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. Here’s what I managed…
If you want to take a look at the other cakes I’ve made for friends and family then visit my cake gallery.
Recommended 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.
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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
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.
Christine says
21 May 2019 at 10:28 amHi
How far in advance could you make this cake?
Charlotte Oates says
21 May 2019 at 5:43 pmI usually make mine a couple of days in advance and then I find it’s still fine to eat up to 5 days later if it’s stored in an airtight container.
Michelle Jones says
18 May 2019 at 11:03 amHi Charlotte
I’ve used your recipe loads and it makes an amazing cake! However set to make a cake this morning for a party and realised half way through cooking I forgot the milk it seems to be rising? Is this a major problem?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
20 May 2019 at 7:44 amNo, it probably will be a little denser (only slightly), but you shouldn’t notice a big difference.
Louise says
15 May 2019 at 2:15 pmHi Charlotte. Is that jam you’ve used along with the buttercream as a filling in the top picture? If so what do you recommend – raspberry or strawberry? Many thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
15 May 2019 at 7:13 pmIt was raspberry jam in that picture (I think raspberry goes best with the vanilla sponge and buttercream). I don’t always use jam though, I used it for that particular cake as the person I made it for likes a bit in the middle.
Louise says
15 May 2019 at 11:12 pmThank you Charlotte, I’ll try raspberry!
Kin says
12 May 2019 at 4:41 pmHi
I’ve made this cake three times and every time comes out perfect. However, I always find my cake doesn’t rise in the middle – what am I doing wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
13 May 2019 at 11:37 amDo you mean that cake is flat rather than peaked, or that the cake dips in the middle?
The cake is designed to be quite flat (as it means it can be stacked into layers rather without having to trim it). It shouldn’t dip in the middle though.
A couple of ideas…
* Are you baking in sandwich tins or one deep tin? I find the cake rises more evenly in sandwich tins and is less likely to dip.
* How are you measuring your baking powder? If you add a little too much then this can cause the cake to dip a little in the middle (as it rises too quickly and then doesn’t have the structure to support the top properly). It could also be that the brand of self-raising flour you’re using has a little more raising agent than some others (as annoyingly the can vary) and so it might be worth cutting the amount of baking powder a little.
* It could also be the type of tin you’re using as some cook cakes more evenly than others. If you have an different type of tin then maybe give that a go to see if it makes a difference.
katy Edgar says
9 May 2019 at 9:32 pmHi Charlotte I’m making a dinosaur cake topper for my son’s birthday and just wondered whether you have any tutorials at all. thanks
Charlotte Oates says
10 May 2019 at 9:29 amI don’t have a specific dinosaur cake topper tutorials, but I do have a tutorial which talks through my general approach to making a cake topper which you might find useful. You can take a look here.
katy says
11 May 2019 at 7:09 amThankyou.
Becky says
9 May 2019 at 3:56 pmI decided to make my first ever cake for my daughter’s first birthday a few weeks ago. I used your recipe and oh my goodness it tasted amazing! SO easy to make too. A big BIG thank you!!