This traditional Italian sponge cake is a simple, no-fuss dessert made with just four ingredients. Light, airy, and beautifully golden, it’s perfect on its own or dressed up with cream, fruit, or your favorite glaze.
When I have guests coming over, I like to wow them with a delicious meal that (in all honesty) doesn’t exhaust me! And of course, dinner is important, but I always figure out what I am making for dessert first.
Sometimes I don’t have much time to experiment with a new recipe, so I turn to my tried and true recipes that never fail me. My plum cake with yogurt is one of them, and this Italian sponge cake is another.
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Recipe highlights
- Surprisingly Simple: This elegant Italian sponge cake may sound fancy, but it only requires four basic ingredients: no butter, no oil, and no leavening!
- Time-Tested Favorite: I’ve been baking this cake for over 20 years, and it never fails to impress—whether it’s a casual weeknight treat or the star of your holiday table.
- Light and Fluffy: This recipe bakes up into the perfect sponge: airy, tender, and just sweet enough to stand alone or act as the base for your favorite toppings.
- Endlessly Versatile: Dress it up with whipped cream and berries, layer it with vanilla pastry cream, or drizzle it with my olive oil lemon curd for a fresh twist. It’s the little black dress of cakes!
Ingredients you need
- Eggs: You will need to separate the egg yolks and egg whites. This is key to making sponge cake as the egg whites will be whipped to stiff peaks, making a light and spongey cake.
- Sugar: Regular granulated sugar is used to sweeten the cake.
- All purpose flour: To keep the light and fluffiness of the cake, it is best to sift the flour. I pass it through a fine mesh sieve.
- Vanilla: This is the key flavor in the cake, so use a high quality vanilla with wonderful flavor.
Step-by-step directions
- Separate eggs. Separate the eggs and place the yolks in a medium sized bowl and the egg whites in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk yolks. Combine sugar and egg yolks and whisk until mixture is light yellow. Stir in the vanilla.
- Whip the egg whites. Using clean beaters, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks.
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- Combine. By hand, gently fold the egg yolk mixture into the whipped egg whites, doing your best NOT to deflate the batter.
- Add flour. In batches, add sifted flour into the egg mixture and fold it in by hand. Again, do not over mix or deflate the batter.
- Bake. Pour cake batter into a generously greased bundt pan. Bake until a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely before serving.
Expert tips and recipe FAQs
The beauty of a plain sponge cake is that you can dress it up or keep it simple. It is delicious on its on or drizzled with a glaze or some pastry cream.
I have several other simple yet delicious desserts like this sponge cake. My vanilla cake recipe with olive oil can also be served all frosted or simply with fresh fruit. We also love this amazing lemon loaf cake that is moist, easy and oh-so-delicious!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: If your cake is frosted, I suggest storing any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days. If unfrosted, you can keep it covered on the counter for up to 3 days or refrigerate for longer.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Wrap in foil, parchment paper or plastic wrap and freeze for up to 4 months.
Italian sponge cake, or Pan di Spagna, is unique because it is made without butter or baking powder. The light, airy texture comes entirely from well-whipped eggs.
This usually happens if the egg whites weren’t whipped to stiff peaks or if the batter was over mixed when folding in the flour. Be gentle and patient—volume is key.
Absolutely! Italian sponge cake can be made a day or two in advance. Just wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and store at room temperature until you’re ready to serve or assemble.
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Italian Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 6 eggs large
- 2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 ⅛ cup all purpose flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF and coat your bundt pan generously with non-stick cooking spray.
- Separate egg yolks and egg whites. Place the yolks in a medium sized bowl and the egg whites in a large mixing bowl.
- Add sugar to the egg yolks and whisk until mixture is light yellow. Stir in the vanilla.
- Clean the beaters and whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks.
- Gently fold by hand the egg yolk mixture into the egg whites, doing your best not to deflate or over mix the batter.
- In batches, carefully fold the sifted flour into the egg mixture. Again, do not over mix or deflate the batter.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted into the center of the cake and comes out clean.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes then invert it onto a cooling rack. Leave the bundt pan over the cake until it cools and easily releases. Let the cake cool completely before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
