3-Ingredients Sponge Cake Recipe

Tall Italian sponge cake, known as Pan di Spagna. The ingredients, including egg shells, whisk, and flour, are featured in the background.

This Italian sponge cake recipe is made with only 3 ingredients (eggs, sugar, and flour) and flavored with vanilla or lemon zest. It has no baking powder, no butter, no oil, and no dairy! While this cake isn’t hard to make, it requires attention to detail. Get a perfect sponge cake every time with my simple recipe and in-depth tutorial!

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings

Calories 137

Author Elena Tomasi

Ingredients

For a 7-8 inches (18-20 cm) pan:

½ cup + 1½ tablespoon (120 g) granulated sugar
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
a pinch of salt optional
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest or vanilla extract optional
1 cup (120 g) cake flour or plain flour, sifted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 338°F (170°C).
Butter and flour (or spray with baking spray) an 8-inch (20 cm) pan.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, salt, and lemon zest until very fluffy and pale yellow (about 10/15 minutes on medium/high speed).
To test that it has been beaten enough, let a small amount of batter fall into the bowl. If it remains "sitting" on top, it means that it's ready.
Sift the flour on top of the egg mixture, one-third at a time, and fold it gently with a wooden spoon or a spatula just until incorporated. Scrape the spatula from the bottom to catch any pockets of flour and stop mixing when no streaks of flour remain. Do not over-mix or you will deflate the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Don't smooth the top or bang the pan on the counter, leave it as it is!
Bake for 40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (Remember: do not open the oven for the first 30 minutes!)
Turn off the oven but leave the cake inside (keep the door slightly open using a wooden spoon) for 5/10 minutes so it can cool down slowly.
Remove the sponge cake from the oven, let it cool for 10 more minutes, then loosen around the edges with a knife or thin spatula, and flip it on a wire rack upside down (without the pan) to cool completely.

Notes

Eggs - you can use large eggs instead of extra large eggs. Eggs need to be at room temperature. Take them out of the refrigerator ahead of time or soak them for a few minutes in a bowl of warm water.
Flour - Although this cake can be made with all-purpose flour, cake flour or plain flour is recommended.
Oven - I used a conventional oven setting

Storage/Make-ahead - this cake will remain soft for about 2 days if covered in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature. Alternatively, you can freeze it wrapped in plastic wrap for up to three months.

Nutrition fact - Serving: 1 slice = 60 grams

Nutrition