldn’t risk changing up the eggs (it would drive me nuts having to make it over again, lol). However… if you find yourself with a bunch of egg yolks left over again could I give you two suggestions that are my go-to’s with them? First off, if you happen to have a bunch of lemons around, making some lemon curd to keep in the fridge is never a bad idea. What I did last week though after making my kids some meringue cookies – we had Olive Garden’s alfredo sauce for dinner. If you google “Olive Garden copycat alfredo recipe” a bunch of them will come up – look for the one on Olive Garden’s website. It’s sooooooo good. It’s also terribly rich and full of cheese and cream, so not the best for us, but once in a while I just have to eat it! It uses a bunch of egg yolks.
Jess
I’ve been hunting for a soft, but not dry, sponge cake for so long, and this is it! I halved the recipe today, just to trial it, and it was fantastic. This is the perfect cake to eat when you think you’re “too full” for cake, it’s so light and fluffy. Now I’m dreaming of all the flavour combinations for this year’s birthdays. Thanks!!
Katrina
Thank you! I’m so glad that you loved it!!
BIA
Does this recipe call for unsalted or salted butter?
Katrina
Hi, most bakers will tell you to use unsalted butter for cakes, frostings, etc. I never keep both stocked in the fridge though, so I always just use salted butter. If you’re watching sodium though, there is roughly 1/3 tsp of salt in every 1/2 cup of salted butter (it varies by brand).
You can always decrease the amount of salt used in a recipe by how much is in the quantity of butter you’re using. As an example, if a recipe called for 1 tsp salt, and 1 cup of butter, you could use salted butter giving you 2/3 of salt already, then just top up with the additional 1/3 of a tsp. I never bother though, and just use salted butter, and follow the recipe as written.
Whipped dessert boutique
Impressive Post, such a clear explanation without any confusion thanks for these lovely tips
Monica M
Have you ever tried using this recipe as a base to make almond flavor cake? How much almond extract would you recommend? And have you experienced using syrups in each layer?
I made this recipe after falling in love with your carrot cake. Each layer came out looking great and flat, the problem was that I didn’t get to try a piece of the actual finished cake. I did made mini Bundt cakes with the extra batter and I LOVED them. The crust of this cake was specially delicious, tasted almost like dulce de leche.
Katie
Can’t wait to try this! Would this make 3×6-inch layers, or would I need to increase the amount of batter?
Jessie
Hi there! So excited to try this but is it salted or unsalted butter you use? Thank you!
Katrina
Hi Jessie! I use salted, but just because that’s what I always have on hand. You can absolutely use unsalted butter if you prefer 🙂
Michelle D
Wondering if anyone’s ever tried this in a 9” cake pan? Excited to try this with your salted caramel cake for my daughter’s 13th birthday!
Katrina
Hi Michelle!! You’re all good to use a 9” pan 🙂 just keep your eye on it, it’ll probably finish cooking 3-5 minutes earlier 🙂 every oven temp is a bit different though, so don’t stress if it’s not.
I hope she has an AMAZING 13th birthday! Don’t feel bad buying a caramel sauce too if you don’t have time to make one (I know birthday parties are hectic). If you’re in Canada the PC black label butterscotch sauce is good, and so is the pc caramel sauce they sell as an ice cream topping in a white squeeze bottle.
If you’re in the US you’ll have even more options!
Katrina
Hi Michelle! You can absolutely do a 9″ pan, just keep an eye on it while it’s in the oven 🙂
Jacqueline
Katrina! Thank you for the recipe. I did a test cake because I wanted a “bakery” style cake for my upcoming birthday! And it gave me Life! I was delicious! I did reduce the sugar by 50 grms in case it was too sweet. And it turned out great no did however think it was a little dry. I am wondering could it have been because I cut the layers in half? Could I have over baked them? Do I pull when there is slight wet crumb? Or should I have use your 7 secrets??or at least a couple of them? But all in all Love it ! My go to cake for now on. Last questions can I make as a chocolate or lemon cake??
Katrina
Hey Jacqueline! Before I get to the vanilla sponge – I haven’t tried this as a chocolate or lemon sponge. My hands down, go t, favourite chocolate cake is this one (ignore the frosting instructions): Chocolate Cake I make this all the time!
Now, when I do a lemon cake, I actually use this vanilla sponge, then my filling is a lemon curd, and I frost the outside with a lemon buttercream (I do one outline of buttercream on the inside as well to stop the lemon curd from squeezing out the sides.
I really like this meringue buttercream that I make: Meringue Buttercream. Don’t make or add the caramel. Instead, add 1/4 cup of lemon curd, and the zest of 1 lemon to it. Taste it, and if you want it more lemon-y you can add some more curd 🙂
Now – for the dryness. You can pull it from the oven when the edges of the cake are just going golden brown, and the toothpick in the center comes out with just a couple of crumbs sticking to it (you don’t need to wait for it to come out clean). Also – make sure the cakes are completely cool before you cut into them. It’s kind of like resting steaks, if you cut too soon, you’ll let too much of the moisture out. If you’re in a rush, you can put them in the fridge or freezer – uncovered – and that’ll speed it up for you. If you do the freezer just don’t leave it too long, lol
Jacqueline
Hi Katrina first of all wonderful cake recipe! I love bakery cakes and been wanting to make one for a long time so I was over the moon to try this recipe. I did reduce the sugar by 50mg and everyone loved it including myself for which I probably ate half of the cake by myself (it was a test cake for me anyway lol) So I want to make two of these cakes for my birthday next month. A vanilla (of course) and a chocolate. So by any chance have you tried the coco version of this cake? I really would like to do an Oreo cookie chocolate cake to take to work.
Thank you in advance!
Jacqueline
Jacqueline
I LOVED this cake! Better than a bakery! I made a test cake and I did reduce the sugar by 50 mg after reading the comments and it was perfect with the buttercream. Wish I can show you the final product, like your husband I ate almost all of it by myself!
Jacqueline
Katrina thank you for responding! And please forgive the multiples of the same question 😬 blame it on the overload of sugar. Thank you also for the chocolate sponge recipe I will definitely will be trying it. Your recipe calls for coffee but I will be using expresso baking powder. So do I need to add more liquid (buttermilk or water) to compensate for the coffee?
Sandi
Do you use the whole egg or egg whites?
Katrina
Whole egg Sandi 🙂
Township In Ludhiana
CHOCOLATY vanilla sponge cake is a timeless classic—light, fluffy, and irresistibly delicious. Their cake delivery in Delhi ensures this perfect treat arrives fresh and ready to enjoy!
eggless bakery in Raipur
Ng’s Bakehouse Raipur also serves yummy and fluffy eggless classic vanilla cke.
Amanda
Hi! I was wondering: do you switch to the paddle attachment at any point in mixing the batter?
Katrina
Hey Amanda! So, I went straight to my recipe card and read it over a few times because I don’t trust my memory. I completely get why you asked this.
It would seem like you would switch from the whisk attachment to the paddle attachment after step two (before adding the flour).
I have made this cake SO MANY TIMES but for the life of me I can’t remember with 100% certainty if I ever swap them out.
I don’t think so. I believe that I just keep the whisk attachment in there and have the mixer set to a very low speed while incorporating the flour, etc.
I’m going to go through some old pictures and see if I have process ones from any of the cakes I’ve made to double check.
If you find that it’s just getting lumpy inside the whisk attachment, or that the flour isn’t mixing into the rest of the batter, then swap out for the paddle and let me know (I’ll adjust the recipe card). I do think I keep the whisk in there for it all though.
Amanda M Raney
Thank you for the lightning fast reply! I just made the batter with the whisk attachment the whole time, and it looked beautiful. However, apparently I didn’t temper the eggs well enough, because the cakes baked into something VERY solid and chewy. Oops!
Katrina
😭 I’m so sorry!!! That’s the absolute worst feeling, I’ve been there before and I know it’ll happen again.
Thanks for letting me know you used the whisk the whole time, I appreciate it! Glad I was holding my phone when the alert popped up with your comment so I could answer quickly for you! 😊
Anonymous
Hey Katrina,
My cake totally sunk.. any idea why? I followed the recipe to the gram?! Xx
Anonymous
This bakery-style vanilla sponge cake looks light, fluffy, and absolutely perfect! 🎂✨ The classic vanilla flavor and airy texture make it a timeless favorite for any celebration or sweet craving.