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Japanese sponge cake (スポンジケーキ) is a very light and fluffy yellow-white cake that is a base component for a lot of Japanese Western-style sweets. Although we have our own traditional Japanese desserts like Mochi rice cake and Anko sweet red beans, Western-style cakes and other treats are tremendously popular in Japan. Once you master Japanese sponge cake, you will be able to make various Western-style Japanese sweets.
We have mainly two kinds of sweets in Japan: Japanese-style (Wagashi) and Western-style (Yogashi). And even though we call it roughly “Western,” modern Western-style cakes and pastries are heavily and almost exclusively influenced by French desserts. There are cake shops and bakeries in every corner of cities in Japan, often selling many different kinds of cakes by the slice or in individual servings. Cakes are a significant part of life in Japan. We eat cakes for any celebratory events, from birthdays and anniversaries to Christmas and other holidays, but also enjoy cakes for less special occasions like people simply getting together. There are some fancy shops that are owned by celebrity pastry chefs, and their cakes come with higher price tags, and others run by local mom and pops that sell much simpler, reasonably priced cakes. While simpler and less expensive, the flavors in the smaller shops are not compromised in any means just because they’re smaller scale.
Just like the French sponge cakes called génoise, Japanese Sponge Cake doesn’t have any leavening such as baking powder and baking soda. The batter rises in the oven because of a lot of air trapped in whipped eggs. Sometimes egg whites and yolks are separated and whipped separately, but the recipe here calls for whipping whole eggs. Sponge cakes are made to be a little drier than some other cakes which can be eaten by themselves, like chiffon cakes. Sponge cakes are supposed to be layered, brushed with syrup and other flavorings like different liquors, and assembled with fruits and cream; therefore they get moistened well from those components.
There are three points to success in making Sponge Cake: exact measurements of ingredients, whipping the eggs until very thick, and not mixing the batter too much which deflates the bubbles from the eggs when folding flour into the whipped eggs. Getting sponge cake to turn out the way you want can be a little tricky, but if you prepare well and keep these three things in mind, your cake will come out beautifully. It may take a couple of tries, but that’s OK, that’s normal. So read the recipe and watch our video a few times, get all the ingredients measured and ready ahead of time (yes, seriously), and you’ll have a beautiful Sponge Cake to decorate and indulge in at home!
(Note: This recipe makes one 7″ cake. A double recipe makes a 10″ cake.)
See Strawberry Shortcake recipe for decorating idea.
This video and article is newly updated from December 2014.
Print Recipe
4.72 from 7 votes
Sponge Cake Recipe
Prep Time30 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Japanese
Keyword: birthday cake, cake, layered cake
Servings: 8 servings
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Ingredients
- 20 g butter
- 1 Tbsp milk
- 90 g cake flour
- 3 eggs
- 90 g sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
US Customary – Metric
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C) at least 20 minutes before. Line a 7" (18 cm) cake pan with parchment paper (bottom and side). Put butter and milk In a small bowl and microwave until the butter melts. In another bowl, sift the cake flour 2 times. Set aside.
In a bowl of a stand mixer, add eggs and sugar. Over a double boiler (placing the bowl over a pot with simmering water on low heat), whisk the egg mixture until it becomes lukewarm (until the sugar dissolves). Then set the bowl on the stand mixer, and whip the egg mixture until very thick (watch video to see the texture). Add vanilla.
Add sifted cake flour in 3 parts. Fold in the first one-third of the flour by hand with a spatula. After the flour is incorporated, add the next part of flour and again fold in with the spatula. Repeat with the last third of the flour. Next, add the mixture of melted butter and milk and fold in with the spatula.
Put the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Take the cake out from the oven and leave for 15 minutes. Finally, remove the cake from the cake pan.
Video
Notes
The cake is intended to be layered, dabbed with syrup, and sandwiched with cream and fruits; however, if you like, you can just slice and eat it as a simple cake. Matcha powder and powdered sugar can be dusted over the cake to add a little bit of flavor. It can also be served with whipped cream and Anko sweet red bean paste – which is absolutely delicious with cake!
cakedessertsponge cake
About JapaneseCooking101
Noriko and Yuko, the authors of this site, are both from Japan but now live in California. They love cooking and eating great food, and share a similar passion for home cooking using fresh ingredients.Noriko and Yuko plan and develop recipes together for Japanese Cooking 101. They cook and shoot photos/videos at their home kitchen(s.)
