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Cotton soft, fluffy and the best sponge cake ever! These mini Chinese sponge cake are easy to make from scratch and calls for only five ingredients.
Sponge Cake
These cotton soft, fluffy, moist, airy mini sponge cake are the best!
They are wrapped and baked in cute paper cups, just like the best ones at Chinese or Japanese bakery stores.
Everyone loves them and they are great for afternoon tea, breakfast, or anytime of the day when you need a quick sweet treat.
This easy recipe is 100% fail proof and novice bakers friendly!
Sponge Cake Recipe
This easy homemade sponge cake calls for five (5) simple ingredients below:
- Eggs
- Sugar
- Cake flour
- Corn starch
- Melted butter
This recipe was contributed by CP Choong.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients.
How To Make Sponge Cake
Step 1. Line the paper muffin cups with parchment paper, set aside.
Step 2. Combine the cake flour and corn starch, sift twice, set aside. Preheat oven to 200°C (392°F).
Step 3. In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites till frothy, add sugar in three (3) batches. Beat until soft peaks form, but not dry. You may use a stand mixer or an electronic mixer to beat the egg whites.
Step 4. Gently fold in the beaten egg yolks until well combined. Add the sifted flour, fold gently until the flour is fully incorporated.
Step 5. Mix a few tablespoon of the batter with the melted butter. Pour it back to the cake batter, fold gently until well combined.
Step 6. Transfer the batter into the muffin cups, about 2/3 full.
Bake the sponge cake in the oven. Once they are in the oven, turn the temperature down to 175°C (350°F) immediately. Bake for 20 minutes or until they turn light golden brown in color. Remove from the oven, let cool before serving.
Baking Tips For The Best Sponge Cake
Here are the tips and techniques for the best results:
- Double sift the cake flour and corn starch. This will ensure soft and cottony texture of the cake.
- Make sure you don’t overbeat the egg white meringue. They should not be dry.
- Make sure you fold and mix gently, to maintain the air bubbles in the egg white meringue.
- If possible, melt the butter using double boiler method.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you follow the baking tips above, especially the parts on the egg white meringue and gentle folding of the cake batter, you will have fluffy cake.
Yes, you sure can.
For the best texture, cake flour is the preferred choice. Using cake flour will make sure that your sponge cake turn out extra soft, fluffy and light.
This recipe is only 95 calories per cake.
What To Serve With This Recipe
Serve the cake with a cup of coffee or tea. For an afternoon tea menu, I recommend the following recipes.
I hope you enjoy this post as much as I do. If you try my recipe, please leave a comment and consider giving it a 5-star rating. For more easy and delicious recipes, explore my Recipe Index, and stay updated by subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for new updates.
Other Recipes You Might Like
Paper Wrapped Sponge Cake
Equipment
- Parchment paper
- 10 paper muffin cups
Ingredients
- 60 g (2 oz) cake flour
- 15 g (½ oz) cornstarch
- 5 egg whites
- 90 g (3 oz) fine sugar, castor sugar
- 5 egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 60 g (2 oz) unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Line the muffin cups with parchment paper and set aside. Combine the cake flour and cornstarch, sift twice, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 200°C (392°F).
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until frothy. Gradually add the sugar in three batches, continuing to beat until soft peaks form, but be careful not to overmix. You can use a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer for this step.
- Gently fold in the beaten egg yolks until well combined. Add the sifted flour and fold gently until fully incorporated. Mix a few tablespoons of the batter with the melted butter, then pour it back into the cake batter and fold gently until well combined.
- Transfer the batter into the muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full.
- Bake the sponge cake in the oven. Once they are in, immediately reduce the temperature to 175°C (350°F). Bake for 20 minutes or until they turn a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
What is caster sugar?
Fine sugar.
Awesome first time baking Paper-wrapped Mini Sponge Cake thank you
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I didn’t have the mini pans, so instead, I placed the batter into a 9×13 pan & I was completely guessing on the time & temp. Luckily it still came out still tasty! I was wondering if I wanted to make a pan 9″x13″ or 9″ bundt… would I double the recipe? Would I still need a parchment paper? What temperature & how long would I bake it for? Thank you so much!!!!
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I didn’t have the mini pans, so instead, I placed the batter into a 9×13 pan & I was completely guessing on the time & temp. Luckily it still came out still tasty! I was wondering if I wanted to make a pan 9″x13″ or 9″ bundt… would I double the recipe? Would I still need a parchment paper? What temperature & how long would I bake it for? Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks for trying this mini sponge cake recipe.
Also, the bottom of the cake seems a bit wet. Is it not throughly cooked?
Awesome first time baking Paper-wrapped Mini Sponge Cake thank you
The texture and flavor turned out wonderful, but the cakes collapsed/deflated and squished the crumb as they cooled. Any suggestions to minimize this?
It’s your meringue egg whites, it’s not done yet.
If you slowly open the oven door and let the cake adjust to room temperature, they’re less likely to collapse too!
Thanks for this recipe, made it last weekend and it turned out really well!! Only things I added were 1/4 tsp cream of tartar while beating the egg whites, and 1 tsp vanilla essence to the egg yolks. I also dropped the muffin pan onto a flat surface several times before and after baking to help prevent deflation.
Awesome, good to know that you had great success with this paper wrapped mini sponge cake!
Thanks for an amazing recipe! Made it on the weekend and it turned out very well.
Hi. What is cake flour (starch)? Is this just regular cakeflour? Do you need to do anything else to it?
Yes cake flour.
Hello!
Here in Europe we don’t have cake flour.
I understand I can use plain flour with a dash of cornstarch instead? What about the rising agent and won’t it add up to be too much cornstarch in the mix?
Thanks!
Hi Lawrence, I think you can just use regular flour for baking.
Lawrence, 1 cup of cake flour is equal to all purpose (less 2 Tbsp) with 2 Tbsp of cornstarch added.
Hope this helps.
Hi, may I know if I can leave out the parchment paper and just use the paper muffin cups? Love your recipes!
Hi Bee,
I tried the mini sponge cakes. It was baking so well but when cooled, it deflated a bit and didn’t taste light and spongy. How can I resolve this? I find that all the folding made the egg whites deflat. Will adding cream of tartar help?
Don’t over mix.