A delicious, light vanilla sponge birthday cake recipe. Quick and simple to make and perfect for decorating to make a birthday really special.
When I was a child I loved the birthday cakes my mum made and decorated for me. At my parties, I was always really proud to show off my birthday cake to my friends. In the weeks running up to my birthday, I used to look through my mum’s cake decorating book and choose the cake I wanted (actually I always chose the fairy castle, but never got it).
Now I have my own children, it’s important to me to do the same for them. Rather than choosing from a book, I let them describe what they want and then scour the internet for inspiration to achieve it (I don’t know what I’d do without Google Images and Pinterest). Today is my littlest’s second birthday so I thought it would be a good time to share with you the recipe I use for making the vanilla sponge which goes inside most of the cakes I make for my family. The recipe is adapted from a book called Cake Magic by Virginia Welsh and Alison French – the same book I chose my cakes from when I was little.
The theme I was given for today’s cake was Chuggington. I was told it must include an engine shed, three trains (Wilson, Koko and Brewster), and a turntable (they don’t ask for much!). I’m not a professional cake decorator, but what I lack in skill I hopefully make up for in enthusiasm and effort.
Equipment
To make my vanilla sponge I’d recommend the following equipment…
NOTE – These are affiliate links which means that if you purchase from Amazon after clicking on one the product links below I will earn a small commission.
Accurate scales are essential when baking and I love these Electronic Scales from Salter. You can reset the weight every time you add a new ingredient which is perfect for something like this all-in-one sponge. They’re also compact so take up hardly any space in your cupboards.
If I’m making a round cake I use these tins
from Delia Smith (well if it’s good enough for Delia then it’s good enough for me!).
Instead of using greaseproof paper to line your cake tins I recommend trying these Bake-o-Glide reusable liners
. There’s no need to grease the tin as they’re easily removed, and they’re pre-cut to size so there’s no fiddling around trying to get the greaseproof cut to the right shape.
You’ll also need a large mixing bowl and an electric mixer (you can mix by hand if you don’t have a mixer just be prepared for some arm ache!).
Fancy making a chocolate birthday cake instead?
Then try my new CHOCOLATE BIRTHDAY CAKE RECIPE, it’s really chocolatey, easy to make and perfect for decorating.
Birthday Cake (All-In-One Vanilla Sponge)
INGREDIENTS
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 eggs - I usually use medium but large also work well
- 225 g soft margarine
- 225 g caster sugar
- 6 drops vanilla extract
- 2 tsp milk
RECIPE VIDEO
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 160ºC/140ºC fan
- Line your baking tins(s) (I usually use 2 x 20cm round sandwich tins or a 20cm x 30cm rectangular tin, depending on the shape of cake I want to make).
- Sift the self-raising flour (225g) and baking powder (2 tsp) into a large bowl.
- Add the remaining ingredients (4 eggs, 225g soft margarine, 225g caster sugar, 6 drops of vanilla extract and 2 tsp milk) and beat until thoroughly mixed.
- Pour into the tin(s)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes. To check if the cake is cooked insert a skewer and if it comes out clean the cake is ready.
- Leave to cool in the tin(s) for about 10 minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely – Make sure the cake has cooled completely before decorating.
NOTES
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
Free From/Suitable For
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Nut-Free
- Soy-Free
The ingredients for this recipe are commonly available free from all these allergens. However, please ensure you double-check allergen information for all ingredients.
I’m sharing this with the following recipe challenges… #TastyTuesdays with Honest Mum.
Sara Liau says
Can I convert this to a lemon sponge? Using lemon juice and grated rind? Thanks !
Charlotte Oates says
I have a lemon sponge cake where I’ve done just that. You can find it in the cakes menu or by searching lemon cake.
Gemha says
Hi there, I’m making a rainbow cake using your recipe, when you say use margarine – I will be using flora buttery – can you let me know if you think that will be ok? Or let me know which margarine you use? Many thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it but I think that would be fine. I usually use regular Flora.
alex says
I made this today 100%because the reviews were so good. But gosh what a disaster I had. So crumbly, it literally fell apart. And it had a strange taste.
Not sure what went wrong, I followed the recipe 100%
Lesley says
I’ve made this cake a few times now and it always turns out perfect, light, fluffy and very tasty, the all in one method makes it that much easier too.
Alison Penty says
love using this recipe, wont use another.
Ursula says
I’ve just made this and sponge seems lovely and light but it’s sunken in the middle and not risen at all .. I’m feeling 140c in fan oven is too low? anyone else had this problem?
Tracy says
These cakes taste lovely but they often come out flat and with big bubbles on the top. Any tips?
Ellie says
Made this twice now to the letter but the cakes just don’t come out firm for some reason? The sponge is full of grease when I squeeze it. I don’t know what’s going on
Lizzie says
Can I freeze the sponges?
Charlotte Oates says
You can. I’d recommend wrapping them in clingfilm to protect them.
Siobhan says
I have been using this cake recipe for all my family birthday cakes for years! It is a hit every time. Thank you!
Abbie Rawlings says
I always go straight to this recipe for for celebration cakes, it’s absolutely perfect!
I’m making a rather large cake for my next project and I’ll be using a 10″X10″ tin. will I have to alter the recipe at all?
thank you x
Shazliz says
I made this yesterday and could taste the baking powder can this amount be reduced to just one tsp or would that make is less fluffy?.
On the plus side it’s most definitely a lovely fluffy cake!
21st September 2025
Charlotte Oates says
You can reduce the baking powder. It will still rise just slightly less.
kelly Lucy polizzi says
Do you have any posts on decorating the cake with fondant? As much as the recipe looks great, I was attracted to this post for the color fondant decorating and was sad to see it was just the cake recipe. Hoping its elsewhere on your site. Thanks for sharing!
Charlotte Oates says
I have a birthday present cake decorating tutorial which explains how to decorate it.
Clare Driver says
can i double this recipe and bake in one tin for longer?
Charlotte Oates says
I wouldn’t recommend making this cake in a deeper tin as it’s quite a fluffy sponge and it lacks the structure needed to be successful in a deeper tin.
Nikki says
Best birthday cake recipe ever. I have used over and over for years for all my children’s birthdays. I am an impatient and slapdash baker and this recipe has never failed me. My family think I’m some kind of genius, but honestly it’s just this one all in one recipe thanks Charlotte. Amazing.
Kelly says
I LOVE this cake recipe. Great results every time!
Does it freeze well? I could do with making my son’s birthday cake ahead of time!
Manisha says
I always use your recipe for baking my kids birthday cakes and family and friends celebrations and get lovely compliments thank you so much. Xx
Samantha Bebb says
Foolproof. An excellent recipe. Impressive. Made today for birthday Saturday. How best to store so fresh?
Adrienne King says
Thank you for this brilliant recipe and the conversions to bigger tins. This weekend I made a huge cake for my friend’s little girl’s birthday party. I’ve never attempted such a large cake before (40 x 30cm) and it turned out perfectly. I baked 2 layers at 180C for 25 mins then placed parchment over the tops to stop them browning and reduced the temperature to 170C for a further 10 mins. The buttercream proportions were spot on too.