Best Chocolate Sponge Cake | So Fluffy & Simple!

I’m sharing how to make incredibly fluffy chocolate sponge cake. Follow the simple steps & important tips to make it successful at home!

I shared how to make chocolate sponge cake a while ago on YouTube. That was the recipe I was using for years. Since then, I tested many times to polish it and finally came out with this even better version: even fluffier and moister chocolate sponge cake.

The best part is; so simple to make and a little bit easier to succeed even for beginners. This one became my new favorite. And I am very excited to share it with you!

🤎 I love this chocolate sponge cake because:

• The texture is so silky and fluffy.
• It tastes perfectly sweetened and chocolatey.
• The steps are very simple.
• Ite goes so well with any chocolate dessert. - from simple to advanced cakes.

In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• Essential tips to make fluffy chocolate sponge cake
• How to make the texture so fine and silky
• 4 tips for folding the sponge batter to keep it fluffy
• How to make the cake syrup
• How to store it

Jump to:

• 📌 What's In Chocolate Sponge Cake?
• 📌 How To Make Chocolate Sponge Cake
• 📌 How To Store Chocolate Sponge Cake
• 📌 Simple Cake Syrup
• 📌 Uses For Chocolate Sponge Cake
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Chocolate Sponge Cake
• 📌 Fluffy Vanilla Sponge Cake
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Fluffy Chocolate Sponge Cake

📌 What's In Chocolate Sponge Cake?

The 8 Ingredients

• Egg
  • The sponge rises with a powder of whipped eggs today. The key ingredient for the fluffy texture!
• Granulated sugar
  • Sugar helps to create a fine and moist texture.
• Milk
  • It'll make the sponge moister. It also adds a nice flavor!
• Oil
  • I like to use olive oil as a healthier option but any regular oils work.
• Salt
  • It enhances the chocolate flavor.
• Cocoa powder
  • Use any of your favorite cocoa powders. Higher-quality cocoa powder tends to look darker and has a richer flavor.
• Cake flour 
  • For this cake, use cake flour instead of all-purpose flour to make the texture very fluffy.
• Baking powder
  • Baking powder helps pushing the cake a little bit more in the oven. I decided to add it since cocoa powder slowly eliminates air bubbles in the whipped egg.

📌 How To Make Chocolate Sponge Cake

7 Steps To Make Chocolate Sponge Cake

1. Warm whole eggs and sugar with a water bath, constantly mixing until it feels warm, like bath water.
2. Whip whole eggs and sugar.
   • Start whipping at high speed to make it very fluffy (Drop the batter with a whisk. It should flow slowly, and the lines should stay on the surface.)
   • Finish at low speed to make air bubbles smaller until it looks silky and glossy.
3. Meanwhile, mix milk, oil, salt, and cocoa powder together with a whisk until it gets very smooth.
   • Clean off the bowl with a spatula at the end.
   • Carefully check if there is no lumps of cocoa powder.
4. Add sifted cake flour and baking powder and fold until you don’t see any flour.
5. Add 3 (Cocoa liquids) and fold until it's mixed evenly.
   • Clean a bowl and spatula on the way.
   • Be careful not to overmix it. Stop as soon as everything is evenly blended.
6. Pour into a pan and BAKE with 355 F | 180 C for:
   • about 36-38 mins for 1 8” pan (I used it in this post.)
   • about 27-32 mins for 2 6’ pans (from one batch)
   • about 25-27 mins for 1 6” pan (from half batch)
   • about 35 mins for 1 6” pan (from 1.5 batch)
7. After it's out of the oven, toss the pan sometimes, flip it, and let it cool completely before slicing it.

More Tips With Images

Now, let me share detailed tips on each step that are crucial for making the chocolate sponge cake successful.

Preparations

1. Preheat the oven: to 355 F | 180 C
2. Prepare hot, gently simmering water to warm eggs.
3. Set up cake liners inside a pan.
4. Sift cake flour and baking powder together using a fine sieve.

👩🏻‍🍳 Before you start, make sure that your tools and ingredients (and even your hands!) are clean with no liquids, oil, or any dirt because they prevent eggs from whipping really well and getting fluffy.

Step 1: Warm whole eggs and sugar with a water bath.

First, mix eggs and sugar together.

And we're warming them with a water bath.

💬 Try not to use boiling hot water because there is a chance that eggs might get cooked partially.

💡 We are warming eggs because warm eggs get whipped up a lot more than cold eggs. Whipping the eggs a lot and letting them contain lots of air in them is the biggest key for this fluffy sponge cake.

And mix constantly while you're heating it so that eggs don't get cooked partially.

How to check if it's heated enough:

1. By hands: Touch the eggs and check. It is done when it feels nice and warm, like a bath.
2. By thermamotor: 100 - 113 F | 37.5 - 45 C. (It was 107 F | 42 C this time!)

Step 2: Whip whole eggs and sugar.

Start whipping the eggs at high speed right way before it cools down.

📣  This is the most important part for this sponge cake! By whipping a lot, eggs contain LOTS OF air bubbles. Which leads to a fluffy sponge cake.

How to check if it is whipped enough:

1. Scoop the batter with a whisk and draw a line.
2. It should drop or flow slowly, and the line should stay on the surface without disappearing slowly.

Now, it is whipped enough! But it's not quite done yet.

Finish it with low speed:

At the very end, turn it down to low speed and continue whipping until it looks silky and glossy. 

👩🏻‍🍳 This process is very important to make all the air bubbles a lot smaller to create a silkier, fluffier sponge. I whip at least 5-10 mins. Judge with your eyes for more accuracy! The texture of the sponge gets more rough when you skip the process.

The comparison of 2 batters:

👩🏻‍🍳 Bigger air bubbles are more fragile than smaller ones and elminiates more as you mix. Which also leads to a little bit shorter sponge cake.

Final check:

Again, Scoop the batter with a whisk and draw a line. It should drop or flow slowly, and the line should stay on the surface without disappearing slowly.

Step 3: Mix milk, oil, salt, and cocoa powder together.

While you are whipping eggs at low speed, mix milk, oil, salt, and cocoa powder together. (You can also finish it in advance as preparation.)

First, it'll look a bit separated but keep going!

Then you'll see it is thicker and lumpy. Continue mixing fast until it gets very smooth.

💬 Today, I used a small whisk but you can use a regular whisk and a bigger bowl, of course!

Clean the bowl on the way and check if there is no lumps; We don't want any lumps of cocoa butter in the finished sponge cake!

Step 4: Add sifted cake flour and baking powder and fold.

Once the egg is whipped enough and it's in the best condition, we want to put it in the oven as fast as possible.

Try finishing folding as fast as possible, pour into a pan and bake right away.

Add flour and fold.

💬 In the video tutorial, I'm showing how I fold without cutting the footage so that you can check the movement and speed.

Oftentimes, flour is hiding on the bottom. Flip well and check!

Step 5: Add cocoa powder liquids and fold.

Once you don't see any flour, add the cocoa powder liquids and continue folding.

💬 Drop all over instead of dropping it at one spot so that it doesn't sink on one spot.

💬  The air bubbles disappear quicker especially after cocoa powder is added. Keep in mind to move fast!

And clean your spatula and bowl on the way before it's completely blended.

Flip the bottom well and check if the cocoa powder liquids are not hiding on the bottom.

💬 Too many bubbles disappear when you over-mix the batter; The sponge is not going to rise a lot even if you whip it well.

For chocolate sponge cake, stop folding as soon as everything is blended evenly.

4 tips to fold any batter:

If you are not confident of folding it, try the 4 tips:

1. Move your spatula like you draw a "J."
2. As you move your spatula, move your bowl about 45 degrees so that you can mix evenly.
3. Fold fast. That helps to break down chunks of flour. The air bubbles stay more stable by finishing up faster as well, and that results in a taller, fluffier sponge.
4. Clean your spatula and bowl on the way to ensure you do not miss any uneven parts. Make sure that no flour is left on the bottom or sides.

Check out the video tutorial to see it visually!

Step 6: Pour it into a pan and Bake!

Try not to touch the batter too much and pour it all at once.

Remove some big air bubbles by:

• Swirling them with a toothpick or something similar.
• Tossing the pan sometimes. (I usually do 3-5 times)

And bake it right away!

Baking time and temperature:

Bake at 355 F | 180C for:

• about 36-38 mins for 1 8” pan
• about 27-32 mins for 2 6’ pans (from one batch)
• about 25-27 mins for 1 6” pan (from half batch)
• about 35 mins for 1 6” pan (from 1.5 batch)

🔥 Adjust the time and temperature accordingly.

How to check if the chocolate sponge cake is done:

• You can see that the sponge shrinks a tiny bit when the center is cooked through, just like the image below.
• Insert a toothpick in the center and see if it comes off clean.
  • Some cake crumbs are fine as long as it is not wet.
• Carefully touch with fingers and see if it bounces back very gently.
  • You should hear very slight bubble sounds but bounce back very gently.
  • Wear a glove or something to protect your skin if you are sensitive to heat.

Bake with 6 inch | 15 cm pans:

Step 7: After it's out of the oven

Toss the pan sometimes and flip it on a cooling rack so that the shape remains nicely after it cools down. Remove the pan and let it cool completely.

💬 It's going to be a lot easier to cut clean after it cools down.

📌 How To Store Chocolate Sponge Cake

To store this sponge cake, wrap it tightly, twice ideally so that it's not getting dried. I recommend consuming it right away or by the next day for the best taste. Store it in the fridge for a few days if you are not using it right away.

It's possible to store for a longer time but this sponge tends to get drier quickly. It's not going to do so good for a long time because it doesn't contain a lot of preservatives and it's very light and fluffy.

You can also freeze it for up to about two months.

📌 Simple Cake Syrup

Apply some cake syrup when you want to make it extra moist, especially when you don't serve the cake right away.

How to make simple cake syrup:

Melt the sugar with hot water. You can also heat them in a microwave or a pot. The most commonly used ratio is 1:1. 

- Adjust the ratio as you like!

📌 Uses For Chocolate Sponge Cake

Enjoy the delicious chocolate sponge cake in many ways, such as:

• As whole cakes
  • From classic to custom cakes, use it for any chocolate cakes.
• As cupcakes
  • This makes amazing cupcakes as well. Just bake for shorter time! (9-15 mins)
• For plated desserts
  • Use it for petit gateau or as decoration on the plates as the finishing touch!

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

Troubleshooting

Others

📌 VIDEO: Chocolate Sponge Cake

To learn how to make chocolate sponge cake visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch this video.

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉

📌 Fluffy Vanilla Sponge Cake

If you loved this chocolate sponge, I bet you're going to love my fluffy vanilla sponge as well. It is so fluffy and silky just like this chocolate cake.

This is my go-to sponge cake that I use most often for all kinds of cakes and desserts.

And also check out the green tea version too if you are a matcha lover!

🌼🌼 The End 🌼🌼

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family at home.

📌 Printable Recipe

You may also like:

Chocolate Recipes

Sponge/Cake Recipes

Other basic recipes:

Classic Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Mirror Glaze

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