Easy Homemade Strawberry Sponge Cake
This delicious strawberry sponge cake is made with a few simple ingredients and is a showstopper for any meal. The sweetness from the fresh strawberries and the fluffy sponge cakes are beautiful and taste like summer!
When it’s summertime, I am always itching to use the seasonal fruit that is available.
Plus, aren’t you ready for some freshness after a long winter of comfort foods? I know I am!
This sponge cake is the perfect summer cake and will remind you of a strawberry shortcake cake topped with whipped cream.
If you are looking for some other tried and true summer desserts, be sure to whip up my peach cobbler pound cake or my scrumptious French crepes with whipped crepe filling!
What Is Strawberry Sponge Cake?
Strawberry sponge cake is a multi layered dessert that is sure to please!
Two airy sponge cakes are cut in half and then layered with a whipped cream cheese icing and sliced strawberries.
This recipe requires a good amount of mixing time, but comes together quickly and looks absolutely stunning.
Why You’ll Love This Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe
- It’s refreshing! – This simple sponge cake does best when served chilled. What’s better on a hot summer day than a cool, strawberry dessert?
- It has wow factor! – Do you need a dinner party dessert that looks delectable and fancy, yet doesn’t require you to spend all day in the kitchen? This is that dessert!
- It’s a crowd pleaser! – Perfect for your family or a potluck, everyone likes sponge cake and strawberries. Add a scoop of ice cream and you’re sure to be popular.
What Is The Difference Between Sponge Cake And Regular Cake?
Regular cake uses butter or other types of fat, and relies on baking powder or baking soda as the leavening agent.
Sponge cake, on the other hand, has considerably more eggs! Most sponge cakes are made of only eggs, flour, and sugar.
All the rise in sponge cakes come from how much air you beat into the eggs.
You’ll use the whisk attachment of an electric or stand mixer – or a hefty amount of upper body endurance! – to beat the eggs and sugar for at least 10 minutes.
The flour needs to be folded in gently, so as not to lose any of the air. Sponge cakes are lighter in texture than their heavier, butter cake counterparts, and much lower in fat.
Tell Me About This Strawberry Cake
- Taste – This is a dessert that tastes sweet without going overboard! The cake has a subtle sweetness, but mostly offers the perfect sponge cake layers. The blast of flavor comes with the frosting and fresh fruit garnishes.
- Texture – This fluffy sponge cake is light and airy, and the cream cheese filling is smooth and delicious.
- Ease – This recipe requires only a few ingredients and a little time, but it is easy once you get the hang of it! Your patience with the egg mixture will pay off. It’s worth it! And there aren’t many ingredients to gather, so that’s a plus.
- Time – Most of the time is spent letting the mixer do its thing while it whips up the eggs to the perfect consistency.
Ingredients For Strawberry Sponge Cake
- Eggs – Eggs are perhaps the most crucial part of a sponge cake. They’ll whip up faster if you start the recipe with room temperature eggs.
- Granulated Sugar
- Flour – I use all purpose flour. Different flours have different absorbency, so if you choose a different type of flour, you may also need to change the amount that you use.
- Baking Powder – Eggs usually provide all of the rise in a sponge cake, but we’re going to be cutting each of our cakes into two layers. So, for an added boost, we’ll use a dash of baking powder.
Ingredients For Whipped Cream Icing
- Cream Cheese – Use full fat cream cheese, softened at room temperature and make sure you whip it well before adding the rest of the ingredients.
- Heavy Cream – Be sure that it’s cold! This helps you get the soft peaks you are looking for when making your icing.
- Confectioner Sugar – Also known as powdered sugar or icing sugar.
- Vanilla Extract- Make sure to invest in pure vanilla extract to get the best flavor.
- Strawberries – Sliced, juicy strawberries will be added to every layer to give the sweet and fresh flavor this cake deserves!
How To Make Strawberry Sponge Cake In 4 Easy Steps
- Whisk the eggs on high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer until they’re foamy – usually, about 1 minute. While it’s still whisking, slowly add the sugar. Whip the eggs and sugar together for a full 10 to 15 minutes! Not sure if you have enough air in the mixture? Test it! Let a thick ribbon of the mixture fall in a figure 8 shape on top of the rest of the mixture in the bowl. If it immediately disappears back into the mixture, you need to keep whisking!
- In a separate medium bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Gently fold the flour mixture into the egg mixture, a 1/4 cup at a time. Don’t overmix! Pour the batter into prepared springform pans, and bake for 25 minutes.
- Make the whipped cream topping! Whip the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer for a couple minutes until fluffy, then add the sugar and vanilla, and finally the cream. Whisk it until it’s fluffy and has stiff peaks.
- Cut each cake in half, so that you have 4 layers. Alternate layers of cake and the whipped cream icing, laying sliced strawberries on the top of each layer of icing. Top the cake with the remaining icing and strawberries, and chill before serving!
How To Get Your Sponge Cake To Hold Together
Sponge cake is very light and airy. It can be prone to collapse or fall apart when sliced if you put too many toppings on it.
Since we want to make a two layer cake with cream frosting and strawberries, we need our cake to hold together.
How do we make it work? By chilling the cakes.
After your cakes have finished baking, remove them from their pans and set them on a wire rack to cool. Let them cool completely. You can also set them in the fridge to chill further.
After you’ve assembled your layers and decorated the top of the cake, place the entire dessert into the fridge to chill for a full 2 hours.
This will not only help your sponge cakes stay in shape, but it will also give time for the whipped cream icing to firm up before you slice into it.
Substitutions For Fresh Strawberries
The sliced, fresh strawberries added to the icing layers gives an incredible flavor to this sponge cake. But, if you don’t have any one hand, here are some other things to try.
- Strawberry Jam – Use an offset spatula to spread a thin layer of jam on top of the icing. Strawberry puree works similarly.
- Berries – Don’t feel like you have to stick with strawberries! Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries will also work well.
- Lemon Zest – Rather than add something on top of the cream filling, why not add a flavor to it? Try a small amount of lemon zest, lemon juice, or orange zest.
Will This Sponge Cake Get Soggy?
Two things work together to keep the sponge layers in this cake from getting soggy.
- Since the sponge cake batter is made primarily of egg, it won’t absorb moisture from the icing.
- The cream cheese in the frosting lends a firm consistency, so it won’t melt into the cake.
Tips For Making This Strawberry Sponge Cake
- Be sure the ribbon remains for several seconds with the egg mixture. If you don’t whip the eggs long enough, the cake will taste like sweetened eggs!
- Do not over fold the flour mixture, or the center of the cake will fall. Fold the flour into the batter until the flour disappears and then stop. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure the flour doesn’t get stuck to the bottom.
- Leave the oven door shut until the cake is done baking, or it will collapse in the center.
- Add parchment paper to the bottom of your cake pans to keep the cake from sticking. Use a paring knife or butter knife to loosen the sides of the cake from the springform pan prior to releasing the spring.
How to Store Leftover Sponge Cake
This strawberry sponge cake can be chilled, uncovered, for up to a day. If you have leftovers after the day is done, place it in a cake container or other airtight container, and then put it back in the fridge.
Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe
Easy Strawberry Sponge Cake
Equipment
- 2 9 inch cake pans
- 1 electric mixer
Ingredients
Sponge Cakes
- 6 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Whipped Cream Icing
- 8 ounces full fat cream cheese, softened
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- 1 cup confectioner sugar, powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups fresh, sliced strawberries
Instructions
Sponge Cakes
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Prepare 2 9-inch round baking dishes by lining the bottoms with parchment paper. There’s no need to grease the sides. I like to use a springform pan for ease.
- In the stand of an electric mixer, beat the eggs with the whisk attachment on high speed for 1 minute, or until foamy.
- Slowly add the 1 cup of sugar while the mixer continues whisking.
- Whip your eggs and sugar for 10-15 minutes (this is the most important step!) until fluffy. To test to make sure it is done whipping, let a thick ribbon of the mixture fall in a “figure 8” on top of the mixture. If it disappears immediately into the mixture, keep whipping. If it remains then you’re ready to move on.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 cup of flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
- Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture ¼ cup at a time. Fold the flour into the eggs until just combined. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to ensure there is no flour stuck to the bottom of the bowl.
- Do not overmix or your cake will fall when baked. You want to keep the air in the fluffy eggs, so fold the flour in until you don’t see any streaks in the batter and then stop.
- Pour the cake batter into the two prepared pans. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the cakes are golden brown on top.
- Remove cakes by releasing the sides by sliding a butter knife around the outside of the cake. Then, turn the cakes over onto a cooling rack to fully cool.
Whipped Cream Icing
- Make your whipped cream icing by whipping the room temperature cream cheese in the stand of your electric mixer for 1-2 minutes until fluffy. Be sure to scrape your bowl and get it all entirely whipped.
- Add the sugar and vanilla and whip again for 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl to get it all incorporated.
- Slowly add in the heavy cream with the mixer on low.
- When the cream is fully mixed in, turn up your mixer on high and allow it to mix until it is fluffy and has stiff peaks.
Assemble Cake
- Cut each cooled cake in half horizontally so you end up with 4 cake layers.
- Set one layer on a cake plate and add ¼ of the whipped cream icing.
- Layer strawberries on top of the whipped cream icing.
- Continue with the next 3 layers of the cake until they are all layered.
- Top the cake with the icing and pile up the strawberries in the center of the cake.
- Chill the cake for 2 hours, uncovered, before slicing. This allows the whipped cream icing to firm up.
Notes
- Be sure the ribbon remains for several seconds with the egg mixture.If you don’t whip the eggs long enough the cake will taste eggy.
- Do not over fold the flour mixture or the cake will fall.
- Leave the oven door shut until the cake is done baking or it will collapse in the center.
- Chill the cake up to a day uncovered. If you are going to chill for longer, consider covering it or putting it in a cake container to keep it fresh.
