The Perfect Sponge Cake

This is a staple recipe any baker will need for the PERFECT sponge cake. Once you’ve got this right you can experiment with adding different flavour combinations and glazes, at the end we’ll share with you some of our favourites.

There are two methods you can use for this, either works really well. All-In-One method is when you literally add everything into your mixer in one go and beat until light, or the Creaming method which is the one we like to use and my mum swears by!

Ingredients: (makes a 3 layer 6″ cake)

• 170g caster sugar
• 170g baking margarine (nice and soft)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 3 large eggs (at room temperature)
• 170g self raising flour (sieved)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Pre heat your oven to 170 degrees (or 160 fan), line and grease three 8″ round cake tins with baking paper. Make sure you have all your ingredients weighed out and ready to go.
2. In a stand mixer beat together your margarine and sugar with the vanilla paste for around 3-5 minutes, until pale in colour and fluffy in texture.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add your first egg, beat well until smooth. It may look curdled, don’t worry too much as the flour will fix that.
4. In a bowl mix your flour, baking powder and salt. Now add half of that to your batter. Beat until smooth, then add the remaining eggs then the remaining flour. Making sure to beat it in-between.
5. Do a final scrape down of the sides and a final beat. It should be a pale yellow, smooth batter.
6. Spread evenly between your three tins and bake for 20-22 minutes. They should be golden in colour and bounce back when you gently press the top. You could also use a cocktail stick to check, poke it into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean it’s ready.
7. Leave to cool completely, then they’re ready to use as you wish!

Some of our favourite go to’s for pimping our sponge are..

• Mojito Cake: heat three tbsps of milk with a handful of fresh mint leaves until bubbling then leave to cool. Add the zest of one lime in with the marg and sugar, then add two tbsps of the mint milk to the cake batter once all the other ingredients have been added. Use the remaining mint milk for the icing along with a splash of rum.
• Chocolate Chip: this one is super simple, but delicious! Add 120g dark chocolate chips to your cake batter once all the other ingredients have been added, making sure to mix thoroughly. Then top with a silky chocolate swiss meringue buttercream.
• Fruity: once your cake batter is made, swirl in your favourite jam to make a ripple effect. Top with swiss meringue buttercream and fresh fruit to match the jam. Raspberry or strawberry taste amazing, or go for something like peach for a twist.