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.
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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
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.
Joanne says
As I make another cake for my sons’ 5 birthday, I just want to say a huge thank you for your recipe and page. I have used this since my sons 2nd birthday after a disastrous first year cake attempt. I have also done by daughters 1st and 2nd. I use the recipe in one large tin then bake another to sandwich together to make a big birthday cake. Every year it has been demolished by 30+ people. Although not sure if it will all be eaten this year as there will only be 4 of us.
Thank you again
Jenay says
Hi, can you substitute margarine for unsalted butter and if so, what is the measurement?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. Use the same weight as for the margarine.
Lenka says
Is stork ok?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, that’s what I usually use.
Gemma Cowan says
Can you use salted butter instead of margarine in vanilla cake and chocolate birthday cake
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, just make sure you leave it out to soften before you add it to the cake mixture so that it mixes in easily.
Lenka says
And whats that red stuff in your vanilla sponge cake please?
Charlotte Oates says
Raspberry jam
Hannah says
I never need to search for another cake recipe ever again after finding this one!
Lakshmi Praveen says
Can I wrap the cake with parchment paper (for storing) ?
Charlotte Oates says
I usually use cling film, but parchment should be fine.
Tracey says
Usual I use this recipe for birthday cake and it’s delicious, but I did cupcakes with it instead today and they have a bit off a bitter after taste, where have I gone wrong?
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve never heard of this happening before so I’m not 100% sure. Is there any chance you could have added baking soda instead of baking powder? Baking soda can give cakes a bitter aftertaste.
Tracey says
Yes, I used bicarbonate of soda, I thought I’d use it before but maybe not!! Is there anything else I can use in substitute as I can’t get hold of baking powder at the moment.
Charlotte Oates says
Just leave out the baking powder. The cake won’t rise quite as much, but the raising agent in the self-raising flour is enough to do a decent job.
Tomi says
O my!! This is the first time I have tried this recipe and I have book marked it. I made one huge cake and 6 muffins for the kids.
Thank you so much for sharing this. It turned out lovely and yummy, light and fluffy.
Kelly says
This is my go to recipe for my children’s birthday cakes. Light, fluffy and tastes lovely. Perfect to cover in fondant. I recently made this in 3 layers by just adding 1.5 times the recipe for an ombré cake. Worked really well.
Emma says
Hi
Once iced, how long does the cake keep for? . It’s my sons birthday on the 29th and think I will probably need to have a couple of practice runs.
Charlotte Oates says
I usually find that mine are fine for about 7 days after baking. Make sure you store it in an airtight container to keep it fresh (unless it’s covered in fondant one which case that protects the sponge).
Kathleen says
Hi,
I baked this cake over the weekend for my girls’ birthday. anyway, I made two big cakes from it, so didn’t split the recipe, just baked one cake, made another mix and baked another one. Anyway one tasted of baking soda or something, but the other one came out lovely. I’m just wondering why this might happen? I used the exact same ingredients and measures in both cakes but one tasted different to the other. Could it be that the bottom cake was different because it had the other cake on top of it, with buttercream and jam? I don’t know, I was puzzled! Thanks for your comments, in advance.
Charlotte Oates says
I have to say I’m puzzled too. Did the entire layer of the one that tasted of baking powder taste of it, or just some slices? It may have been that the baking powder in one batch wasn’t even distributed giving some slices a slightly stronger flavour that others.
Felicity says
Hi Charlotte, how should I store the sponge cake (undecorated) overnight and then how should I store it once it has been decorated with buttercream and fondant icing?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
Before decorating, I store mine in an airtight container. I usually put a sheet of greaseproof paper between the layers to ensure that they don’t stick together.
After decorating with buttercream and fondant, the cake is fine out of a container (the fondant creates an airtight barrier which keeps the sponge fresh). I usually cover mine loosely with clingfilm to protect them from any dust).
Once the cake has been sliced, you lose the protection from the fondant, so it’s back into the airtight container again.
Pa says
Can I bake all the mixture in one tin? And do I need to bake it at a lower temp then? Or wrap it with paper to slow the cooking?
Also how long do you think it needs if all in one tin?
Thanks so much
Charlotte Oates says
You can, but I find that people get mixed results with it. For some it’s fine, but sadly for others it can dip in the middle after baking. I usually recommend splitting into sandwich tins wherever you can to ensure you get good results. If you do decide to bake in a deeper tin then it’ll need about 50 minutes in the oven.
Emma says
Hi
I think I over bake my sponges. Is the knife meant to be completely dry when u check the middle of the cake? Or is it easier to use a thermometer
Charlotte Oates says
It should be dry, but it’s OK if a few crumbs stick. If when you check it you find it’s still gooey then cook for a couple more minutes at a time (unless it’s very gooey still) and then check again as they can go from slightly sticky to perfect quite quickly.
Kirsty says
Could I use butter instead of margarine, it’s all we have in at the moment so would save a trip to the shops! Thanks for the recipe, excited to try it for my little girls 2nd birthday 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. Just make sure it’s soft and at room temperature and it’ll be fine.
DP says
Hi I’ve looked through as many comments as possible but not all, i wondered if you can help with getting the measures even between the two tins, i alway miss-judge these and end up with different sizes. I am going to buy an oven thermometer as i think this is part of the issue with the rise in the middle. Thanks so much-really excited to make this!
Charlotte Oates says
I usually use a scoop/spoon and add one scoop at a time ti each tin until all of the mixture has been used up. Alternatively you can weight your mixture out into the tins. It should weight approximately 880g in total, so put 440g into each tin.
Lauren says
What is the best kind of jam to use for birthday cake fillings?
Charlotte Oates says
Whatever is your favourite. I usually go for strawberry or raspberry if I’m using jam.
Gina says
If I can only get plain flour at the moment will this work if I add same amount of baking powder? Thank you in advance
Charlotte Oates says
You’ll need to add some additional baking powder to ensure it rises fully. I’d add another 2 tsp.
Martina says
Delicious so easy to make
Fionnuala Mahood says
Can I substitute sugar for sweetener?
Charlotte Oates says
You can, but it will effect the texture of the final cake. Take a look at my sugar v stevia baking test to see the sort of difference it’s likely to make.
Lesley says
Can you use normal sugar as I am unable to get Castor sugar pls thanks
Charlotte Oates says
You can, but you may find that the cake will have a slightly heavier and grainier texture. If you have blender then you can pop the sugar in there and pulse it a few times. This will give you finer sugar which is better for baking.