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.
Alison says
My boys want a joint pokemon cake but one wants vanilla and one wants chocolate. I was wondering if I could make both your recipes, cut each cake in half and stack on itself then ice then separately (one red, one white), push together and use black icing to hide the join (and finish the ball! Does this sound like it might work? I’ve made some cakes before but I hate icing 😀
Charlotte Oates says
Based on what I’m picturing from your description, that should work fine. As the cake will be quite tall, I’d recommend adding a couple of skewers to give some extra stability.
Jennie says
Love this use it everytime for my kid’s birthday cakes. Thank you
Jan Cole says
Hi Charlotte,
I used your lemon cake recipe for my friend’s wedding cake and it was a great success – thank you so much!
I’m planning to use your vanilla cake and vanilla buttercream recipe for a 2 tier christening cake that I’m covering with fondant icing. I’ve used your excellent calculator for the different sizes but although I’ll use some buttercream under the fondant icing, I think the buttercream calculations probably assume no fondant icing (it seems a lot). Do you think halving the quantities would be enough? Also, I don’t have vanilla extract with a dropper – is there a way of converting ‘drops’ into teaspoons or ml?
I sometimes have a problem with an uneven rise on cakes – do you have any tips to resolve?
Thanks again – apologies if I’ve done this twice in error
Charlotte Oates says
The buttercream calculations are based on when I use fondant, but I do add quite a generous layer as I love the flavour it gives.You should therefore be OK to reduce it down, although half might be a bit of a stretch if you want a decent layer in the centre of each sponge.
I use about 1/8 of a teaspoon in the original recipe.
My main tip for getting an even rise is to use just the middle shelf of the oven. If you cook several sponges at once on different shelves then you may find that the ones at the bottom don’t rise as evenly.
Jan Cole says
Thanks for your help, Charlotte – much appreciated!
Harjoth Kaur says
Hi , shall I cream the butter and sugar together first and then add wet ingredients or just ddd everything at the same time and mix.
Charlotte Oates says
Just add everything at the same time.
margo taylor says
the best recipe I have use and I have been baking cakes for years.The sponge is so moist and soft and tastes amazing.
Kizzy says
I’ve just made these sponges, they feel so light. I’m worried that when I ice and cover them in fondant it’ll be to much weight for them??
Charlotte Oates says
They should be fine. I cover them with fondant all the time.
Maria says
Hi Charlotte. I love your chocolate birthday cake which is my go to recipe. Wanting to try your vanilla sponge for my son’s birthday this year. Does it freeze well, like the chocolate cake? I found it helpful to make the chocolate cake one weekend, freeze it and then the day before the birthday I only had to focus on decorating. Thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
It does
Kayleigh Jones says
I can’t wait to try make this for my daughters 5th birthday, how far in advance can I make this before her birthday party?
Charlotte Oates says
The cake usually lasts for about 7 days after baking. I usually bake mine two days before they’re needed to give me time to decorate them.
Janet says
Please could you tell me the ingredients and amounts I will need to make a number one. I have got a number 1 mould. Thank you.
Charlotte Oates says
It depends on the size of the mould.
Lizzie says
What are your tips for using fondant icing? Do you do a buttercream layer first and then fondant on the top? Thanks!
Charlotte Oates says
I do a thinnish layer of buttercream on the top and sides and then cover it with fondant. The buttercream helps adhere the fondant to the cake and also makes it easier to get a smooth finish. I also use a cake smoother to smooth out any little lumps and bumps.
Sophie Mead-Payne says
Hi
Would this recipe work for other flavours of cakes? For example, if I changed the vanilla extract to lemon extract, would it still work? Does this also apply for the vanilla buttercream too?
Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I have a number of different flavours of cakes on my site that are variations of this sponge.
Coffee & Walnut Cake
Chocolate Cake
Coffee Cake
Creme Egg Cake
Lemon Cake
Chocolate Orange Cake
Biscoff Cake
Oreo Cake
Mike says
Thank you for posting this recipe Charlotte. I used this (plus your Easy Vanilla Buttercream and Chocolate Buttercream recipes) to make a wonderful 5 layer rainbow cake for our granddaughter’s 5th birthday. I added a dark chocolate ganache topping and drip.
As a beginner baker, this recipe is easy to follow and makes a fabulous sponge that everyone at our granddaughter’s party loved. This will be my go to sponge recipe now.
I decided to make the layers separately so I could control the ingredients for each one precisely. Also, the colours could be added with the other ingredients in the mixer. This took longer but it was so worth it as each layer came out consistent. As one layer was baking, I got the next batch of batter ready.
I cook with fabulous organic, free range eggs from a local farm. They come as they are rather than being sized as with supermarket ones.To get the amount of egg right, I match the weight of the egg to the flour, margarine and sugar. A single 7-inch layer needs 85g each of flour, margarine and sugar, I weighed out 85g of egg.
For the colours I used PME concentrated pastes, which only need a small amount to give vibrant colours. I added 1/8 tsp of paste to each layer. I bought a pack of rainbow colours from Amazon. Adding the paste half way through mixing avoided the need to pour the batter into another bowl and mix by hand. This meant the colours were combined properly and reduced the risk of changing the consistency of the batter.
Nicole Madgwick says
I’m thinking of using this recipe for a rainbow cake. How long did each layer take to bake using the weights mentioned?
eilidh mcleod says
what have i done wrong? help!! i used the calculator as i had a different tin. its been in the oven for 30 mins… just went to put a skewer in and its still like liquid under a thin crust.
Charlotte Oates says
Did you use the same depth of tin as in the original recipe?
eilidh mcleod says
its ok, all it needed was a few mins longer. its a great recipe, i have used it loads. love it thank you.
Monique says
Thanks Charlotte, I used your recipe to make my little boy’s birthday cake and everyone said how nice it was and not at all dry! I used vanilla buttercream on top and inside with a bit of strawberry jam. Will definitely be baking it again! X
Colette Holmes says
Hi Charlotte, could I make this cake and fill with whipped cream and decorate with raspberries? It’s just that I have these to hand and don’t have a piping bag…
Thank you
Colette
Charlotte Oates says
You can, that sounds delicious. No need to pipe, your icing, just add it however you find easiest.
Lakeisha says
What measurements will i need for a 10” tin each layer of a 3 layer cake with butter cream
Charlotte Oates says
If you look below the recipe you’ll find a link to my calculator that’ll tell you the ingredients you need.
Asha says
Thank you Charlotte, for this great recipe, it is spot on and went down a treat. I can’t wait to try out your others.
Diana Eyre says
I make this all the time it’s my go to sponge it’s that good people are asking me to make it for them! How can I make it suitable for two 6”x3” deep cake tins though? Meaning oven temp and how long for and would the amount of ingredients be the same etc TIA x Diana x
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t recommend making this cake in a deeper tin as some people find it can dip in the middle after baking (it seems to vary according to the oven and tins used whereas the results using sandwich tins seem to be consistently good). If you do decide to give it a try then use the calculator for a 6″ tin and add 2 layers. Bake it at the same temperature and it’ll take c. 50 minutes.
Michelle says
Morning, I love this recipe and use it all the time! Question for a rainbow cake will the batter be ok after I have mixed all the colors in? I will also half each tins batter, which will obviously mean I bake for half the time? Does that make sense?
Charlotte Oates says
The batter will be absolutely fine with the added colouring as long as you use gel colours not liquid ones. Gel ones are better for a rainbow cake as they have a much more intense colour and so you don’t need as much and also they have a much thicker consistency so they won’t affect the texture and bake of the cake.
A half height cake won’t necessarily have exactly half the cooking time. However, checking them after 15 minutes in the oven should be about right.
Michelle says
Thank you so so much!
Karen hamilton says
Just made this last night for a birthday today. Compliments were flying!!! I just put buttercream inside & on top & decorated it with butterscotch chippings. My new go to recipe!!!!! Thanks Charlotte ❤
Molly says
Could I use butter instead of margarine?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes, just make sure it’s soft and at room temperature so that it mixes well with the other ingredients.