Basic eggless vanilla sponge cake, made using whole wheat flour. A simple and easy basic sponge recipe, can be frosted and filled as per your choice.
My elder one is turning 11 this weekend, and this year too, i m making his birthday cake. Till last year, i didn't have the guts to bake and frost cakes for occasions. After much persuasion from both my kiddos and my dear hubby too, decided to overcome that fear of mine.
So far, i have baked and frosted almost 9 birthday cakes. The sad part is, i haven't clicked even one decent picture of any of them, it is a shame isn't? That too, being a food blogger, where we never miss an opportunity to capture the food.
I have failed 9 precious opportunities to click gorgeous cakes, sorry for the arrogance, yes they were gorgeous! So now on, i m determined, to feed the cakes to my camera first, and then to my people.
This vanilla sponge, is a basic cake, can be filled, frosted as per you choice. My personal preference is buttercream.
The ingredients
- Whole wheat flour, for personal reasons i bake only with whole wheat flour. You can use All purpose flour instead of whole wheat flour.
- Buttermilk, is the replacement for eggs in the recipe. Incase you dont have buttermilk, you can use ½ curd and ½ water and blend well.
- Fat, i have used oil instead of butter, i have not tried using butter in the recipe yet, will update the recipe when i try it.
- Sugar, baking powder and baking soda along with vanilla are the other ingredients most common to baking.
- Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
Eggless Whole Wheat Vanilla Sponge cake | Basic Sponge cake recipe
Equipment
- Convection oven
Ingredients
- 1½ cups Whole wheat flour i have tried with Aashirwad , Pillsbury and Al Baker brand
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup buttermilk at room temperature, please read notes
- ⅓ cup oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup water please read notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 170C for 10 minutes. Grease an 8 inch pan with oil and parchment paper at the bottom.
- Sieve together flour, baking powder and baking soda. This step is very important, do not skip this step.
- Sieving the flour helps in making the mixture light and airy that results in a a fluffy cake.I use my IKEA flour sifter and sieve it once.
- To this sifted flour, add sugar and whisk well to combine.
- In a measuring cup, take buttermilk, to this add oil and vanilla extract and mix to combine. Slowly add this wet mixture to the flour mix and using a spatula, mix in one direction to combine.
- Please be genteel while mixing,it is not idly/pancake batter to whisk vigorously, so be slow and gentle. Take care not to have any unmixed flour.
- The batter would be a bit thick, not pour-able consistency. If you feel it is too thick, then add ¼ cup of water to it and combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, bake the cake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- My cake got done by 50 minutes, Oven temperature differs from Model to Model, so keep an eye after 45 minutes.
- Once done, remove the cake from the oven, let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes to cool. Then slowly unmould it from the cake pan on to a wire rack and let it cool completely.
- Allowing the cake to rest is very important before removing the cake from the tin. Been there and done that, be patience or you will end up with half the cake in the pan and half in your hand.
- Once done,you can either serve it with a dusting of cinnamon sugar on top or frost it with your favorite frosting and enjoy.
- I made this cake for my kiddo birthday party, so couldn't cut it the day i made. Will share a picture of the cake on the day it is cut.
Notes
- I have used only ¾ cup sugar, since the cake will be frosted either with buttercream or ganache and also will be drizzled with sugar syrup prior to frosting, which will be too much sugar for us. If you will not be frosting the cakes and prefer a little extra sugar, then go on and use 1 cup sugar.
- The cake batter will be thick, like that of idly batter, it will not be pourable. If it is too thick for you, then add ¼ of water and mix to combine.
- If you don't get or have buttermilk in your place, you can dilute ½ cup thick curd with ½ cup water and whisk well to make 1 cup buttermilk. I do this at times i don't have enough buttermilk in hand
Disclaimer
I m not a Doctor or a Nutritionist The Nutrition information provided above comes from the plugin and is only an estimate.
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Vanilla Cakes frosted with Buttercream
Esha
New to baking... When you say 1cup,how many ml or Gms do you mean?
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi esha, I haven't weighed the ingredients and don't have a kitchen scale too, will check with the baking charts and let you know weight in grams.
Priya_Srinivasan
Thank you!
Rafeeda AR
Hehe... I like that mention that it is not idli batter to stir vigorously... hehe... especially cakes with only wholewheat do need the seiving so that they properly become soft... I am really lazy with that step most of the time... Lovely recipe, would love to try with a little coffee in it... 🙂
Dhara Parekh
Can u tell me which consistency of buttermilk did you use in this recipe?
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi dhara, it is thick buttermilk , but pourable.
Anonymous
Hi how do I make buttermilk please.
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi Sorry for the late reply, you can make buttermilk by adding 1 tbsp vinegar/lemon juice to 1 cup milk.
Or u can use 1/2 cup curd and 1/2 cup water.
Smitha
Hi. When we make buttermilk at home with milk n vinegar, it won't be thick...It will be lumpy. Is it ok? Also did you use 250 ml or 240ml measuring cup?
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi smitha, thanks for visiting my kitchen.
I personally haven't tried vinegar-milk method, since i get buttermilk here in dubai. But since many have questioned this, will try and post an update here.
If you are also doubtful, please use 1/2 cup curd and 1/2 cup water mix and use it instead of buttermilk. Hope this helps.
Anonymous
Hii....my question is is it ok with whip cream frosting? And wheather we have to soak it with sugar syrup and then with whip cream....
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi anonymous, frosting is ur wish I can either use whipped cream or butter cream. Yes I always soak my cakes with a drizzle of sugar syrup so it stays moist.
Anonymous
Thanks for your replay..... I am going to try this cake today....can I soak it with sugar syrup?
Priya_Srinivasan
Yes u can drizzle(not soak) your cakes with sugar syrup before frosting.
Sowmya
Hi cake looks lovely !!! may i know if ur cup is 240 ml or 250 ml or 200 ml ? 🙂
Unknown
I baked this recipe today, its very tasty. Thank you
Aprajita
I only have baking powder and no baking soda. Can I increase the quantity of baking powder and skip the baking soda altogether? Of yes, by how much quantity?
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi though i havent tested it , you can try replacing it 1/4 tsp baking powder and skip the soda . But be careful if you are using much baking powder, the cake might turn bitter.
Madhu
Hi may I know your cup measurements
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi i use 250ml cup
Hetal
I tried out this recipe and the sponge was so soft !!!!! Thank you so much for the recipe
Chaitra
Hi Priya, I loved the way you have covered all the minute details. I have tried many whole wheat cake recipes but most of them don't turn out fluffy. Am planning to give it a try for my daughter's bday tomorrow. May I know which oil you used here? I tried with oil once and it had the smell of the oil in it. So little skeptical now. Did u try with butter again?
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi chaitra, thank you. I have used normal sunflower oil. I have never experienced any smell with sunflower oil, coconut oil sometimes depending onthe brand will have the strong smell of coconut. Do try and let me know how it turned out. Advanced birthday wishes to your daughter
Chaitra G
Hi Priya,
I made the cake and it came out so soft and fluffy. My daughter loves it. Even my husband who not a cake fan gave positive feedback. Thank you so much for the recipe. And yes, I ended up using butter at the last moment.
Priya_Srinivasan
Happy to know it came out well chaithra! thank you for the feedback
Aishwarya
Hi, can I bake @200°c for 35-40mins in my convection microwave oven. Usually I do tat placing a rack inside the oven under the tin while baking.
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi, baking at 200C is too high for cakes. Usually breads are baked at that temperature. For cakes 150-160 are preferred.
Mandeep kaur
Hi I baked cake as per ur given recipe I used desi shakkar have not yet tasted. In microwave convection at 170 my skewer come clean in 30 minutes. As u said it takes 50 min but mine done it 30 ..there is a huge diffrence in timing. I don't know y
Priya_Srinivasan
Hi mandeep, Thanks for trying the cake and for the comments . The difference in timing might be because the oven power. I bake in Electric Oven these days and my cake gets done in 20-30 minutes. Do let me know the how the cake tasted.