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.
Helena Hussain says
Any replace for vanilla extract because they are not suitable for halal.
Charlotte Oates says
Whilst you are correct, a properly made, good quality vanilla extract will be made using alcohol, if you check some of the slightly lower quality supermarket own label options, many of them are made without alcohol. If you cannot find a suitable extract, you could use a fresh vanilla pod and scrape the seeds out. You could alternatively use a pre-flavoured or homemade vanilla sugar in place of the regular sugar.
Rachel weekes says
Thank you Charlotte! I used your recipe calculator to make a 30x30cm square cake and it turned out perfectly! I also made the chocolate one as I did a checkerboard cake. I multiplied both by 1.5 layers as I wanted 4 thinner layers. It was perfect!
Lesley D says
hello Charlotte I love this recipe and use it for all my children’s cakes (or the chocolate equivalent) however this year I need to shape the kids into a Frappuccino shape and this is such a lovely soft cake I don’t think it will be “shapeable” and worried it crumbles – do you have any suggestions for a recipe that would stand up to shaping/carving?
Charlotte Oates says
I have shaped this cake before but it sounds like you’re very familiar with it and if you don’t think it will work for that shape, you could try using my Vanilla Bundt Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache recipe. Its a tighter sponge so should hold up to different shapes.
Joyce says
Used this recipe to make a Victoria Sponge cake.. it was just perfect. I’ll def use this recipe again.
Rachael Carrick says
How much is 6 drips of vanilla? A tsp?
Charlotte Oates says
A drop is when you very carefully pour the extract from the bottle, it comes out in droplets, hence 6 drops in the recipe. This is most likely around 1/2 tsp of extract at most.
Emma Buller says
Hi Charlotte,
Can I use butter instead of margarine. My family is not a big fan of margarine.
Thanks,
Emma.
Charlotte Oates says
You can, just make sure it is nice and soft.
Martine says
Sunk in middle you shouldn’t us baking powder with self raising flour !
Charlotte Oates says
You can read all about the science and why I use extra baking powder here – How To Make Self-Raising Flour From Plain Flour. As you’ll see I create perfect flat topped cakes with this recipe every time. It is likely there is another factor affecting your bake such as your oven running too hot or the type of tin you are using.
Natalie says
I’ve been using the recipe for the last 4years, and have never had anything but perfect cakes!
Alison says
This is the best birthday cake recipe Ive ever tried. because it’s all in one no problems of mixture curdling when you eat in the eggs and it rises beautifully. Soft and delicious sponge. Thanks for this
EstC says
I need the height equivalent of 3 layers of this cake, but only have two 20 cm x 8 cm deep round tins. I’ve worked out the ingredients on the calculator, but wondering if I can split the mixture into 2 tins (so each sandwich is 4 1/2 cms deep, rather than 3) or can I cook 2 normally & then reuse one of the tins for a third layer. I’m assuming the last third of the batter won’t keep in the mixing bowl for an hour? Thank you.
Charlotte Oates says
It is probably best to reuse one of the tins. The batter will most likely be fine to sit for an hour but it would be least risky to just make up a second half batch of the batter.
Smith says
Hi sides of my cake is all ways hard and slightly burnt any ideas .
Charlotte Oates says
It sounds like the cake is overbaked. Your oven might run quite hot – try setting it to 10 or 20c under the stated temperature in the recipe and see if that helps.
Rebecca Munro says
This is a BRILLIANT RECIPE! works every time – can I ask is there a version for cupcakes?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes! You can find my Easy Vanilla Cupcakes here
I says
Hi, i just made the birthday vanilla sponge cake, i used 4 x 15cm tins to divide the dough, but to my suprise they didn’t rise much maybe 10%…. I used self raising flour and the 2tsps of baking powder, so kind of expected them to go up by 2.5 times… Like cupcakes would do… Is it normal, or they do actually go up and something went wrong in my making?
cheryl Wilson says
Each time
I’ve used this recipe the cake is always severely undercooked each time I have no issues with any other recipes any ideas ?
Charlotte Oates says
The recipe tells you how to know when the cake is ready – if a skewer inserted into the cake doesn’t come out clean then it needs to cook for longer. It sounds as though you have taken the cake out the oven before it is cooked per the recipe instructions.
Charlotte says
I am making a birthday cake for my partners brother. I would like it to look like the main picture once complete – do you have a recipe for the fondant icing?
Charlotte Oates says
I have a dedicated How Much Fondant Do I Need To Cover My Cake? post which will help you calculate the amount of fondant you’ll need.
Holly says
I absolutely love Charlotte’s birthday cake recipes and use them every year. Thank you so much!!
NPetto says
Hi Charlotte, I would just like to say a huge thank you for the recipes, and particularly the ingredients converter for different-sized tins. I have used this and your chocolate birthday cake recipe for almost all my children’s birthday cakes and they have never failed. Thank you.
Karen says
Perfect every time. Want to ale coloured layers for my grandsons birthday cake.
What would I need to do and what would you recommend to use to get vibrant colours.
What I’ve made is very pale
Charlotte Oates says
I would always recommend using thick gel food colouring rather than the liquid. Good vibrant colouring does tend to be more on the expensive side so you may not be able to find a great budget version.
Fiona says
Hello, can I use this recipe for a 25cm/ 10″ square cake? Will I need to make any adjustments? Thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
I have a handy calculator in this related FAQ post where you can accurately calculate the ingredients for the tin you need.
Tracy says
I am using your recipe for my mums 80th cake. Using tray bake tin and will do 2 layers. Would like to use a mascarpone filling and jam. Would in your opinion the mascarpone be strong enough to take a layer or would it just squash out. Will be covering with light coating of mascarpone then royal icing
Thank you
Charlotte Oates says
A mascarpone filling should be strong enough to hold the second layer of cake providing that it isn’t too whipped or let down with anything to make the consistency thinner.
Lynn says
Worked brilliantly as a dairy free sponge for my dairy allergy granddaughter. Just used a well known soft baking margarine that is now dairy free. I substituted a little water and lemon juice for the milk and that worked very well too without making it too lemony. Will keep this as an easy cake recipe for many occasions.
Donna Waters says
This recipe is perfect! Please can you tell me how long it can be frozen for? Thank you.
Charlotte Oates says
Providing it is very well wrapped, the cake should freeze well for up to 3 months.