How to make a delicious, fluffy, airy genoise sponge cake with this easy and foolproof recipe. This vanilla sponge cake is made with only 3 ingredients and is perfect for your pastries, cakes and other desserts.
Jump to:
The genoise sponge cake recipe is a classic European sponge cake widely used in French pastries to make cakes and entremet recipes.
Genoise sponge is very popular recipe for its simplicity and its airy and light texture that we like to use in pastries like the French fraisier cake, in desserts, or in cake layers.
Composed only of 3 ingredients, whole eggs, sugar and cake flour, like the Angel food cake recipe, this genoise recipe does not contain baking powder, due to the whipped eggs that give its fluffy and soft crumb.
Very easy to make at home, this cake is a very simple basic recipe that can also be made in a chocolate genoise version and if you follow my instructions well you will have a delicious cake to use in your birthday desserts.
Ingredients You Need
You will need these ingredients to make this genoise sponge recipe:
- Eggs: Use fresh, room-temperature large eggs for the best texture.
- Sugar: White granulated sugar works best, or you can use flavored sugars like cane sugar.
- Flour: Use cake flour for a light texture, or mix all-purpose flour and cornstarch. For a gluten-free version, swap with a gluten-free flour blend.
- Vanilla and salt: These are optional, but they can add flavor to your sponge.
How to Make A Genoise Sponge
Here’s a quick visual guide. Don’t forget, the full instructions with exact ingredients are below!
Place room-temperature eggs and sugar (in this case I add pure vanilla extract) in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
Mix at medium-high speed for about 10-12 minutes until you have a voluminous mixture that has doubled or tripled in volume and until you get a ribbon of dough when you lift the whisk.
Add the flour through a fine sieve onto the whipped eggs mixture and use a soft spatula to gently fold in the flour without letting the mixture fall.
Preheat oven to 329°F / 165°C (fan oven) and prepare a cake pan lined with parchment paper.
Pour the genoise sponge cake batter into the prepared pan and bake in the oven at half-height for about 20 minutes until the cake is lightly browned on top.
Let the cake cool for a few minutes in the pan before removing it from the pan and letting it cool completely on a wire rack.
How to use this sponge cake
- Entremets: Perfect for French classics like fraisier, framboisier, or mousse-based entremets.
- Cake Rolls: Ideal for making cake rolls like Swiss rolls or other rolled desserts.
- Layer Cakes: Use as a base for layered cakes, adding creamy fillings, fruit, and frosting for a beautiful dessert.
- With Fresh Fruits: Pair with fresh strawberries, raspberries, or any seasonal fruits and mascarpone frosting for a light, refreshing treat.
- In Glass Jars: Create individual servings with whipped cream, fresh fruit, and a sprinkle of cocoa or crushed biscuits for added texture.
Tips for this recipe
Variations & Substitutions
Recipe Questions
Why does my Genoise sponge deflate?
This could be due to overmixing the batter or underbaking. Be sure to fold the batter gently and bake until it’s golden brown and fully set.
How can I make my Genoise sponge moist? You can brush the baked Genoise with syrup or flavored liquid like coffee or fruit juice before assembling. This will help add moisture without affecting the texture.
Why is my Genoise sponge not rising? Ensure that you're beating the eggs enough to incorporate air into the batter. If you’re using a stand mixer, make sure the egg-sugar mixture is light and fluffy before adding the dry ingredients.
You will also love
I hope you loved this Classic genoise sponge cake! Feel free to rate it and leave a comment to let me know what you think. Happy baking!
Print
Genoise Sponge
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 slices
Description
Recipe for a light and fluffy genoise perfect for all your cakes and pastries (for a 8 inches 20 cm sponge cake about 4 cm thick)
Ingredients
- 3 Eggs - room temperature
- 90 g (½ cup) Sugar - granulated
- 90 g (¾ cup) Flour - cake flour
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 329°F / 165°c and line a 8 inches / 20 cm round cake pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the eggs with the sugar and beat on medium-high speed for about 10 - 12 minutes until you have a voluminous mixture that has doubled or tripled in volume.
- Add the flour through a fine sieve and mix with a flexible spatula, making circular movements from the inside of the bowl to the outside, until the mixture is homogeneous.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.
- Bake the genoise in the oven for about 20 minutes (without opening the oven door during baking) until it is lightly browned on top.)
- Let the genoise cool for a few minutes in the pan before carefully removing it from the pan and letting it cool completely at room temperature.
Notes
Storage: Up to 2 days at room temperature and up to 3 months in the freezer.
- Flavor the sponge cake: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla or another flavor of your choice
- For a lighter sponge cake, mix half flour and half cornstarch
- Gluten-free: Use a mixture of gluten-free cake flour and cornstarch.
Tips: - Use fresh, room-temperature eggs.
- Beat the eggs on medium-fast speed for at least 10 minutes before mixing in the flour.
- Line the pan with baking paper (at least on the bottom)
- Do not open the oven door while baking
- Allow to cool slightly before carefully removing the sponge from the pan.
- Carefully remove the crust with a knife when the cake is still a little warm.
- Cut the sponge cake into layers with a sponge cutter when it is completely cooled.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: sponge, cake
- Cuisine: French
excellent
Merci 🙂