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.
Aimee Marie says
I’ve just made sponges for my son’s birthday today! Amazing recipe! It hasn’t risen too much in the middle either which is amazing!
I’m using the same recipe for some cupcakes now too.
Wendy McAuslan says
Made this for my daughters birthday it was delicious, couldn’t fault it. I’ll be using this recipe everytime I want to make a plain sponge birthday cake!
Sandie says
Does this cake freeze well?
Charlotte Oates says
Yes you can either freeze the sponges well wrapped or freeze the whole cake including decorations.
Natalie says
Great, easy, tasty recipe. Loved the converter for fondant and the different tin shapes! Very helpful, many thanks
Lou says
Hi, I love the sound of this cake! I’m due to make a boxing ring theme cake for a birthday… if I made two batches and stacked them with buttercream and jam filling, and then covered in fondant, would that work or be good heavy for such a light cake?
Thanks! Lou
Charlotte Oates says
You should be fine but you will want to make sure that you use suitable doweling.
Charlotte says
140 is very low and 35 mins in and it’s still wet cake mix in the middle
Charlotte Oates says
Ovens are rarely calibrated correctly and it is always worth investing in an additional thermometer to check your oven is set at 140. Please note this is with a fan oven. Without a fan you would need to increase the temperature accordingly. And there can be other variables such as the colour and material of your baking tin for example.
Clair Smith says
Chuffed to bits!
Janet says
I’m going to enjoy making my birthday cake nice and easy recipe,,I’m new to baking and I like me the look of this recipe Thankyou Charlotte x
Kat says
I tried this twice and both times it sunk in the oven before it finished cooking. Extremely disappointing. Everything I did was as per the instructions, I used scales and made sure everything was at room temperature, didn’t over-beat etc. it’s easy, but I won’t be trying this recipe again.
lucas says
I loved how it tasted and it was so good to make
thank you for making this cake recipe
Sally says
I’m just about to try this recipe for my grandson’s birthday cake and would like to know if I can substitute butter for the soft margarine?
Charlotte Oates says
Absolutely, just make sure it is nice and soft (but not melted) before you start.
Mrs C Kirkwood says
Tried this cake recipe on last two bithday cakes i done, easy to do and so lovely, cake is light and moist, everyone commented how nice it was, will def be using again
Wipps says
How many days in advance can this cake be made and how would you store it? Many thanks.
Charlotte Oates says
You can make the sponges 2-3 days in advance. Wrap them well in clingfilm and store somewhere cool. Once you add buttercream or any fresh filling, it will store for a day but should be kept in the fridge.
Pam Maddock says
Hi, if I increase the ingredients by one half and make 3 cakes, would they be ‘strong’ enough to cover in fondant icing please as a 3 layer cake (on a crumb coat of buttercream), many thanks, Pam
Charlotte Oates says
I don’t generally recommend using this cake stacked with 3 layers unfortunately. You can find the answer to this and many other questions you might have about this recipe in my dedicated FAQs post – How To Get My Birthday Cake Recipe To Fit Your Tin and Other FAQs
Natalie says
I do exactly this and make 3 layers every time! It is perfect time & time again!
Tara O'Neill says
I actually just LOVE this. And your chocolate cake calculator is awesome too. Ive made two wedding cakes now using this recipe and both have been 5 tiers. Tried and tested (with dowels and cake boards between each layer). It works and is a major crowd pleaser. love it! One note: this recipe doesnt like tall tins, it needs short tins, but its great though.
Michelle says
I am so glad you said that about the tall tins. I like a thicker sponge so have found that if I am baking a 4 layer cake I make the batter for 6 layers and split them by 4. The tall tins take 1.5 per layer well but not double.
Catherine says
Hi, what do you use as the filling with the buttercream in the picture is it just strawberry jam? If making for children’s parties do you use any particular jam (e.g. a ‘no bits’ one?)
Charlotte Oates says
You can use any flavour or texture of jam that you prefer!
Zoe says
I used this recipe this year for my daughters 3rd birthday cake. Hands down the tastiest cake recipe and everyone said so! I’m never not using it now!!
Claudia Bhandary says
Hi Charlotte,
Ive made your cake in a Square tin today and it turned out great.
I would like to use the recipe and make two, maybe jam in the middle and icing or fondant on top (it needs to be a soccer field :)). May I ask whether I need to store it at room temperature or in the fridge overnight? Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
As long as you aren’t using fresh cream or buttercream, you can keep a layer cake out of the fridge for several days. If you used buttercream then it would need to be stored in the fridge. Fresh cream is best added as close to the serving time as possible and needs to otherwise be kept in the fridge.
Michelle says
This has been my go to recipe for the last three years. Today I decided to double up for each tin. So instead of using 4 6inch tins I used 2 – I wanted thicker sponges but the one sank – do you have any words of wisdom as to why. Is the recipe adaptable to double up?
Charlotte Oates says
Unfortunately I don’t really recommend making thicker sponges with this recipe and you have found out the reason why the hard way. The batter becomes too heavy for the amount of raising agent in the recipe and can’t rise properly.
Amy West says
Iv been using this recipe for ages now. But the last 3 times keeps dipping. Why is this happening??
Charlotte Oates says
Unfortunately it is very hard to know without seeing you bake. Has anything changed or been replaced? A new oven, using a different set of cake tins, etc? Or maybe switched to a different brand of butter or flour? Even the air pressure or temperature and altitude you’re baking at can affect a bake.