Sponge cake: four ingredients, no baking powder, one rule
A sponge is one of the purest techniques in baking: eggs, sugar, flour, starch, and nothing else. There is no raising agent and no fat — the cake is lifted solely by air beaten into the egg whites. Which is why the only thing that can genuinely be ruined here is folding in the flour too vigorously: the foam collapses in seconds and the sponge comes out low and dense. The rest is patience and cooling it upside down.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Whisking 15 min
- Baking 40 min
- Cooling 45 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneSeparate the eggs and whip the whites
Heat the oven to 170 °C. Separate the eggs one at a time over a separate bowl — a single yolk that lands in the whites makes the whole batch unwhippable. Whip the whites with a pinch of salt 4 minutes, until stiff: a whisk lifted from the foam should leave a peak that does not fold over.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 120 g plain flour · 60 g potato starch · 1 pinch salt
TipBowl and whisk must be bone dry and free of grease. A drop of fat or water collapses the bubbles and the foam will never stiffen, whip it as long as you like.
The peak should stand, not foldAdd sugar, then the yolks
Without stopping the mixer, add the sugar a spoon at a time over about 3 minutes. The foam turns dense and glossy, like shaving cream. Then add the yolks one at a time, whipping 15 seconds after each.
TipSugar tipped in all at once sinks and dissolves unevenly, leaving a wet, heavy layer at the bottom of the cake. A spoon at a time is not fussiness.
Sugar by the spoon, yolks one by oneFold in the flour with a spatula
Sift the flour and starch twice and add them to the foam in three additions. Fold with a spatula, lifting from the bottom and turning the bowl — never with the mixer. Stop the moment the dry flour disappears; a few streaks are better than one fold too many.
Ingredients: 6 pcs eggs · 180 g sugar · 120 g plain flour · 60 g potato starch · 1 pinch salt
TipThe starch replaces part of the flour, lowering the gluten content. That is what makes a sponge tender rather than rubbery.
Three additions, spatula from below, no mixerPour into an ungreased tin
Pour the batter into a 24 cm tin with only the base lined. Do not grease the sides — the sponge needs something to grip as it climbs. Greased sides make the batter slide back down so it rises only in the middle.
Paper on the base only, sides bareBake and don't open the door
Bake 40 minutes at 170 °C (conventional, no fan). For the first 30 minutes don't open the oven: a sudden drop in temperature makes the still-unset foam collapse irreversibly. Test with a skewer — it should come out dry.
Forty minutes, door shutCool it upside down
Take it out, drop the tin onto the counter from 20 cm (the shock knocks out hot air and limits sinking), then turn the tin upside down and rest its rim on three mugs so the top does not touch the counter. The sponge has gripped the ungreased sides, so it will not fall out, and hanging it stops it settling under its own weight. Cool at least 45 minutes, ideally overnight. A cold sponge cuts into even layers; a warm one sticks to the knife and tears. Once cold, free it from the sides with a thin knife.
TipCut it with a <b>long serrated knife</b> or a thread. Score a line around the side first and only then cut through — otherwise the layers come out sloping.
Drop the tin, then 45 minutes of cooling
Before you start
How many layers
Six eggs in a 24 cm tin give a sponge about 5–6 cm tall, that is three layers for a cake. For a 20 cm tin use four eggs, for 28 cm eight, scaling everything else in proportion.
Chocolate version
Replace 30 g of flour with 30 g of cocoa, sifting them together. Don't exceed that: cocoa is fatty and weighs the foam down, so the cake rises much less.
Soaking syrup
Sponge layers are deliberately dry and expect a soak. Classically: water with sugar and lemon, fruit juice, compote, or milk with a splash of spirit. Allow about 100 ml per layer.
Bake it a day ahead
A sponge baked the day before slices far better than a fresh one — the structure has had time to settle. Wrap it in film once completely cool and leave it on the counter.
