Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake

a slice of vanilla cake with raspberries and cream on a plate

4.55 from 228 reviews

Vanilla Genoise Sponge Cake

Light as a feather Genoise (vanilla sponge cake). This cake will absorb lots of syrup for an extra layer of flavor and moisture. I like to add a bit of rum to the syrup, but you can use vanilla, Grand Marnier or whatever flavor you'd like. This classic cake is especially delicious with whipped cream, mousse and/or fresh fruit

Prep Time30

Bake Time30

Total Time1

Servings:12 servings

Ingredients

4 ounces unsalted butter (½ cup)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
8 large eggs (room temperature)
8 ounces granulated sugar (1 cup)
¼ teaspoon table salt
7 ¼ ounces cake flour (1 ½ cups plus 2 tablespoons, see note)

Assembly

1 ½ cups simple syrup (flavored with liquor or extract of your choice)
Frosting of your choice

Instructions

Line the bottom of two 8" cake pans with a parchment round, or butter and flour the pan. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (don't use the convection setting).
Melt the butter in a small saucepan, cook until the milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and become brown. Drain the butter into a medium bowl, leaving the milk solids in the pan. Stir the vanilla into the browned butter and set aside.
Put the eggs and sugar with the salt in a mixer bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water (don't let the bowl touch the hot water) and whisk until the eggs are slightly warmer than body temperature. Put the bowl onto the mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high speed until the eggs are tripled in volume.
Sift half the flour over the egg mixture and use a balloon whisk to fold, repeat with the remaining flour. Whisk 1 cup of the batter into the browned butter to lighten the butter, then whisk in another cup of batter.
Fold the butter mixture into the batter just until combined. Don't over mix or you'll loose some volume in the cake. Divide the batter evenly between the pans.
Bake until the cake springs back when pressed in the center, about 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
Cool completely before filling and frosting. Trim the top of the cake to level, if desired, split each cake into two layers. Brush the layers generously with syrup before filling & icing.

Video

Notes

If measuring the flour by volume use the “dip & sweep” method. That is, dip the measuring cup into the flour bin, overfill it, then sweep away the excess.

The cake can be held at room temperature for a day or frozen for up to 1 month. You can freeze the cake layers with or without filling and frosting.

Nutrition