4-Ingredient Oil Sponge Cake! Beginner-friendly step-by-step recipe for making a light 4-ingredient oil sponge cake, a super easy recipe that uses basic pantry ingredients. You just need 4 ingredients, eggs, flour, sugar, and oil.
ABOUT The Recipe
This 4-ingredient oil sponge cake is a variation of the classic European sponge cake called Genoise. Genoise is a light and airy sponge cake and doesn’t use any chemical leavening like baking powder or baking soda. Warming the whole eggs gently with sugar helps whip air into the eggs and sugar mixture. This process makes the batter light and airy.
Genoise usually has melted unsalted butter. But, to make this 4-ingredient sponge cake, I used oil instead of melted butter. Oil helps the cake to rise more and keeps the cake very moist. Oil also makes sponge cake lighter, moister, and a bit more tender. Oil is readily available and cost-effective. And you don’t need to melt it like you melt butter.
Génoise Cake is an Italian sponge cake named after the city of Genoa. It is common in Italian and French cuisine. Also known as Genoese cake or Genovese cake.
WHAT TO DO WITH THIS SPONGE CAKE?
The good news is here. Once you master this cake recipe, you can make a variety of cakes using it.
- You can also make this recipe as cupcakes or a layer cake as well.
- For a simple sweet, sprinkle it with confectioners’ sugar.
- For a sweet treat, serve it with jam, whipped cream, pastry cream, chocolate, or ice cream.
- This cake base takes on moisture from fruit, frostings, liqueurs, and syrups well. So, you can make fancy layer cakes as you like.
Two Layer Cakes to make with this Sponge Cake
This cake base takes on moisture from fruit, frostings, liqueurs, and syrups well. So, you can make fancy layer cakes as you like.
4 INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED
- Eggs: Whole eggs
- Sugar: White granulated sugar
- Flour: Cake flour
- Oil: Rice oil (Vegetable oil or Coconut oil)
TIPS FOR MAKING THE Best SPONGE CAKE
Making the Cake Batter
- Before starting this cake recipe, make sure you have organized all the necessary ingredients.
- Be careful not to heat the egg mixture too much. You only want the batter to be warm to the touch to dissolve the sugar. It will also speed up the mixing process. Too hot and you’ll cook your eggs.
- You must whisk continuously the egg mixture or you will end up with sweetened scrambled eggs.
- You need to beat the egg mixture until it is pale light and foam and it reaches the ribbon stage. When you lift the whisk over the mixture, the batter should fall slowly. It should form a ribbon that will hold its shape for a few minutes.
- Add the flour. Very gently fold it into the eggs with a large rubber spatula. Continue folding until the flour has disappeared. Be careful not to over-mix and deflate the air bubbles you have worked to build. If you over-mix it, your cake will be too dense and it will not rise.
- Mix oil with a few spoonfuls of batter until well incorporated. Then mix it gently with the rest of the batter. Otherwise, it can cause your cake to bake unevenly.
Baking the Cake
- Make sure to preheat the oven before placing your cake in the oven.
- Be careful not to overbake the cake.
- When done, the cake should be golden-brown and well-risen. It should feel springy to the touch. The cake should just start to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Test the cake with a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it is clean, then your cake is done.
- Baking time depends on your oven and the type of pan you’re using. You will need to adjust the baking times accordingly.
- Do not open the oven door until you are certain the cake has baked enough, or it will collapse.
MORE RECIPES TO TRY
4-ingredient sponge cake with oil
step-by-step recipe
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 18-cm round cake
equipment
You will need an 18-cm Round Cake Pan
Ingredients
3 large eggs, at room temperature
80 g granulated sugar
100 g cake flour, double sifted
2 tablespoons rice oil (coconut/vegetable oil)
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 170˚C and sift the flour.
Grease and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with baking parchment.
Crack the eggs into a large bowl
Fill a larger bowl with water heated to 50 to 60°C.
Place the bowl with eggs over it, so that the bottom is submerged in the water. Heat the mixture until it is warm to the touch.
Beat the eggs with an electric mixer at low speed for about 1 minute.
Gradually add the sugar.
Continue beating on high speed for about 8 minutes. And then reduce the speed to low and beat for 2 minutes or so.
The mixture should be pale yellow and reach the ribbon stage. (Remove the bowl from the bowl of warm water.)
Sift the cake flour directly over the egg mixture.
Gently fold in the sifted flour with a spatula, while rotating the bowl, so that it is fully incorporated.
Take a few spoonfuls of this mixture
Stir it into the oil, and mix thoroughly
And add it back, folding lightly to incorporate
Very gently fill the prepared cake pan with the batter.
Rap the bottom of the pan against your work surface, to release any trapped air bubbles.
Reduce the temperature to 160℃ and bake for about 30 min.
Test the doneness of the cake and remove it from the oven. Cut the parchment paper if needed.
Turn the cake upside-down on a wire rack and let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the pan.
Now re-invert back onto the cooling rack and let it cool completely.
Remove it from the pan and then remove the parchment paper.
Allow it to cool completely before cutting. (cover it with a cloth so that it doesn’t dry out.)
You can slice it into two or three layers. It’s up to you whether you cut off the browned surfaces.
You are now ready to create any of your favorite layer cakes.
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4-Ingredient Sponge Cake with Oil
Equipment
- 18-cm round baking pan
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs at room temperature
- 80 g granulated sugar
- 100 g cake flour double sifted
- 2 tablespoons rice oil or coconut/vegetable oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170˚C and sift the flour.
- Grease and line the bottom and sides of the cake pan with baking parchment.
- Crack the eggs into a large bowl.
- Fill a larger bowl with water heated to about 50 to 60°C. Place the bowl with eggs over it, so that the bottom is submerged in the water. Heat the mixture until it is warm to the touch.
- Start beating the eggs with an electric mixer at low speed. Gradually add sugar while beating the eggs. Continue beating on high speed for about 8 minutes.
- Reduce the speed to low and beat for a further 2 minutes until the batter becomes foamy. The mixture should be pale yellow, almost white, and reach the ribbon stage. (Remove the bowl from the warm water.)
- Sift the cake flour directly over the egg mixture. Gently fold in the sifted flour with a spatula, while rotating the bowl, so that it is fully incorporated.
- Take a few spoonfuls of this mixture and stir it into the oil, mix thoroughly and add it back, folding lightly to incorporate.
- Very gently fill the prepared cake pan with the batter. Rap the bottom of the pan against your work surface, to release any trapped air bubbles.
- Reduce the temperature to 160℃ and bake for about 30 minutes until the top is light brown and the skewer comes out clean.
- Turn the cake upside-down on a wire rack and let the cake cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Re-invert back onto the cooling rack and let it cool completely.
- Remove it from the pan and then remove the parchment paper. Allow it to cool completely before cutting. Cover it with a clean cloth so that it doesn’t dry out.
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