This Italian sponge cake recipe is made with only 3 ingredients (eggs, sugar, and flour) and flavored with vanilla or lemon zest. It has no baking powder, no butter, no oil, and no dairy! While this cake isn’t hard to make, it requires attention to detail. Get a perfect sponge cake every time with my simple recipe and in-depth tutorial!
Ingredients
FOR A 7-8 INCHES (18-20 CM) PAN:
- ½ cup + 1½ tablespoon (120 g) granulated sugar
- 4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
- a pinch of salt optional
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or vanilla extract optional
- 1 cup (120 g) cake flour or plain flour, sifted
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 338°F (170°C).
Butter and flour (or spray with baking spray) an 8-inch (20 cm) pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and lemon zest until very fluffy and pale yellow (about 10/15 minutes on medium/high speed).To test that it has been beaten enough, let a small amount of batter fall into the bowl. If it remains “sitting” on top, it means that it’s ready.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture, one-third at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon or a spatula just until incorporated. Scrape the spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don’t smooth the top or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is!
Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Remember: do not open the oven for the first 30 minutes!)
Turn off the oven but leave the cake inside (keep the door slightly open using a wooden spoon) for 5/10 minutes so it can cool down slowly.
Remove the sponge cake from the oven, let it cool for 10 more minutes, then loosen around the edges with a knife or thin spatula, and flip it on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool completely.
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