Chocolate Sponge Cake

This Chocolate Sponge Cake is light, fluffy & moist and makes a good base for decorated or frosted cakes like black forest cake. It tastes fantastic on its own or with a simple whipped cream frosting. If you love fruit sauce or chocolate sauce go for it. No matter how you serve it you will fall in love with this Chocolate Sponge Cake.

Traditionally sponge cakes are made with eggs, fats, flour & sugar. The eggs are beaten well to give a fluffy, soft & aerated texture to the cake. There are a few different methods used to make sponge cakes across the world.

In this post I share how to achieve that light and fluffy perfection, all without any cake improvers. Did you know that store bought and bakery cakes are often made with cake improvers which gives them that ultra-soft light texture?

Cake improvers are comprised of emulsifiers and other ingredients to increase the aeration and double the volume of the batter. It also helps produce a uniform crumb. I seriously wanted to learn making a good chocolate sponge cake without cake improvers.

Many years ago, I would attend baking sessions conducted by big brands in Singapore. Expert bakers would teach how to bake basic cakes, desserts and breads. All the recipes taught there were very unique and would produce stunning results. This recipe was demonstrated and shared by one of the bakers there. She had all the ingredients written in grams.

To make the best out of this recipe, you need to beat the eggs well until a ribbon consistency is achieved else the cake won’t have that beautiful sponge but it still turns out good. Here are the ingredients you need for this recipe.

Ingredients

Flour – You need all-purpose flour and I have not tried with any other substitutes.
Eggs – You need 3 large eggs at room temperature. Avoid using eggs that are cold. You won’t achieve ribbon consistency if your eggs are cold.
Cocoa – Use unsweetened good quality cocoa powder. Avoid using Dutch processed powder.
Leavening ingredient – You need baking powder. Do not substitute it with baking soda, they do not make 1:1 substitutions.
Sugar – You need fine sugar. I use organic fine sugar.
Oil – I use organic coconut oil. Any neutral oil should work the same way.
Vanilla Extract – You may substitute with few drops of vanilla essence or powder as needed.

More Cake Recipes you may like
Banana Cake
Butter Cake
Classic Chocolate Cake
Eggless Black Forest Cake

Photo Guide

How to make Chocolate Sponge Cake (Stepwise Photos)

Ensure all the ingredients are at room temperature.

1. Place a sieve over a mixing bowl. Add cocoa.

2. Add flour, salt & baking powder.

3. Sieve the flour.

4. Mix all of them well.

Beat eggs

5. Break 2 eggs to a large mixing bowl.

6. Add 1 more egg yolk. I used up the egg white to make an omelet.

7. Add sugar.

8. Begin to beat the eggs on a slow, then on a high speed.

9. The eggs will begin to froth up and thicken. The color of the eggs changes to pale or light yellow and then to white. Pour vanilla at this stage.

10. After beating for about 9 mins mine reached a ribbon consistency. But I suggest not to go by the time as it depends on several factors. Recheck for ribbon consistency. When you lift the whisk, the egg mixture should be thick & fall like a ribbon. Do not proceed further until you reach this stage.

11. Pour oil in a slow stream while you continue to beat the eggs. Do not over beat, just beat until oil is well incorporated with the egg mixture.

Make batter

12. Sprinkle half of the flour. Gently incorporate this with a whisk, just until combined. Do not beat as the batter gets deflated.

13. Add the rest of the flour & mix until combined.

14. It is normal for the batter to deflate little after incorporating the flour. Over mixing at this stage will not make the cake spongy.

15. I transferred to two 6 inch greased & lined pans. You can also make one 6 inch cake. I wanted to make black forest layers without cutting the cake so I made 2 thin cakes.

16. Bake for 15 mins if baking in 2 pans. If baking the entire batter in 1 pan, then bake for 20 to 24 mins.

17. When done the cake tester comes out clean. Cool the cake pans on the cooling rack for 15 mins.

18. Do not invert the cake when it is too hot. Allow to cool down and invert on the cooling rack. Cool completely and frost.

I melted chocolate chips in the microwave and spread over the cake. Decorated with some chocolate shavings. It took me about 15 mins to decorate. Slice the cake.

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