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Alex's Sponge Cake

Makes: One cake

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 16-20 minutes

Ingredients

Cake

  • 6oz/170g self-raising flour
  • 6oz/170g margarine/butter
  • 6oz/170g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs

Buttercream

  • Margarine
  • Icing sugar

Instructions

Basic recipe (for big cake – for fairy cakes no need to grease and line, and cooking time may be a bit shorter):

  1. Preheat oven to 180 (fan oven)
  2. Grease and line your tins – marge and greaseproof paper.
  3. 'Cream' (beat) butter/marge and sugar together. If you’re using butter, you’ll want to take it out the fridge to soften beforehand, but I find marge is just as good.
  4. Beat your eggs then add to marge/sugar. Mix, but don’t worry about getting it smooth – just mostly combined.
  5. Add flour (no need to sift, usually) and mx together until smooth.
  6. Add extra flavourings if you want them (e.g. sifted cocoa powder) – add a bit and keep tasting. If you add too much cocoa powder the cake will be dry, but that would take extreme amounts.
  7. Split mixture evenly between tins.
  8. Put in oven on the same shelf, if possible, for 16 minutes. They may need longer but it’s best to check after this. Then keep checking every couple of minutes (try not to open the door before this though, or too often!)
  9. It is done when it springs back when you press it with your finger (or use a skewer – needs longer if any cake batter comes out).
  10. Turn out onto wire cooling rack and leave to cool.

If you want butter cream, cream marge and add sifted icing sugar (plus cocoa powder if you want) until you can’t taste margarine! If you find its getting too stiff, you can add a bit of milk, but it’s not usually needed. Can be hard work though!

Water icing is just sifted icing sugar with water, if you wanted that.