Lily Vanilli's Ultimate Light Fluffy Vanilla Sponge Cake
Serves: 10 PeopleThis is far and away my favourite cake recipe - it’s the lightest, most buttery, melt-in-the-mouth vanilla sponge cake you will find. It’s one of the simplest cakes I make, but it’s also one of the most popular and I’m constantly asked for the recipe. When a recipe is this simple, the quality of the ingredients can really make a huge difference. And St. Ewe eggs give it a gorgeous richness of texture and add a beautiful colour and flavour to the sponge.
In this recipe all the flour is coated in butter in the initial stage, which inhibits the development of gluten and produces a very soft crumb. There are far fewer air pockets formed by creaming, but this is compensated for with a larger dose of baking powder. As very little gluten is formed to build structure, this is a very a delicate, light cake, so mind the baking time carefully and be sure to check your oven temperature. Make sure you whisk the dry ingredients together first, as this is a crucial stage for an even result.
- Lily Vanilli
Instructions
Vanilla Sponge:
- - Step 1Preheat the oven to 180˚C fan assisted/gas mark 6.
- - Step 2In a bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- - Step 3Beat in the butter until it is incorporated and the mixture appears to be evenly coated and looks like a fine crumble mix – 2–3 minutes on medium speed. Add the eggs and beat, first on medium, then on high, just until incorporated. Add the milk and vanilla and beat, on medium and then on high, until the mixture is smooth and combined; it will appear a bit lighter in colour – 2–3 minutes.
- - Step 4Divide the mixture between the two prepared 7 inch cake tins and level out to the edges.
- - Step 5Bake in the oven for 25–30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- - Step 6Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
Swiss Meringue Buttercream
- - Step 1Make perfect smooth Swiss Meringue Buttercream for piping.
- - Step 2Place a metal or glass bowl over a pan with an inch of boiling water. Add 150g egg whites and 200g caster sugar. Whisk to combine.
- - Step 3Leave over a medium heat for around 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Its done when its no longer grainy to the touch (rub some between thumb and forefinger) Whisk in a stand mixer, starting low and then leaving on high. Whisk 'til you have stiff peaks. Add 400g soft butter. You can put this all in at once. Whisk until all combined evenly and you have a fluffy buttercream.
- - Step 4It might start to look like scrambled eggs and split. Ignore this and keep whisking!
- - Step 5Use gel food colouring if you want to add colour.
- - Step 6Beat on low speed right before using to knock out any air bubbles for extra smooth icing.
Once your cakes have cooled
- - Step 1Decorate as desired! I scaled the recipe up x 3, baked a few different sized tiers and just free style piped some borders and added some flowers, but you can put decorate however you like
Ingredients
- 3 Original Large Egg
- 330 grams Plain Flour
- 320 grams Caster Sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp. Baking Powder
- pinch Salt
- 175 grams Unsalted Butter
- 190 ml Milk
- 1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
