My Strawberry Sponge Cake is a soft, fluffy, perfectly baked sponge cake filled and decorated with a thick layer of vanilla whipped cream and lots of fresh strawberries.
Strawberry Sponge Cake Recipe
Oh my god, friends, look how elegant this cake turned out; it is also SO DELICIOUS. The most appropriate way to describe this cake is a moist, airy, and light cake with all the goodness of strawberries.
My strawberry sponge cake is so simple to make; all you need to do is whisk the wet ingredients and then fold in the dry ingredients. Pour the batter into the cake tins and bake. Ta-dah, It is finished!
In my opinion, the icing is a must! It's quite literally the icing on the cake that makes this simple cake so worthwhile.
As I mentioned before, I recommend using fresh fruits in making my cake recipes. So, I used fresh strawberries; I washed, dried and cut them into halves, and I even didn't hull them for a lovely color.
Also, I thought I should add Vanilla bean paste to this cake as they have a deep vanilla flavour, which was SO GOOD.
Ingredients
Note: This is an overview of the ingredients. See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
For The Sponge Cake
- Butter: I used unsalted.
- Granulated sugar
- Vanilla bean paste: My favorite cake flavouring.
- Eggs: I used 4 eggs, make sure to keep the eggs at room temperature.
- Self-rising flour: If you don't have self-rising flour on hand, use all-purpose flour and add an extra teaspoon of baking powder.
- Baking powder: For a fluffy cake, I recommend using good-quality baking powder.
For The Strawberry Filling
- Heavy cream: We want it cold.
- Vanilla: I used vanilla bean past, but vanilla extract will work just fine.
- Icing sugar: I use icing sugar in any frosting I make due to its nature to dissolve easily.
- Fresh strawberries: The star of the show in this cake recipe, you guessed it right, are the strawberries.
Variations & Substitutions
- Play around with the shape of your cake. For example, you can use a heart-shaped cake tin on Valentine's Day or Mother’s day.
- Strawberry Jam – A thin layer of strawberry jam can add a twist to your strawberry sponge cake.
- Change the color of your sponge cake; you may add 1-2 drops of red food coloring to the cream.
For more strawberry cake recipes, check my French Strawberry Cake recipe and Strawberry Loaf Cake. Both are so delicious!
How To Make Strawberry Sponge Cake - Step by Step
To Make The Sponge Cake
Before we start prepping the cake, preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line 2 round 20cm cake tins with parchment paper.
One: Cream the butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy, and then mix in the eggs and vanilla.
Once all the liquid ingredients are dissolved well together, we can move on to the dry ingredients.
Two: Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt until well combined.
Pro Tip: I like to sift the flour and the baking powder before adding them to the batter. To ensure that my sponge cake rises to its full possible potential!
Three: Beat the batter gently, until it’s fluffy. Divide and pour the batter into the 2 cake tins.
Four: Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes. Lastly, allow it to cool completely.
Make The Filling
Whilst you’re waiting for your cakes to rise, you can utilize this time to whip up the filling that will go right between the cakes and on top.
Five: To make the filling, pour the heavy cream into a large bowl. Add in the icing sugar and vanilla and whisk until stiff peaks form.
Six: That’s it! You’re vanilla icing is ready. As for the strawberries, just out the stem and leaves, and chop them and halves or quarters.
Assemble The Strawberry Sponge Cake
Once the cakes are cooled, we can start bringing the cake together.
Seven: Place one of the cakes on a serving plate, and spread half of the vanilla icing you just prepared on top. Now, plop the strawberries, and then top them with the second cake.
Three: Spread the remaining icing and arrange some strawberries on top.
Voila! Your tall and elegant Strawberry Cake is ready to be served.
Top Tips
- Make sure to pat the strawberries dry with paper towels before adding them to the cake; otherwise, if they are wet, the cake may turn out a little soggy.
- I know from experience that using fresh strawberries is way better than frozen in taste and texture.
- Self-rising flour can also be made by mixing all-purpose flour with baking powder.
- When selecting strawberries for your cake, make sure to go for bright red, ripe strawberries with shiny skin for the best flavor.
Serving Suggestions
Personally, I like to serve this cake with Korean Strawberry Milk. You may also serve it with your favorite tea or coffee.
However, I think this dessert will impress your guests well on its very own. And it’s not at all that difficult to make!
Storage
Store: The cake can survive at room temperature for about 1-2 days maximum or in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Freeze: Either wrap the sponge cake well with plastic or cut into slices and place it in the container. This sponge cake can last up to 3 months if it’s frozen.
Recipe FAQ
Both types of cake are baked to be light, fluffy, and moist; though the recipes are essentially the same, they take different approaches in the preparation, making them a bit different from each other. For a sponge cake, the air is whipped into the eggs; the foamier they are, the more rise you'll get in the final cake. The Victoria sponge recipes don't require that step and rely instead on baking powder (sometimes baking soda). This reduces the amount of prep time involved.
You can brush a layer of warm preserves such as raspberry preserves, and jams or use glazed strawberries to ensure the strawberries hold their texture for long on the cake. If you don’t have access to any of these options at home, you can always wait till the last moment to add your strawberries. Adding them right before they are to be served, is the best way to ensure that they’re gulped down in their original form.
Avoid over-mixing the batter. Only beat the batter until it’s fluffy. Over-mixing the batter can firstly, give rise to too much-released gluten. Too much gluten can make the cake hard. Secondly, too many air bubbles produced whilst mixing will inevitably burst in the oven and produce a dense cake. Just mix the batter until all the dry ingredients have dissolved well and then stop.
More Sponge Cake Recipes
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Recipe Card
Strawberry Sponge Cake
Equipment
- 2 Cake tins
Ingredients
- 225 g butter , at room temperature
- 225 g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 4 large eggs
- 225 g self-raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- pinch of salt
Vanilla whipped cream
- 200 ml heavy cream , cold
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- ¼ cup icing sugar
- 250 g fresh strawberries , cut into halves
Instructions
To make the cake
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F and line 2 round 20cm cake tins with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter with the sugar in a mixing bowl until fluffy, and then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract.225 g butter, 225 g granulated sugar, 4 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Now, fold in the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Divide it between the 2 cake tins.225 g self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, pinch of salt
- Bake in the oven for 22-25 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
Make the whipped cream
- Pour the cream into a large bowl, add the vanilla and whisk until soft peaks form.200 ml heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- Now, fold in icing sugar.¼ cup icing sugar
Assemble the cake
- Place one of the cakes on a serving plate, spread over the cream, add the strawberries, and then top it with the second cake.250 g fresh strawberries
- Spread the remaining icing and arrange some strawberries on top.
Notes
- Make sure to pat the strawberries dry with paper towels before adding them to the cake; otherwise, if they are wet, the cake may turn out a little soggy.
- I know from experience that using fresh strawberries in baking is way better than frozen ones in taste and texture.
- Self-rising flour can also be made by mixing all-purpose flour with baking powder.
- When selecting strawberries for your cake, make sure to go for bright red, ripe strawberries with shiny skin for the best flavor.
Tessa
Please amend your recipe - you didn't include salt in the ingredients so I wasn't sure how much to add. I just guessed about a teaspoon but it turned out fine.
Beth
We call it strawberry shortcake and it is so delicious.
Cico
The cake is super fluffy and soft! Thanks for sharing the recipe.