Basic Chocolate Sponge Cake

Everyone should have really good Basic Chocolate Sponge Cake in their repertoire and this is mine! It’s a recipe you can quickly learn off by heart and it is infinitely adaptable – use it to make 1 large cake, 18 small cupcakes or 12 large cupcakes; add different flavours, toppings and fillings; or use it as the base of a trifle!

Course Cake, Dessert, Pudding

Cuisine British

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 20

Total Time 35

Servings slices

Calories 355kcal

Author Eb Gargano

Ingredients

175 g butter softened (see Note 1)
175 g caster sugar
3 large eggs (must be room temperature)
175 g self-raising flour (AKA self-rising flour)
40 g cocoa powder sieved
Cocoa powder or icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre heat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease 1 x 18cm (7inch) round cake tin with butter. Put a circle of baking paper on the bottom of the tin and grease the baking paper. (There is no need to fully line the tin.)
Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy looking. (See Note 2.)
Add one egg and beat until combined. Repeat with the other eggs, adding them in one at a time.
Add in the flour and cocoa, and fold them in gently.
Put the mixture in the prepared cake tin and spread the mixture evenly over the base of the tin. Level the surface with a spoon or spatula.
Put the cake tin in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes. When it’s ready, the cake should be pulling away slightly at the sides. To be sure it’s done, push a skewer (or a teaspoon handle if you don’t have a skewer) into the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is done. If it comes out covered in mixture pop the cake back in the oven for a couple more minutes and check again.
When the cake is ready, remove from the oven and let is sit in the tin for 5 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge and turn it out onto a wire rack to cool.
Serve dusted with cocoa powder (or icing sugar).

Notes

I much prefer the taste of a cake made with butter, but the problem with butter is that, if it has been in the fridge, it is rock solid! However, I learnt a very simple trick from the amazing Mary Berry… Fill a bowl with lukewarm water (the temperature of a very little baby’s bathwater). Chop the butter into 1cm cubes. Drop the cubes into the water and leave them for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, tip the water out. (I use my hand to stop the little butter cubes coming out with the water.) And voila! You should now have perfectly soft butter.
You can absolutely make this cake with an electric mixer if you prefer, simply put all the cake ingredients in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until it looks like cake batter. However, I prefer to do things the old fashioned way (with a wooden spoon and arm power!) and so I have given you my traditional method above.
Suitable for freezing (undecorated cakes only.)
Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.

Nutrition