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!!)
I wish there was a way to save my recipe notes, so I can remember for next time. I reduced the sugar by a third to 1 cup and it still came out perfect, and not cloyingly sweet like the “best vanilla cake”. I feel more confident reducing the sugar in this recipe. Topped with lightly sweetened stabilised chantilly cream and strawberries. Looked fabulous, loved by kids and adults alike.
Really good to have a video for this recipe because the method is pretty odd, but it works!
This cake is delicious! I am so impressed with simplicity and success of this cake recipe. I followed it exactly and it turned out perfect. My family loved it. I will be making this cake again and again.
Hello Nagi! Please consider doing a Black Sesame cake recipe, I had a piece at a cafe in Crows Nest and it was MENTAL. Would adding some black sesame paste to this cake be disastrous? I have baked this vanilla sponge before and it is five star great,…but perhaps best not tinkered with. I just dont want to enter chiffon cake levels of difficulty & most recipes for black sesame are. Nagi level recipe magic please! Love what you do and congratulations on the book 🙂
As an avid baker I had never seen a recipe that incorporated the butter into the dry mix like this and was a little unsure of what it would turn out like. But since it’s Nagi, I followed the recipe no questions asked. And the result was gorgeous. The texture was perfectly light, and spongy, with a beautiful butter flavor. This will be my go to vanilla cake!
This was utterly delicious – but I’m not surprised because Nagi’s recipes are ace! I decided to scale it to 9 people and do just one layer. It did take 40 mins to bake though. So next time, I’ll split it between 2 tins as mentioned. Tasted great the day after (when I had it for breakfast and lunch!)
Has anyone attempted to make a dairy free version of this cake? Wondering if it would work if I used nuttelex and soy milk?
Can you freeze it if baked ahead of occasion?
In a word DELISH!
I made this today for my dad’s 81st birthday. It was a big hit.
I did spread 100g of strawberry jam in the middle because dad had mentioned he likes it like that.
You never let me down Nagi, thank you!
This came out absolutely delicious! Dainty but moist, guest described the cake batter itself as creamy! One issue though, all the cream came spilling out from the weight of the top layer – is there a trick to this? I put it in the fridge and it still kept sliding. Not quite aesthetic but divinely tasty
Perfect, as always! Mom wanted sponge cake for her birthday, so I made this sponge cake, added some lemon zest and nutmeg because that’s how she likes it. Skipped the cream and strawberries, but plated it with Nagi’s Apple Crumble (soooo good!) and a scoop of vanilla ice cream – with a candle on top – and it was perfect! Thank you Nagi for yet another amazing recipe 🙂
Hi Nagi,
Just wanted to know if this could be made dairy free?
Thanks so much!
Jess, did you ever try to make a dairy free version? I am tempted to give it a go with nuttelex and soy milk…..
Yes I did. I was requested to make a dairy free Oreo cake so may of been a little drier than would of liked but it tasted good nonetheless!
Made it today just because why not lol! and oh my days it was so so yummy, the cake is so soft it’s not too spongey like you would choke on the first bite.. hehehe! made some lovely Yema Icing and put loads of cashew nuts on top.. I’m telling you if i finish the whole cake… my hips won’t lie hahaha! Thanks for another great recipe Nagi xx
I used evaporated milk instead and I had to bake it maybe 5 minutes longer but this cake recipe is amazing. I will definitely be making it again!
Hi Nagi, would this cake recipe work as a sheet cake? I’d have to adjust the temperature right? have a great day 🙂
Hi ! I tried your vanilla cake . Thanks for sharing this recipe . My family loved it. It’s really super moist ❤️ God bless you.
Hi Nagi, Could I make this with fine coconut sugar?
Hi Deb’s I haven’t tried to be honest, I’m not sure how it would change the texture. N x
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Thank you for ur good work ma, I love you more kisses
Do the eggs have to be fluffy
Made this for my mum for her 70th birthday in lockdown (my first cake in years!) as she requested a simple sponge (and I wanted to bake something seeing as the shops were closed to buy any gifts). I was absolutely delighted with how it turned out – she loved it too and was able to share the rest with her neighbours, many of whom live alone, so in the end that cake brought a little bit of joy to lots of people in these trying times. Thanks so much, Nagi! (P.S. I did msg you on IG to thank you personally for your recipe but realised a review would probably be better!)