Sponge Cake II
If you've got caster sugar, unsalted butter, softened and eggs, you're most of the way to this vegetarian: about 65 minutes of cooking across 7 steps. Scroll down for the ingredient checklist, a serving scaler and unit converter, and the method broken into 7 steps.
You'll mainly reach for oven and mixer. At medium difficulty across 7 steps, it's manageable with a little attention. As written, it's meat-free.
What you'll need
Shopping list (1)
Pantry staples (you likely have these)
🔁 Unit converter
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and grease and line the bases of two 20 cm round sandwich tins with parchment paper.
- Beat the softened butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until the mixture is pale, light, and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, and mix in the vanilla extract; if the batter looks like it might curdle, add a tablespoon of the flour.
- Sift the self-raising flour and baking powder over the bowl and gently fold them in with a spatula until just combined and no streaks of flour remain.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two tins, smooth the tops, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden and risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Let the cakes cool in their tins for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto a wire rack, peel off the parchment, and leave them to cool completely.
- Spread the jam over one cake and the buttercream over the other, sandwich them together, and dust the top with a little extra caster sugar before serving.
You'll use: Oven · Mixer
Ingredient substitutions
- Butter
- olive oil (¾ the amount) · coconut oil · margarine
- Eggs
- ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce (baking) · 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water per egg
- Self-raising Flour
- 1 cup plain flour + 1½ tsp baking powder + ¼ tsp salt
Tips & common questions
How long does Sponge Cake II take to make?
About 65 minutes from start to finish — an estimate based on the 7 steps and 8 ingredients. Times vary with your kitchen and how much prep you do ahead.
What can I use instead of butter?
Try olive oil (¾ the amount). See the substitutions section above for more swaps.
Can I scale this recipe up or down?
Yes — use the servings control above the ingredients and every quantity rescales automatically (fractions included). Cooking times stay roughly the same; very large batches may need a little longer.
Is Sponge Cake II vegetarian?
Its ingredients contain no meat or fish, so it's suitable for vegetarians. Check any cheeses for animal rennet if that matters to you.
Related recipes
Sponge Cake II is an original recipe developed in-house by Consomee. Photo: Sponge train with sweets and biscuits II.jpg by Pohled 111, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons. We add the serving scaler, ingredient tools, timing and structure on top — how we source recipes.