Perfect Chocolate Sponge Cake
Moist and perfectly leveled – this Chocolate Sponge Cake recipe is the one to have. Find out my tips and tricks to perfect sponge cake every time.
If you’re looking for the Vanilla version of this Chocolate Sponge Cake click HERE.
There’s not a recipe I get asked for more often than a regular sponge cake. A lot of people have a hard time with this simple, but delicious classic that is part of so many delicious cake recipes.
What is Sponge Cake made with?
Traditionally sponge cake is made with eggs, sugar and flour and nothing more. For a novice baker, that recipe requires a bit of finesse as you need to know what the eggs are supposed to look like once they’re whipped to the proper consistency, otherwise the cake might not rise, or just deflate as you remove it from the oven.
To solve the problem I have modified that recipe to create a foolproof version of the classic.
The recipe that I am sharing today, is the delicious Chocolate Cake version of the original vanilla sponge. It comes out perfect every time and can be used as part of any chocolate layered cake, like this Kiev Cake, or Chocolate Prune Cake, or this Cherry Marble Cake, or my family’s favorite Hazelnut Meringue Cake. Just thinking about them make me want to have a slice, RIGHT NOW!
The chocolate cake uses baking powder to ensure a consistent rise and melted butter for just the slightest amount of moisture that a cake might lose while baking.
I hope the step by step photos and thorough instructions give you the confidence you need to attempt this awesome cake.
There you have it, folks! Nothing too complicated with consistent results! Give it a try and let me know how it went!
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Chocolate Sponge Cake Ingredients:
- eggs, large, room temperature
- pinch of salt
- sugar
- unsalted butter, melted
- all-purpose
- cocoa powder
- baking powder
Equipment:
- One 8-inch round Cake Pans (8-Inch x 2-Inch)
- Foil & non-stick baking spray or Parchment Paper Liners for Round Cake Pans 8-inch diameter
- Cake Strips (Optional- it helps bake level cakes)
How to make the Chocolate Sponge Cake
- Prep: Gather your ingredients and measure them before starting.
- Sift or combine together the flour, cocoa powder, and the baking powder together.
- Melt the butter.
- For easy cleanup and removal of the cake, line the baking pan with foil and spray with nonstick spray.
Alternatively you can cut out a parchment paper circle to place on the bottom of the pan as well. Buying the pre-cut parchment circles can also be a good idea (I have used these Paper Liners for Round Cake Pans 8 inch diameter, 24 pack
that I bought on amazon.com)
- Wet the cake strip and fasten it around the bottom of the cake pan. This will guarantee an even rise, without a dome. I have been using the cake strips for years now and all of my cakes come out perfectly leveled.
- Whisk the eggs until foamy, then add the sugar and continue whipping for about 15 minutes.
- When you lift the whisk from the mixture the ribbon should not disappear right away. Not whipping the egg mixture long enough will yield a dense cake.
- Add the flour mixture in halves and fold it in carefully. Next, add the butter and fold it until completely incorporated.
For this amount of batter, you can either use one baking pan and then split the 2-inch tall baked cake into two 1 inch tall layers later, or you can bake it in two separate cake pans at the same time which will give you two separate 1-inch tall cake layers.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan and swirl the pan quickly back and forth a couple of times to even out the batter.
I really like that I do not have to waste any cake by cutting off the dome. In theory, you can make your own by making a strip out of a kitchen towel, wetting it, wrapping the cake pan in it and then pinning the ends with a safety pin, but I didn’t want to go through the hassle so I just ordered the Cake Strips
on Amazon.
Baking the Chocolate Cake-
- Bake in a preheated to 350F oven, in the center of the middle rack for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not open the oven sooner than 15 minutes into the baking process. Shut the oven door slowly, not to disturb the rise of the cake.
- Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and allow to sit inside the pan for 5 minutes.
- Then, invert the cake straight onto the cooling rack, peel off the foil or parchment paper and allow to cool completely before using it in cakes.
How to split the cake into two layers
- To split the cake into two even layers, put the palm of your left hand (if you’re right-handed) on top of the cake; with your right hand score the side of the cake with a long serrated knife halfway up the height of the cake all around the side about 1/2 an inch deep into the cake. Continue to rotate the cake with your left hand and cutting about 1 inch into the cake; keep doing this until the cake is split into two separate layers.
Try these cakes using this Chocolate Sponge Cake:
- Chocolate Kiev Cake – Sponge cake with layers of walnuts, meringue and dulce de leche.
- Prague Cake – Chocolate sponge cake with a chocolate custard buttercream.
- Marble Cake – Chocolate and yellow sponge cake with cherry juice and a sour cream frosting.
Perfect Chocolate Sponge Cake
Chocolate Sponge Cake - Fluffy, moist and perfectly leveled – this sponge cake recipe is the one to have. Find out my tips and tricks to perfect sponge cake every time.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, large, room temperature , large, room temperature
- 1/8 tsp salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Dry Ingredients
- ¾ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- ¼ cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 1½ tsp baking powder
Also:
- One or two 8 inch round Cake Pans, 2-3 inches tall (I have this 8"x3" and this 8"x2 pan)
- Foil & non-stick baking spray or Parchment Paper Liners for Round Cake Pans 8 inch diameter
- Cake Strips, optional
Instructions
-
Gather your ingredients and measure them before starting.
Sift the 3/4 cup flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, and 1 ½ tsp baking powder together. Melt 2 tbsps of butter.
-
Prep: For easy cleanup and removal of the cake, line an 8"x2"-inch baking pan (Note 1) with foil or parchment paper and spray with nonstick spray. Wet the cake strip and fasten it around the bottom of the cake pan.
Preheat oven to 350°F with the rack in the center of the oven.
-
Whip eggs: Add 4 eggs and a pinch of salt to a mixer bowl fitted with a whisk attachment and whip the eggs until slightly foamy. Slowly pour 3/4 cup sugar into the eggs and continue whipping for about 15 minutes or until the mixture forms a ribbon that doesn't disappear for about 3 seconds when you lift off the whisk.
-
Fold in flour: Add the flour mixture into the whipped eggs in halves and carefully fold until almost no streaks of flour are seen. (To fold: use a large spoon or spatula and go under the batter, then bring it over as you invert the spoon to pour the batter on top). Do not over-mix or the cake will be dense.
-
Add the melted butter and carefully fold until all butter is incorporated. Do not overmix.
-
Pour the batter into the lined and greased baking pan and quickly swirl the pan back and forth couple of times to even out the batter.
-
Bake in a preheated to 350°F oven, on the middle rack for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Do not open the oven door sooner than 15 minutes into the baking process. Shut the oven door slowly, not to disturb the rise of the cake.
-
Cool: Once the cake is baked, remove it from the oven and allow to sit inside the pan for 5 minutes before removing it.
Then, remove it from the pan and invert it straight onto the cooling rack, then peel off the foil or parchment paper and allow to cool completely before using it in cakes.
How to split the cake into two layers
-
To split the cake into two even layers, put the palm of your left hand (if you’re right handed) on top of the cake; with you right hand score the side of the cake with a long serrated knife halfway up the height of the cake all around the side about ½ an inch deep into the cake, then keep rotating the cake with your left hand and cut about 1 inch into the cake; keep rotating and slowly cutting deeper inside the cake until your cake is split into two separate layers.
Recipe Notes
- NOTE 1:
For an extra tall cake, double the recipe and use one 8"x3" round baking pan. The batter should fill the pan about 3/4ths full. Once it bakes the cake will be level with the top of the pan's edges.Baking two recipes in one pan will yield a denser chocolate sponge than baking it in two separate pans as the weight of the cake tends to weight it down.
- For this amount of batter, you can either use one baking pan and then split the 2-inch tall baked cake into two 1" tall layers later, or you can bake it in two separate 8-inch pans at the same time – this will give you two separate 1-inch tall cake layers.
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Hi, can I make this cake recipe in a 1/2 or 1/4 sheet pan? If so, would the oven temp and time need to be adjusted? Thank you.
The oven temp would stay the same, but the bake time would be shorter. And yes, you can bake it in a sheet pan 🙂
Hi there, congratulations for sharing this delicious recipe.
Greeting
I am very interested in cooking, sweets and pies of all kinds, so I want to learn all these things in a practical and healthy way through your esteemed site
perfect chocolate sponge cakes made my day. Thanks a lot! for sharing this beautiful recipe with us. I have tried it my home and i enjoyed a lot!
My son asked me to make him chocolate pinata cake for his 8th birthday party. I have used this recipe to make the sponges and it worked very well. Thank you for this recipe. The sponges came out very fluffy and moist, vell risen and tasty.
That’s great! Happy Birthday to your son!
Would this be good as a layer cake with chocolate creme fraiche frosting? If so, do I need to put any simple syrup between the layers? Thanks!
I have tried this delicious chocolate sponge cake recipe at my home. This was so much tasty and my family like it. Thank you for this an amazing blog.
It looks amazing. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
How many cakes does this make?
Thanks.
You can bake it in a single layer, or in two separate tins for two thinner cake layers.
The sponge is awesome. I have one question, i have to make 2 tier chocolate cake with chocolate ganache of 15 inches. Can i use this sponge for that? Thank you
I loved this recipe. Just baked this cake and the family couldn’t keep their hands off it.
Especially like this recipe since it doesn’t use a lot of all purpose flour and sugar like a lot of other recipes out there.
Lots of love from India 🙂
Happy to hear your feedback! Thank you, Apoorva!
I made this cake today snd used it as a base for my black forest cake. The cake was amazing! Super soft and delicious. From now on I’ll be using this recipe whenever I make chocolate cake. And I’m gonna try your other recipes too. Thanks a ton.
Hi Priyanka,
love hearing your feedback! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for the lovely recipe.
No problem! Glad you liked it!
Just perfect….that’s all I can say for this recipe 🙂
Please can you give the amounts in grams ?
It looks a great recipe.
Click the word “Metric” under the list of the ingredients in the recipe card and the recipe will be converted to grams 🙂
Great recipe.
Super easy and very light. Delicious
Hi. How do i adjust ingredients for 6 inch pan?
Hi Valerie,
To figure out how to increase or decrease the recipe for the cake pan size needed I do this (we will use this recipe as an example):
Figure out what the are of the 8 inch circle is (since this cake is for an 8 inch pan) – it’s about 50 square inches.
Figure out what the area of a 6 inch circle is (since this is what you need) – it’s about 28 square inches.
Now you need to divide the 28 by 50 to figure out proportion of the recipe.
So – 28in / 50in = 56%
So to make enough batter to fit into a 6 inch pan as opposed to an 8 inch pan you need to make 56% of the given recipe.
Since you can’t really divide the eggs like that, I’d make half (50%) of this recipe for one 6″x3″ pan.
The bake time will change and you will have to adjust it accordingly. There’s no formula to figure out the exact time. It should be less than what it is for the 8 inch pan. I wouldn’t even check/open the oven until you can smell the cake in your kitchen – this is vague, but it’s a starting point.
Hi Marina. Thank you for your advice. I will give it a try soon.
I made this recipe gluten free using Bob’s Red Mill 1-1 flour and it was perfect. I turned it into a chocolate tres leches cake.
Thank you Netti for sharing that! I bet this is going to be very useful for people who want to use gluten-free flour.
Hello, I’m going to bake this cake for my little sister the day before. So, if I put simple syrup and then chocolate ganash, and put it in the fridge overnight, will it harden? I want a soft, fluffy cake.
This recipe looks fantastic! I’m going to bake it for my birthday tomorrow. I just am wondering if it is unsweetened cocoa powder? This comment probably won’t get an answer in time, as i am making the cake tomorrow, but i thought it would be worth a try. I’m assuming it is unsweetened, and i will go on that assumption, and hopefully it turns out well?
Also, I would like to use this fantastic recipe on my blog, along with your yellow sponge cake recipe. i hope that is alright? i will credit you of course! I would love to have you check it out, at quaranteen13.wordpress.com. Thank you so much!
Hi Pearl!
Yes, the cocoa powdered is typically unsweetened and that is what this recipe calls for.
You’re welcome to use the recipe, just make sure to write it in your own words and have a clickable link with the credit to this page.
Thank you so much, and good luck!
This lookes easy to make. 🙂 I was reading the reviews and you recommended it should have a syrup or a frosting to add to moisture. I was thinking of doing a whipped cream and fresh strawberry filling and also frosting it like that on the outside. Do you think this would be okay? Or would you recommend something else to add?
Hi Leslie,
if you plan to add whip cream, and fresh strawberries, I would cut the cake into 3 equal layers, then layer it with a little bit of simple syrup (1:1 ratio of sugar and warm water) and then layer it with whip cream and strawberry filling. I think it would be wonderful! Make sure to cover the outside too as the cake will dry out if you do not. Refrigerate for at least a couple hours or overnight for best flavor.
Would this work with chocolate buttercream?
Thank you
Sure, just make sure to soak the layers with some kind of syrup to make the cake a little more moist.
The cake looked magnificent, but sadly it was dry. I shall cut probably 6 minutes of the cooking time. I have found this new oven cooks cakes quicker than my previous one. I don’t doubt that it will be moist with less cooking. Cheers.
Hi Chandra,
This cake is not meant to be very moist like a traditional American chocolate cake. This cake is more to be used in combination with a filling or some apples, both of which will impart some moisture into the cake and make it more moist. If you do bake it less because it was overbaked the first time make sure to test it with a toothpick (that should come out clean) before taking it out of the oven.
I frosted the cake and kept it in the fridge and the cake dried out. The sponge was too dry
Hi Zoya,
Anytime you’re making a sponge cake like this into a layer cake you need to be using a moist frosting to make the cake nice and moist, or spray each layer with some kind of syrup to add the additional moisture.
Dried out cake just means that one of those things didn’t happen.
If you want some ideas for good frosting combinations with this cake see the choices I have share right before the recipe card at the end of the post.
Hi, I tried this recipe today. Cake rose perfectly in the oven and was spongy but after taking out from the oven, it deflated. Followed the recipe exactly but cant understand what went wrong. Would appreciate a quick response since I need to bake it for someone’s birthday next week
Hi Zoya,
Anytime a baked cake deflates when out of the oven you need to recheck how you check for doneness. If you remove the cake out of the oven before it had a chance to bake through it will deflate because the cake structure is too liquid to hold itself up.
Next time insert a toothpick into the middle of the cake to make sure it’s baked through. If the toothpick comes out clean – your cake is baked through.
Do not open the oven before your kitchen starts to smell like cake. I know this sounds odd, but someone shared this tip with me awhile ago and it has served me well.
Good luck!
Thanks!
Updating late but I have to tell you that it turned out amazing! I made Nutella Ferrero rocher cake and the sponge was just perfect with all the frosting!!!
This chocolate sponge cake was great to use as a tres leches cake. My son asked for a chocolate tres leches cake and every recipe I came across asked for box cake mix which didnt seem right for the occasion. So when I came across this one I had to try it, and it was a success.
Thank you so much for sharing! I love the idea of doing a chocolate version of the tres leches cake!
I have never been more nervous, making a cake (specified to me by my ten year old grandson, ‘Narni I would like a light chocolate sponge’, I had no time for it to fail, as I started late. It was a brilliant success, thank you. I am grateful for the tip regarding leaving the ribbon shape for three minutes. I had to give it an extra five minutes of beating to achieve this. Not yet eaten, the big test, but it certainly looks magnificent. I shall return with a score for tase! Cheers
Thank you so much for your review Chandra!
Hi there, what would happen if I used cake flour in this recipe?
Hi Mari,
I haven’t tried replacing it, but reading up on it it sounds like it should work.
Its a perfect recipe. It gas a very rich taste and you don’t feel full so quickly. Can you tell me how many cupcakes can this chocolate sponge cake recipe make?
Hi Rabia!
Thank you for sharing your feedback! You can make about 12-16 cupcakes with this recipe.
Worked perfectly. Very tasty. I replaced 1/4 cup sugar with Cadburys drinking chocolate. Very nice.
Your recipes are simple but Grand output! I made chocolate cake twice in a row. Love it simply.
So happy to hear you liked the cake! Thank you Hema!
My daughter and me are fans of your cake recipes. We made a regular sponge cake and it turned out awesome! Now I’m making chocolate sponge cake. Thanks a lot Marina!
Yummy mouth-watering recipe. I am definitely going to try it at my home. Please post more recipe like this. Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Hi
I made the chocolate one layer sponge cake in an 8 inch pan and as it cooked it rose to the sides of the pan. It was very difficult to get out of the pan even though I sprayed the pan and parchment lining with non stick spray. I think this recipe would do better using two pans. My cake came out in two pieces top and bottom but managed to salvage it. It tastes great however.
Thanks
Jim
Hi Jim!
Thank you for your comment and feedback.
From what you’re saying it sounds like you were using a 2-inch baking pan. In the recipe, I explain that the cake should be baked in either one 8-inch round, 3-inch tall cake pan, or two 8-inch round, 2-inch tall cake pans. If you use either one of those options the cake should only rise to about 3/4th of the cake pan height. Hope this makes sense.
I’ll add links to the pans that I use – maybe this will help other users in the future too.
I tried this recipe for the first time today,
and found the recipe to be easy and cake baked nicely in the oven, however; it deflated before it sat for the five minutes before flipping it over out of the pan.
I followed the directions and did not test it until the 25 minutes timer went off. It was not quite done so I had to let it bake another 3 minutes before the tooth pick came out clean. I have baked Angel cakes for years and find them to be more delicate, so I am not sure what happened today.
I would appreciate some technique feedback. I experience very slow mixing of the flour into the whipped egg mix to avoid getting raw flour pockets in the batter. Does this sound like the usual conditions or maybe the eggs are whipped too stiff?
Hi Rocky,
I don’t think there’s a way to beat the eggs too stiff. So however long it takes to mix the flour in, is fine. Just make sure not to mix it to vigorously as not to deflate the batter and it should be fine.
2 tbsp butter in gm?
About 30g
If I wanted to make this as a rectangle, how would I modify?
It really depends on the size of your rectangle.
You need to figure out the surface area of an 8-inch circle, then figure out what the surface area of your rectangle is.
Then you divide the surface area of the rectangle by the surface area of the 8 inch circle. This will give you how many times to increase this recipe by, to still achieve the same heigh cake.
I am loving this recipe coz it’s interesting
The best ever sponge cake recipe. I have found my go-to one. I can go on and on praising this recipe but in one word- AWESOME. Baked it as a birthday cake base and added chocolate cream frosting.
Wish I could add some photos of my baked cake.
Thank you Marina for the recipe
Hi Sukti!
Yes! Love hearing this! Thank you for your comment and the star rating!
Perfect sponge cake. Both the variation, with and without coco-powder turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Sindhu!
I’m a first time Baker … Thanks to you , no more first timer !
Lovely spongy tasty chocolate cake .
Just plain sponge cakes are our favourite. We’ll , henceforth, make at home and eat .
God bless you , happy new year and have a great one ahead .
Mine has started with a perfect, tasty and a spongy chocolate cake . Feel Blessed .
My son is clicking snaps of his favourite homemade chocolate cake !!!!
Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m happy that my recipe was worthy enough to be your first!
I love baking so much and would like to join the family.
Hehe, welcome in!
can i use salted butter
That would be fine.
This query and the response to this, helped me to go ahead and make the delicious first cake. No lessons No chapters , just the recipe from this blog helped me. Thanks guys .
I always make my cake strips with foil and paper towels. You just measure how much foil it will take plus about an inch to go around your pan, then you do the same with the paper towels. Lay your foil down and wet the paper towel then slightly ring it out and then you unwrinkle it and place it on top of the foil. Then fold the foil into a strip folding the foil towards the paper towel. Then you just wrap it around your pan and secure it with the ends by folding them. You can get about 6 or 7 uses out of each strip, just make sure to wet and ring out the paper towel before each use.
That’s a great tip, thank you for sharing Emma!
When I doubled the recipe top of cake burnt but inside it was uncooked which didn’t happened when I didn’t done the doubling.what can be the reason for cake burning on the top.plz reply as I am new in baking.
I have made us recipe and came out excellent .plz explain how to double the recipe to make more
Hi Sarika,
On the recipe card change the servings amount from 6 to 12 to double the recipe.
When I doubled the recipe top of cake burnt but inside it was uncooked which didn’t happened when I didn’t done the doubling.what can be the reason for cake burning on the top.plz reply as I am new in baking.
If you increase the amount of batter per one pan, you have to increase the Baking time.
When you increased the amount of the batter, it rose higher, and therefor closer to the top of the oven where things burn easier.
To prevent this from happening, you should not double the recipe if you are not baking in two separate baking pans, or if you don’t have a larger diameter pan.
If your cake ever starts to burn on the top before the inside is baked, put a flat piece of foil on top of the cake and continue baking until the inside is baked through and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Hi Heather,
What cake did you use the chocolate cake layers in?
The Chocolate Sponge Cake is not meant to be eaten as is, even though it is not bad, and many actually do.
It’s meant to be layered with some cream and made into a layer cake.
Wow. Awesome!
Followed directions exactly. Turned out great.
I have never attempted a sponge cake before. Did it upon request for my partner because she loved sponge cake with devon custard as a child. ( Canned Devon Custard is ok, but I am sure I can do better my self). Thank you.
Hello A.J,
Devon Custard sounds great! Thank you for sharing your feedback!
Would this recipe work for a yule log type cake?
Thank you.
Yes, very much so. Just pour it into a jelly roll kind of pan and bake.
I enjoy your simple recipe. Do keep me up to date
Hi,
I tried the recepie the exact way as u said but my cake came out turning bitter Im happy with the overall texture of the spongyness but the taste is very bitter
Hi Priyanka,
It sounds like your cocoa powder might’ve been unusually bitter or something like that, since there’s no other ingredients in this recipe that can cause bitterness in the cake. What kind of cocoa powder did you use?
Used this for black forest cake and it was perfect. The cake was perfectly leveled. I just wet a towel and tied it on the pan. I used other recipes before but this is the first time that the towel trick actually worked. I wonder why!
Love this recipe!! Foolproof every time!! I’ve used this recipe to create so many layer cakes that are brushed with syrup and then frosted with whipped cream, the cakes soak up beautifully and stay moist for days!!
O.K. Marina. I had another Coconut Cake order due Sunday. I like my Coconut Cakes very light due to the coconut pastry cream that I use inside.
I decided to try this in the plain Sponge. Girl…your awesome!! I typically stick with Gretchen’s sponge cake recipe from Gretchen’s Bakery.
Now let me say hers great but the fact that yours not only taste good, rose JUST LIKE THE CHOCOLATE did…. But easier….. Baby, I don’t know why I would go
Thank you Mrs. C.J Johnson, I really appreciate your review!
Sorry, about how that review ended. My phone almost made me hurl it cross the room. I was experiencing difficulty typing what I did (my text kept ‘pausing’…. (aaarrrrrggghhhh) and then the whole text disappeared. Well, I won’t club you over the head any longer with my excitement but I if you don’t mind I want to finish what I was trying to say.
While, I do love Gretchen’s Sponge recipe…It would be pointless for me to continue with its use. This is much MUCH….easier like I said but the other reason is, I made these the night before, cooled them completely & wrapped them up tightly. On assembling the next day the client only wanted a 2-layer but because they rode so high… I took off about a quarter inch.
Now–not only were they just as soft the next day but my eyes were surprised with a very nice ‘porous’ cake! In fact more porous (I sure hope I spelled that word correctly because it sure looks wrong) than the chocolate. Texture inside very soft….. nice. The only suffering I have with this is I like my Coconut Cakes all-white. But the 8 yolks can’t afford me that. Sometimes sacrifice is good.
This is excellent.
Spongy & porous— meant they would definitely love and welcome me ‘syruping’ my layers.
We know sponges & genoise can be drier than others (genoise more so for me) and I will always ‘syrup them’ but those two ‘unsurped’ 1/4th layers (I doubled recipe and also added a minor addition of coconut emulsion to the eggs and oil mixture after it had tripled in volume) were moist for a sponge on its own. Very tasty and went great with my coffee. My sister love it!
I know young one… I sure talk a lot but in the words of Matt Downey in character in ‘Tropic Thunder’ – – – – lol… “I’m serious bout my foods”!
Anyway, you are my ‘little sponge cake fairy’!!!
When I get a chance I will be trying your ‘Birds Milk’. That beauty just makes me scream…… “GET IN MY BELLY”!!!!!.
Austin Powers. I know. I know…… I watch wayyyyy toooooo many movies.
1 cup of flour equals how many gms of flour?
about 130 grams.
Ma’am, I don’t know you but I just wanted to stop by and let your know. I take my baking extremely serious. I am capable of baking sponges but I have only used my go to the basic yellow sponge. I needed a chocolate sponge and saw your post and decided after reading through the recipe—to give it a shot.
Look here, as long as you keep recipes like this in your pocket or stuffed in your brassiere—I will follow you to the ends of the earth for!! You hear me?!! For your recipes. I surely will.
FANTASTIC!!!
I like huge cakes so I doubled your recipe with no problem at all and the layers rose just ‘ab—so-lu–tely’– beautiful! Once cooled, I ended up with (2) 9 inch rounds with a 2 1/4 in height (yes that’s right) on both. I was in pure heaven.
The only thing I did different was sub out 2 T of the my ‘H’ regular cocoa for 2 T of my ‘H Special Dark’ for a deeper chocolate flavor. Other than that everything remained as written. I didn’t even use my baking strips. Honestly, I was too dang lazy to reach into the cabinet to get them.
I was worried about that little ‘dimpled’ pucker in your cake picture but I think it was just pulled a little to soon. After I trying this recipe I know dang well you can bake.
Anyway, I just wanted to tell you how happy I was with it. This was for a special occasion a dinner and dessert auction and it was 1 out of 2 cakes I put in– to raise funds for our youth department.
This made a 1 beautiful, fluffy, grand Black Forrest (non-alky of course). I may have to try the plain version for my Giant Coconut Cream due this Sunday. I’m gonna have to work this out though calculation wise because I need two 10’s.
Anyway, you are the best girl. I don’t comment often even on good recipes but this was one of the best. And yes…I’m watching you to see what you have next.
GOD Bless you!!!!
Your comment… man.. it just makes me weep with joy, I’m so excited to hear how much you like this recipe! Thank you so much for making my entire day Mrs. C.J Johnson!
Oh young-lady… I meant EVERY written word.
My Ole’ Wise Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 9:10 “Whatever your hands find to do–do it with all your might”.
Gifts are given by GOD and that includes baking.
People may find it trivial but done right and more importantly with love–You can bless tha’ world baby. Don’t mean to get preachy but—Remember that.
You certainly blessed me. And then I ‘paid it forward’ and blessed someone by your recipe and my own components. Resulting in a gorgeous Black Forrest Cake!
That’s how gifts work and that’s how HE intends them to work. Right? Rigggght. Providence.
Keep doin’ what you love Marina. You do it very…very…well.
You sure have a way with words Mrs. C.J. Johnson! Your comments are definitely a blessing to me. Thank you so much for your kind words and blessings.
May God bless you dear!
Lovely recipe
I tried out came out very well
Thanks alot
Thanks Waje for your feedback!
I am no cake expert but this cake is excellent. I have children and after some intense experimenting, this is the one they think is best for their birthdays. The key is whisking those eggs properly at the start. We finished it with chocolate ganache and apricot jam. Thanks for such an excellent and sensible guide.
What an incredible review! Thanks Guy!
This is really perfect choice of chocolate cake. Thanks for sharing it!
Thank you Iqra!
I am one to attest that this recipe yields a really good and moist cake! I love it so much!
Thanks so much for your feedback Sanna!
Thanks for the detailed and easy to follow recipe. I made this in a single 21cm round cake tin and it made a delicious, light and fluffy chocolate sponge cake. I will definitely add this my go-to cake list.
Thanks Scott!
Can I use unsweetened chocolate baking bars for this recipe, instead of cocoa powder?
I think that would alter the texture of the cake and therefor can not recommend using the baking bars in this particular recipe. Cocoa powder is the best here.
Is the sugar in powder or solid
This recipe uses granulated sugar.
I tried this out this past weekend and it came out perfect. Pretty light and tasty. Actually added a hint of cayenne pepper to the mix for a slight kick. Cause we’re crazy that way 🙂
I was disappointed mywith a different sponge recipe cake I made yesterday so I tried this one. This was much better. The butter added makes a difference. I will say that your recipe says 20 minutes at 350. I really can’t imagine having this cake bake in 20 minutes, especially with baking strips. I opened the oven at 20 minutes and checked it with a toothpick and it was hardly 1/2 baked. Sadly by opening the oven at 20 minutes it cause my cake to fall a bit so it was not as fluffy as it could have been. I will try it again as the light and fluffy chocolate flavor makes it worth it.
I am wondering if it is possible to add a wee bit more butter? Would it be safe?
Hi Allison,
thank you so much for your feedback!
When you bake this recipe in two 9 inch round pans, 20 minutes is how long it takes to bake. If you are baking the batter in a single round pan, it will take longer.
can i steam this recipe?..i dont have oven…i would love to make this for my kids but im not sure if it will work by just steaming ☺ thank u
I baked this cake today as I was glad to see a recipe with less butter and wanted to see how it would come out. It’s lovely! I was in a rush so didn’t whisk the eggs that long but it still worked out, I also used far less sugar and it’s still sweet and tasty. Thanks for the recipe, & ps thought you might like to know that this page is very slow on my phone to move & scroll- though most blogs are really!
Hello! Do you have other variations of this recipe for different sized cake pans? I am making 14″, 10″, and 6″ rounds. Thank you!
Hi Pearl,
No, I do not have any other variations, but anytime you need to increase or decrease the size of the cake you should calculate the area of the cake circle in the recipe, then find out the area of the cake circle you need and multiply or divide the cake recipe accordingly.
So if you google “area of a 9 inch circle”, you’ll get this – the area of the 9-inch round is pi r-squared= 3.14 x 4.5 x 4.5 = 63.
Then you google “Area of a 14 inch circle” and it will tell you that it is 154.
That means that you’ll need roughly 2.5 portions of the recipe (of the 9 inch cake) for a 14 inch circle.
Then you can do the same with the other sizes.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three
emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Many thanks!
Hi Aneka,
Unfortunately I myself can not unsubscribe you, but you can do so by clicking “unsubscribe” at the bottom of one of those emails. I’m sorry for the inconvenience this has caused 🙁
Mmmmm yummmm yo gotta make this after Passover wonder if a vanilla cream frosting recipe would work gurl ur such a talented cooking and baking gem btw do u give baking classes online would love to take a class of yours just to try
Can i use this cakemail for blackforest cake
Would you clarify what “cakemail” is?
Have you tried using cake flour instead of AP flour?
Cake flour is usually more expensive and I don’t typically keep it on hand that’s why I posted the recipe that could be used by a common cook. But yes, I believe if you use the cake flour, you will need to omit the baking powder.
If you don’t have cake flour put 1 tablespoon of cornstarch in a 1 cup and add rest with flour. This is a great substitute for cake flour. Don’t use the baking powder, after use mix everything together, in a separate bowl put 1 tablespoon of baking soda and 1 tablespoon of white vinergar. Than mixed together and fold it into your batter. It will rise and fluff beautiful
Hi Marina! I was wondering what brand of AP flour do you use in this cake? Do you think there is a difference in brands?
Hi Vera,
It is known that Canadian all purpose flour is always the best in baked goods, so I try to buy it whenever I can. I have made it with different brands of AP flour and the result was still good.
This cake really does look perfect! I love how light it is and yet how wonderfully chocolately it is too!