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.
Chelsea says
Hiya!
I was just wondering if this recipe – and the chocolate version- would be okay to use to make cupcakes ?
Thankyou!
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. I actually have them on here as cupcakes:
Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
Easy Chocolate Cupcakes
Maria says
Perfect recipe yet again from Charlotte. Baked this quickly for my hubby to take to work. Was perfect. Easy to follow and perfect. Thanks again. When are you doing a cookbook!!
Harjeet says
I have made both choclate and vanilla many times. I am making the vanilla again. O ly I need to know is it OK to decorate with mascarpone frosting. Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
I haven’t tried it but there’s no reason why not.
Vicky says
Absolutely love this cake recipe taste fabulous lots of compliments just cannot do buttercream it always lets me down never can I get it right can you help????
Charlotte Oates says
Can you elaborate a bit on what’s not right about it?
Lisa Finnis says
Could butter work instead of margarine or would margarine be better?
Charlotte Oates says
Butter is fine, just make sure you allow it to soften at room temperature or it won’t mix in properly with the other ingredients.
Louise O'Reilly says
I only have medium eggs. Will they work or should I use an extra one. So 5 instead of 4?
Charlotte Oates says
I usually use medium eggs in this cake as it gives a fluffier sponge.
kirsty chevannes says
Hi is this recipe freezable, love this sponge so I would like make a few batch up at once
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. I’d recommend wrapping the sponges in clingfilm to protect them.
Dannii says
How long do I leave cake before I put buttercream on and then how long after that before I ice it
Charlotte Oates says
I normally add my buttercream after it’s cooled (as I’m impatient). However you may find it easier to leave it a day to cool fully as it will be a little easier to coat.
With the fondant, I usually add it straight after adding the buttercream (again because I’m impatient). However, you may find it easier to allow it to cool in the fridge for a couple of hours so that it’s a little firmer.
Sarah Trippier says
Hi, I’m looking to make a sponge cake instead of a traditional fruit cake for Xmas and to decorate it with royal icing etc. How long in advance can you make the sponge and how long will it keep for once iced? Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
The cake usually lasts around 7 days after baking.
Janis Rodwell says
Best sponge recipe I have used
Sabina says
I made the chocolate version of this cake in June for my son’s 7th and it was absolutely delicious. The best cake I’ve tasted!
I want to make the vanilla version for my boyfriend’s daughter who’s staying with us this weekend but want to make a smaller version as it’ll be a lot of cake to get through just the 4 of us in a weekend! Do you have any tips on scaling the recipe down please? Or is it not really that simple? Thank you x
Charlotte Oates says
If you have a look in the notes below the recipe you’ll find a link to my calculator which will help you work out the ingredients you need for a smaller tin.
Sabina says
I’m so sorry, I actually spotted your calculator tool after posting my query but wasn’t able to delete it. Thank you for taking the time to reply anyway 🙂
Emily says
I want to make this recipe but using 6in cake tins as I am making a themed cake and it needs to be 4 there in total. Could I use this recipe to the exact amounts as the tins are 5cm smaller or would I need to increase?
Charlotte Oates says
Please pop your tin dimensions and number of layers in my calculator (linked in the notes below the recipe) and it’ll tell you the quantities you need.
Harriet York says
I have used your recipes for YEARS! But now I have a 1 year old little boys birthday next week .. and he’s dairy free! Any suggestions? I was thinking of using flora plant butter? Or vitalite? Will that work? And what do I substitute for the milk? X
Charlotte Oates says
Any plant-based margarine is fine to substitute in. I usually use Pure Sunflower for dairy-free cakes, but anything similar is fine. You can either leave out the milk or use whatever plant-based version you have.
I have a dairy-free version of the buttercream:
Vegan Vanilla Buttercream
Minoo says
Hi
I have a very small oven; and I can’t bake two cakes at a same time in that. Could I first bake one if them and then take it out then put another one?
Won’t the batter have any problems if it takes time to bake it?
Charlotte Oates says
Personally I would make half the mixture and bake and then make the other half and bake. You can bake from a mixture that has been left sitting for a while, but you may find that the raising agents don’t work as expected so your cake doesn’t rise properly.
Oz says
Hi going to try this recipe just wanted to. Ask what type of jam did you use.
Charlotte Oates says
I used raspberry jam in the cake in the pictures, but any of your favourite jams would be fine.
Stacy says
Amazing recipe made it today. Lovely and moist and very fluffy. I definitely recommend this cake recipe
Ceri says
Just did this recipe and my sponges came out abit sticky on the top. They would also fall apart easy and really soft. Can you help me figure out what I did wrong? Really enjoyed the taste 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
It sounds as though your eggs may have been a little on the small side. Next time try using larger eggs and see if you have the same problem.
Christine says
I used your recipe for the birthday cake and butter icing for a recent Bake off in work, and happy to say i came first! Easy to make and tasted amazing. Baked the cake in a rectangular tin, made 2 lots of the mix, and put them together with jam and your buttercream. Was a nice large size cake. Going to try the nutella butter icing today with your cupcakes. Thank you for this page xx
if i could of added a picture of the cake i would have!
RBi says
Hi,
Thank you for sharing this recipe. Is it better to use 4 medium eggs ir to weigh 200g eggs? I plan to make this recipe for a 4 layer. According to your calculator, 450g of quantities are required. Does this mean i need 400g of eggs? Thank you in advance.
Charlotte Oates says
That is correct. You could either weigh you egg (white and yolk, no shell) or use 8 medium eggs, which should weigh about the same.
Maeve says
This cake is so good and easy to make!
Shaz says
Hi
I followed the recipe to exact however the cake has sunk in the middle when taken out of the oven.
Why was that?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that. A few ideas of what could have happened are:
* Did you bake it in one deep tin or two sandwich tins? Sometimes baking this cake in a deeper tin cause lead to it dipping in the middle.
* Did a skewer come out clean when you first checked it? If the oven is opened before it’s set in the middle it can then sink.
* How did you measure your baking powder? It needs to measured with a level measuring teaspoon. If you add too much it can lead to the cake rising too much and then sinking.