An exceptional, yet simple Vanilla Butter Cake. Adapted from a master Cook’s Illustrated recipe, this sponge cake is made with pantry staples, has a velvety, tender crumb and keeps well for 3 days. An essential addition to every recipe collection!
Want to step it up? Try my ultimate Perfect Vanilla Cake.
Moist and tender Vanilla Sponge Cake
I call this a plain-jane Vanilla Sponge Cake, but it’s really anything but that. Everyone should have a classic vanilla sponge cake in their repertoire, and it took me many years to find the “perfect” one.
This is a classic, simple Vanilla Sponge Cake that is made with basic ingredients – eggs, milk, butter, flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder and salt. That’s it. No sour cream, no buttermilk – these are not pantry staples in my world – or any other schmancy ingredients. Yes adding sour cream and/or buttermilk makes an even more tender, more moist cake. But I wanted to share a truly great Vanilla Sponge Cake that is made with just pantry staples.
I have a soft spot for old fashioned Vanilla sponge cakes. I am pretty sure the Women’s Weekly Best Ever Sponge was the first cake I ever (attempted?) to make. 🙂 Freshly made, they are lovely, albeit a wee bit dry for my taste. But the biggest issue I’ve always had is that after 12 hours, the sponge is incredibly dry. Even slathered with copious amounts of cream and frosting can’t hide it.
This recipe I’m sharing today is made with the same ingredients as old fashioned Vanilla Sponge Cakes, but there’s one very important step that you won’t see in any Women’s Weekly recipe books from the 1980’s: beating softened butter into the dry ingredients. THIS is the secret to a moist, tender sponge cake made without sour cream or buttermilk.
How do I know this?
Because this is a Cook’s Illustrated recipe. 🙂 They’ve gone and done all the hard work with the recipe testing for us.
Regular readers know I’m never going to win any awards in the cake decorating category. I’m much more focussed on the body of the cake – getting that sponge right. So I kept this simple and just slathered on lots of cream and and sandwiched it with strawberries. In addition to adding some lovely fresh juicy flavours into the cake, the strawberries also stop the cream from oozing out of the cake when you cut into it.
You’ll see in the video. 🙂
Happy weekend everyone! Hope you have a lovely one. I’m off to a festival of some sort – for a friends’ birthday. I’m not really a festival-type gal, so it will be an experience. I don’t even know what the festival is for – music, I’m guessing. Guess I should probably leave my stilettos behind. 😉 – Nagi x
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe video!
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Butter Cake (Vanilla Sponge Cak)
Ingredients
- 225 g / 2 sticks unsalted butter , cut into 8 pieces and softened
Wet:
- 4 large eggs (55 – 65g / 2 – 2.5 oz each), at room temperature
- 1/2 cup / 125 ml milk (whole or low fat, not no fat), room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Dry:
- 1 3/4 cups / 265g plain flour (all purpose flour, 7 oz) (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup cornflour / cornstarch (Note 1)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups / 330g caster sugar / superfine sugar (normal white sugar also ok)
- 3/4 tsp salt
Strawberries & Cream:
- 2 1/2 cups / 625 ml whipping cream
- 2 tbsp white sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 400 g/ 14 oz strawberries , halved (1 1/2 punnets)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection). Put the rack in the middle of the oven.
- Butter 2 x 20cm / 8″ cake pans (Note 2). Line the base with baking paper.
- Place Wet ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
- Place Dry ingredients in a bowl and use a handheld beater on speed 1 (slowest) to quickly whisk.
- Add 1/3 of the butter, then put the beater whisk in the butter, and mix using speed 1. Once the butter is incorporated a bit, speed up to 5 and whisk for 10 seconds.
- Add another 1/3 of the butter then repeat, then add remaining butter and repeat again. It should look like wet sand (see video / photos in post).
- Add half the Wet mixture, beat until incorporated. Add remaining Wet mixture, then beat on speed 5 (medium) until almost completely smooth.
- Divide between cake pans, smooth surface (it levels out in the oven), then bake for 25 minutes.
- A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean but moist.
- Cool on cooling rack for at least 15 minutes then remove cake from pan.
Frosting / Decorating with Strawberries & Cream:
- Optional: Use a serrated knife (I use a bread knife) to cut the top off each cake to make it completely flat. This makes neat layers when you cut into the cake.
- Place cream, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. Beat on high with a handheld beater or stand mixer until firm peaks form.
- If piping little swirls around the edge like in the photos, transfer 1 cup of cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle.
- Place a cake on a serving platter. Spread a thin layer of cream over the top.
- Cover with strawberries, cut side down.
- Top with 1/3 of the cream.
- Place 2nd cake on top. Cover top and sides with remaining cream. Pipe cream around the edge.
- Decorate with remaining strawberries, as desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More cake goodness
LIFE OF DOZER
You do not want to know how big the puddle on the floor was….EEEEWWWW!!!! (watch me teasing him with this in the video!!)
Hi Nagi,
I’m wanting to make this in 2 x 6” baking tins (For myself, hubby and 2 year old, so dont need the full recipe) – should I do 2/3 or half the recipe? And how long would you recommend to bake for in the 6” tins?
Mine didn’t rise 🙁 any idea why? I followed the recipe
Hi Teresa, sorry you had issues here – you definitely use baking powder?
Hi Nagi!! I have to tell you that I love ALL of your recipes and so do my kids and hubby!! 👍👍 Just wanted good know, with this cake do you think it’s stackable? I want to make my daughter a birthday cake that will feed double the amount of people.. and also because I want it to look like a fancy tall cake.
Happy birthday to your daughter Evelyn! This cake is perfectly stackable – I just made it as a 3 layer cake using buttercream frosting 🙂 N x
Hey Nagi.Cake came out fantastic with ur recipe.However,I was bit confused wd measurements of 6 serving size,couldn’t understand .13 cup for corn flour.I tried converting it but failed.So made it for 12.😅😅😋😋😋
Hi Shai, yes sorry it calculates based on a cup ratio – but the original recipe was for 12 and has 1/4 cup cornflour (if halving the recipe just use 1/8th cup) – N x
Can I use evaporated milk in the cake recipe?
Hi Victoria, I haven’t tried to be honest, I’m not sure if it will make the cake more dense. Love to know if it works though – if you give it a try! N x
Thank you Nagi for this amazing recipe! Made this with your chocolate buttercream recipe and it was sooooo addictive! The cake was GONE in a very, very short time (I myself could not stop eating it, very dangerous indeed)..
My very discerning 11-year-old niece took a few bites and said, “..if you were to enter this cake into a competition——it would win”.
And thank you for being such an inspiration- leaving the corporate world to pursue what you love..and making a success of it!
Am on the brink of a career change myself (after 18 years in an industry that I didn’t particularly love)- so thank you for taking the leap and gifting us with all these wonderful recipes 😀 You have another fan over here, your website is now my go-to now for all my weekday dinners and baking 😊👌❤️from NZ
Hi Nagi, this recipe looks great! Hoping to try this very soon. These pictures are mouth watering 🙂
I need an advice from you though. Can I bake this cake in a rice cooker as well? I might have to adjust the cook time, right? But have you tried this in a rice cooker?
The sponge was fantastic, best one I’ve ever made. I used the sponge recipe for a marble cake but will def try the rest of it sometime.
This is the best recipe ever. People go nuts. The first time I made it I finished about 75% of the cake myself because it was so tasty.
Do want to ask if I could make this a rum cake? Would it affect if I add rum into the batter and then also as a glaze?
This recipe is da bomb! The texture was sooooo good, still fluffy even just right out from the fridge. I also substituted some honey for sugar and it adds a subtle layer of fragrance to the cake!
I’m so glad you loved it Ann, love the idea of honey in it!
I tried this cake today n it was yummy.. thank u very much for the lovely and easy recipe
You’re so welcome Rafat!
Hey I’m excited to make this recipe I wanted to make it for my brother’s birthday, I was wondering if this can be baked in a half sheet pan instead of the rounds?
Hi Sabina, yes you can but you’d need to adjust the cook times accordingly – N x
Hi Nagi. I tried this recipe and it’s just fantastic. I use sponge cakes to make tiramisu. Can I use this recipe for that? Also if I want to make bigger cake. How long should I leave it in the oven?
Oh that sounds great Jyothi, this will definitely work for that. How big did you want to make the cake – it will just need to be in the oven longer – N x
I want to make it 12-16 servings
hi Nagi,
I am planning to make a birthday cake with your recipe. Picturing it with a bit of height, I’d like to make 3 layers of 6″ pan, how would you alter the ingredients quantity?
Thanks,
Gwen
Nagi, I love this cake but the mixture curdles every time I make it. Ingredients are always room temperature or close to. Any ideas?
Hi Cheryl, sorry you are having issues here – at what point is it curdling?
Once all the ingredients are in and it comes together, then it starts breaking down. I still use it but think it would be much nicer if it didn’t break down
Hi can I double this recipe ?
OMG, this cake was amazing
Wahoo, thanks Sophia ❤️
Heyy, love your recipes. I was wondering if this recipe would work for vanilla cupcakes aswell? or would i need to alter it?
Hi Alisia, I’m sure it would, just reduce the baking time to about 15 minutes – just check with a skewer ❤️
Hi, I want to make this for my nephew’s birthday next weekend but want to make it a few days beforehand (busy with work). Would the sponge be okay in the freezer for a few days before thawing it out to assemble, ice & decorate or will it ruin the crumb/fluffiness of the sponge? Thanks.
Yes definitely Keeley!
Love the recipe! To make it tiny bit more moist, would it help to increase amount of milk, let’s say by 1-2 tablespoons? Do you think it would make a difference? Would it change the consistency? Thank you!
Hi Sabrina, I don’t think adding 1-2 tablespoons will make much of a difference – N x
Hi Nagi,
Would traditional creaming method achieve the same result? Would the cake be still moist and fluffy?
Hi Stania, yes it should work the same, although I haven’t tried it with this exact recipe – N x