Super light and airy Genoise sponge cake, perfect for layer cakes, patisserie and tarts.
Prep Time20 minutesmins
Cook Time35 minutesmins
Servings: 18 inch cake
Ingredients
4Eggs
¾cupWhite Sugar150g
1cupCake Flour130g
3tablespoonVegetable Oil39g
2tablespoonMilk25g
1teaspoonVanilla Extract
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and grease an 8-inch cake pan.
Crack the eggs into a heatproof bowl. Add the sugar and whisk to combine.
4 Eggs, ¾ cup White Sugar
Prepare a bain-marie - simmer a small amount of water in a saucepan and place the heatproof bowl with the eggs and sugar over the top - make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water.
Heat the egg/sugar mixture gently over the bain-marie, whisking constantly until the mixture is warm. The goal is to dissolve the sugar, once it's ready you should be able to rub the mixture between your fingers and it should not feel grainy at all. It should not get hot at any stage, it should just be warm enough to dissolve the sugar.
Once the sugar has dissolved, transfer to your stand mixer and whip the eggs on the highest speed sedding for 5 full minutes.
While it's whipping you can prepare the other ingredients. Sift your flour into a bowl so it's ready to go. For best results, sift the flour twice to make sure it is extra fluffy.
1 cup Cake Flour
Mix together the vegetable oil, milk and vanilla and set aside.
Once the 5 minutes are up, the egg mixture should look very pale and should have at least doubled in volume. If you take the whisk and drizzle some of the egg mixture back onto itself, you should be able to draw a pattern and have it stay there for a few seconds before disappearing. If the pattern disappears immediately, whip for another minute.
Turn your mixer on low and whip slowly for another 10 minutes. This will make the batter more smooth and consistent.
Add the flour to the egg mixture and fold it in carefully. Make sure all the flour is incorporated and not hiding at the bottom of the bowl.
Take a large dollop of the mixture (one scoop with a wooden spoon or spatula) and put it into a separate bowl. Then to that bowl add the liquids we prepared earlier (milk, vegetable oil, vanilla). Mix them together thoroughly. This is called 'sacrificing' the batter - the air will be knocked out of this part of the batter, but it will help the liquids to incorporate into the rest of the batter.
Once totally combined, pour the 'sacrificed' batter back into the main bowl of batter and fold in until combined. Keep folding until the batter reaches the 'ribbon stage'. This means that if you lift your spoon or spatula out of the batter, the batter should run off the spoon steadily in a flowy, ribbon-like motion. If it hasn't reached this stage yet, keep folding gently. Be careful not to overmix though or you will knock too much air out of the batter.
Once the batter reaches the ribbon stage, pour it into your prepared cake pan. Tap the cake pan on the counter a few times to release any large air bubbles.
Bake for 35 minutes. The top will look golden brown and it should bounce back if you touch the top of the cake.
Remove from the oven and bang on the counter a few more times - this will release any additional air bubbles and prevent the cake from collapsing. Turn the cake pan upside down on a cooling rack and let the cake cool like this. Once it is cool enough to touch, remove the cake pan and let it continue to cool completely.