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.
Diana Eyre says
Hi would this recipe be suitable for cupcakes too?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. You can find the cupcakes version here:
Easy Vanilla Cupcakes
Joyce says
Can you use a stand mixer for this cake ? If so do you still put all ingredients in at once
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, I usually make mine in a stand mixer. You still add everything at once. Just make sure you keep the mixer on it’s lowest speed so that you don’t add too much air into the mixture or over-beat the ingredients.
Kerrie says
Afternoon. I’m looking at making a multi-coloured (mini rainbow) cake with this sponge recipe and have seen your comment re: using gel colours to colour the sponge. Just check the cake would stand 4 layers on top of each other (with buttercream between obv). Thanks
Ps. I’ve made you chocolate birthday cake a few times now and always impresses, so adding a bit of variety this time as everyone is expecting the chocolate! Although the chocolate cream is amazing!
Charlotte Oates says
4 layers is fine.
Laura Rolls says
Thanks for this recipe, I’ve used it a few times and it always turns out really well!
Do you think it is too soft to carve? Planning on making my son a snake shaped birthday cake, and had thought of freezing first then carving? Would appreciate your thoughts. He also wants chocolate chips in the sponge – can I just add at the end before baking, how can I prevent them sinking to the bottom? Thanks in advance!
Charlotte Oates says
I have carved this cake, but it is a little on the soft side so can crumble a bit and after carving it can be trickier to coat it in buttercream. However, if you freeze it as suggested this would help.
Sadly I would recommend adding chocolate chips to this sponge, it’s too soft and light for the weight of them so they will sink. If you want a chocolate chip sponge I’d recommend taking a look at my white chocolate cake, substituting in regular chocolate chips for white ones. The sponge is designed to be similar in flavour and texture to this one, but it’s got a slightly different structure so holds the chocolate chips better.
Maggie says
I’ve only ever made fairy cake with my children when younger. I’m not much of a baker I’m afraid but yours sound simple enough for me to tackle…no offence. I’m attempting to bake it for my granddaughters 1st birthday & would like to cover it with icing to write her name on it. Would the sponge take icing? Or would the icing be too heavy for a sponge? I’m taking it you can buy sheets of icing to cover cakes??
Charlotte Oates says
None taken! My aim is to try and make my cakes as easy as possible in the hope that every feels they cake have a go at baking them.
I regularly cover this sponge in fondant icing and it works fine. I always add a thin layer of buttercream underneath as it helps the fondant to stick and helps you to get a smooth finish. It also tastes good!
You can buy sheets of ready rolled fondant icing in the supermarket. However if you have a rolling pin, I’d recommend buying it in a block and rolling it out yourself as the ready rolled sheets can be a little on the thin side which can tear as you place it over the cake unless you’re very careful.
Olive Mckeown says
I am going to give this cake ago for my sons birthday what could I i use to cover the cake ? Would icing do?
Charlotte Oates says
I usually coat and fill the cake with a thin layer of buttercream (thicker between the two layers) and then cover with ready-made fondant icing. I’ll occasionally add a little jam between the two layer too.
You could just use buttercream if you prefer.
If you’re planning to use fondant then I’d recommend also using buttercream as it has a lovely flavour, it helps adhere the fondant to the cake and it helps you to get a smoother finish on the fondant.
Leila says
Hi,
What jam do you use for a Victoria sponge please? Is there a specific brand etc you’d recommend?
Charlotte Oates says
Usually you add raspberry jam, but I tend to use whatever I like as most types go well with a vanilla sponge. As for brand, I’d go with whichever is your favourite.
Victoria says
Thank you for providing this recipe, I am going to try it. Any idea how much fondant icing is required to cover a cake of this size please ?
Charlotte Oates says
To find out how much fondant you need you can use my fondant calculator.
Emiley Munro says
I followed the recipe and preheated my fan oven to 140 degrees centigrade but after the 30 minutes my cake was completely raw inside unsure as to what happened.
Charlotte Oates says
Hi, I’m sorry to hear that. Did you split the mixture into two sandwich tins or try using one deep tin? If you used a deep tin then it would need a lot longer in the oven.
Rachel Thomson says
This is always my go to recipe when I am making cakes! Always great feedback so I thank you millions for sharing ❤️ Am about to start a cake for my boys 8th birthday tomorrow..
rob says
How many minute’s do you mix all the ingredient’s together for or do you just keep mixing until all ingredient’s have combined and it becomes a batter ?
Charlotte Oates says
I keep mixing until the ingredients are combined and there are no lumps left in the margarine. As soon as that’s happened I stop mixing to ensure I don’t beat in too much air.
Zee says
Hi
Love your website.
If I want to increase my cake ingredients from 4 eggs to 6 eggs, what is the easiest way to calculate?
Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
If you look below the recipe you’ll see a link to my calculator to work out the ingredients you need for different tin sizes. If you put 24 (cm) and 2 (layers) into the round cake calculator and it’ll tell you the ingredients you need to go with 6 eggs.
Jeanette says
Hi can I use butter instead of margarine??? Please
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, as long as it’s soft and at room temperature.
Georgia says
Perfect texture- the best basic sponge recipe I have found! Thank you!
Hannah says
Nice recipe 🙂
Kelly says
I’m looking to do this cake for my sons birthday for tomorrow, can I add food colouring to make the inside different colour? X
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. Make sure you use gel colours rather than liquid ones as the colour is better and it won’t affect the texture of the cake.
susan says
Best recipe we’ve ever used, all of our 2020 lockdown cakes have used this great recipe, just making a new year’s cake today. Thanks for sharing with us xx
Michelle says
Hi, will this recipe work for a 4 tier 7’ celebration cake?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes. Have a look at the calculator (linked below the recipe) to find out the ingredients you’d need.
Louise O'Reilly says
I want to make this recipe tomorrow but just realised that I haven’t got any baking powder. Obviously been Christmas day i won’t be able to get hold of any. Will the recipe still work without it?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes it will, you’ll just get a slightly lower rise and a slightly less fluffy sponge. However, as there’s raising agent’s in the self-raising flour it will still rise.
Sandra says
Can I ask why do you use very tall baking paper around the baking tin ?
Charlotte Oates says
I use reusable liners and that was how they came. I’ve actually cut one in half now so they’re much shorter.