Summers are finally wrapping up in the capital. It is still very hot, but day by day, degree by degree the temperatures are dropping. The arrival of the monsoon gets me excited every time. It is the perfect temperature, cool breeze and light showers. Which means if you follow me on my Instagram @shivesh17, you will see stories of me and the family perched on our terrace, surrounded by the lovely plants and trees enjoying the weather during tea time. Also, it can not be tea time in our house without a tea cake. It’s just not right, haha! So just for that perfect occasion I made this super fluffy vanilla sponge cake.
This vanilla sponge cake is like a cloud in the form of cake, light and fluffy. I love adding nuts to my tea cakes, it just gives that much needed crunch. You will be in textural heaven when you bite into this one. With the golden brown top and soft crumb, I am in love! So now that you know my monsoon plans, let’s whip this cake up and get you prepared as well! Best part is that it only has 8 ingredients.
Ingredients for the vanilla sponge cake
The flour
For the perfect texture and taste, I always use all purpose flour for all my baking needs. However, this vanilla sponge cake will taste wholesome as well if you wish to use whole wheat flour. The nuttiness and earthiness in whole wheat flour will compliment the richness from the eggs. Know more about types of baking flour.
The eggs
Eggs are what make our vanilla sponge cake what it is. FLUFFY. It is very important to use room temperature eggs for whenever you are baking. My trick is as soon as I decide what I am baking, the first thing I do is pull the eggs out of the fridge and let them sit on the counter until I measure the rest of the ingredients. This gives the eggs time to come at a base temperature which will help the eggs mix well in the batter and the cake will rise better.
I have not tried this recipe with an egg replacement, however if you bake eggless you can try substituting eggs in this recipe with 2 cups of thick yogurt!
The oil
For most of my recipes where I use oil, I have leaned towards using vegetable oil. Vegetable oil is neutral in taste and smell. I would not recommend using strong smelling oils like mustard and sesame. These types of oil will contribute a bitter taste to our vanilla sponge cake, which nobody wants. So any mildly flavored oil is your best baking buddy.
The sugar
Caster sugar is the way to go, it is the perfect size of grain to make our vanilla sponge cake. Smaller sugar crystals of the caster sugar dissolve better when mixed with fats. If we were to use granulated sugar, the sugar crystals will not dissolve properly and will leave the cake with an unnecessary crunch from the sugar. For the caster sugar I use the brand Trust. Know more about different types of sugar here.
The milk
I like adding milk to cake batters, especially when baking a sponge cake. Milk improves the texture of our cake and also gives our cake a soft crumb. Mouthfeel of the cake is also upgraded when milk is added to our cake batters. Milk has natural sugar in it, which when comes in contact with heat, caramelises. This means the perfect golden brown top for our cake!
The leavening agent
Baking powder is the leavening agent that I have used to make my vanilla sponge cake super fluffy. When the alkaline and acid in the baking powder mix with wet ingredients, baking powder is activated. And if you are uncertain about the uses of baking powder vs. baking soda in your baking. I have a detailed blog post about baking powder vs. baking soda.
The vanilla
If it is called vanilla sponge cake, it needs the best quality of vanilla. I have used a good quality vanilla extract here. If you have vanilla beans, that would also be amazing here in this recipe. The vanilla extract that I use is either from Sprig or indian vanilla goodness.
The crunchy bits
I am all for textures. To make this vanilla sponge cake taste even more amazing I had to make an addition of nuts. Here I have 2 of my favorites, walnuts and almonds. You can also substitute these for cashews, pistachios or pecans.
Tips to make the best vanilla sponge cake
- Mix the oil and caster sugar really well, until it is light and fluffy. Doing so, will add texture to our vanilla sponge cake and not make it feel dense.
- Incorporate one egg at a time. This will help you beat the eggs properly, one at a time. This will also ensure maximum air in the batter, hence leading to a fluffy and light cake.
- Fold the dry ingredients GENTLY. I know I always say this, I really really mean it for this recipe. As gently as you would swaddle a newborn baby. Yep
I have so many more tea cake recipes on the website that I absolutely love! Eggless Strawberry Tea Cake with Fresh Strawberries, Lemon and Black Tea Cake with Fresh Blackberries, Eggless Whole-Wheat Apple Cake are some of my favorites.
- 2 cup maida
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- ¾ cup oil
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ chopped nuts
- Preheat your oven at 180 C.
- In a bowl add the flour and baking powder, mix them well using a wooden spoon.
- In a separate bowl add sugar and oil. Using an electric mixer mix them well on high speed until the mixture looks light and fluffy.
- To the sugar-oil mixture, add eggs one at a time and beat it well with the electric mixer until well combined.. Add vanilla and mix again.
- Add half of the dry ingredients that we set aside first, mix gently using a wooden spoon.
- Add the milk to the batter and mix in gently. Now add the leftover dry ingredients and combine until the batter has no large flour pockets.
- Gently fold in the nuts into the batter.
- Transfer the batter to a 8’ inch cake pan lined with parchment. Bake @180C for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
I was looking for a soft and spongy vanilla cake with nuts when I came across yours. It looks amazing.
Can I substitute oil with melted butter or maybe half oil and half butter?
If so which option would be better
Please provide quantity of ingredients in gms
Just tried this out! I scaled it up to a 9” tin and honestly it worked really well. The perfect solution to stress induced urge to bake at 2 am ? Thank you!
Im a beginner for baking…can u pls tell me whether i can use an electric blender instead of electric mixer…Also can i use icing sugar instead of caster sugar for cake recipes and cookie recipes?
Lovely recipe, very quick and easy to make. I first preferred butter over oil, but using oil added to the spongy texture. I cut my almonds up a bit too big, but I wish I’d have put raisins instead! Thanks for this recipe. 🙂
Also- took me 40 mins to cook, probably because I used a 8 inch square pan.
It was delicious….. My Mom loved it…. I’m gonna make it again for sure
Hi Shivesh… This turned out fantastic.
Thanks a lot.
Thank you! The cake came out really well.
Cake turned out brilliant as I made it for my daughter’s birthday ? moist & fluffy just as shown in the pic ?? Thank you for the amazing recipe? Cake also feels very light! I didn’t use any nuts.
Absolutely amazing
It came out lovely. Made 2 layers n coated with chocolate frosting. Avoided the nuts. Raised the sugar to 1.5 cups and oil to a little less than 2 cups.
Can we use wheat flour instead of maida with the same quantity of ingredients?
This was amazing Shivesh. Thank you so much for this recipe. Everyone loved it!
I don’t have a round pan. Can this be made in a loaf pan?
Yes I tried using a loaf pan too of size 25.5 x 13× 6cm and poured the batter in 2 of these containers. Turned out good. Although the time would differ..I think approximately 15 to 20 minutes…I had kept it for longer (30 min) and it was slightly burned in the sides. But you can keep an eye for 20 minutes and check.
Hi Shivesh, I tried the recipe and it turned out delicious both time. However, the top crust came out very hard both times, not sure if m doing anything wrong.
I have tried many recipes and finally this is the one that my family has fully approved. This goes into my recipe box. Thanks for this wonderful recipe
Just tried this recipe. It’s foolproof, thank you so much ?
Hi Shivesh,
The cake looks delicious.
I am
Waiting to try it out
Wanted to check- video mentions 2tbsp baking powder however written recipe says 2tsp
Pls confirm which one has to be followed
Hi can you please give the recipe measurements in grams
Teaspoon should be used as baking powder is always measured in tsps
Sorry what is maida
All purpose flour
Each ingredient is so accurate. First time my cake came out to be a perfect one. Thanks!
Teaspoon should be used as baking powder is always measured in tsps :))
Hi Shivesh
The recipe looks amazing. I just have one doubt actually . I want to reduce the quantity of the ingredients to half . So can i just reduce the quantity of the ingredients exactly to half ?
Will this somehow going to effect the recipe or will it turn out exactly same ??
Can you please confirm.
Thank you
I made a nice spongy Vanilla cake for my daughter today following ur recipe
The cake turned out dense, and bland. I think 3 eggs should do and also a bit more sugar may help..
Its always tsp for baking powder and baking soda
Thanks For Sharing this amazing recipe. My family loved it. I will be sharing this recipe with my friends. Hope the will like it.
Hi Shivesh!!
Amazing recipe. Baked my first ever Vanilla cake and was so thrilled it was perfect and easy. Made it for second time now and it was perfect. I cant get enough of it!!!! Thank you for the recipie.
Although the top crust wasn’t brown enough like it was light in colour and moist… what do u advise on this ? I baked using the same temp and baking settings to both heat. Please advise.
Thank you.
can i use ghee instead of oil
This came out so well. I have tried many vanilla sponge cakes, none turned out well except your’s. Thank you so much.
I am a beginner. Shall try out this at a later date and revert. Thanks for the post.
Thank you for sharing such a nice recipe.