Best Viennese Sponge Cake Bases Recipe

This article is also available in German.

This particular sponge dough is very easy and quick to prepare, and you get an incredibly light and fluffy sponge cake in no time. Create the perfect sponge cake base in under 45 minutes, with four ingredients only!

Everyone should have a basic recipe for sponge cake layers in their recipe collection.

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You will be delighted with this particular recipe, the Viennese sponge cake bases recipe!  

The resulting sponge cake is firm enough to give a layered cake enough stability. Fill them with delicious creams, jams, chocolates, or fruits. Like our Austrian Strawberry Sponge Cake recipe!

Especially for me as a Viennese, the name says it all and is a must to introduce you to this authentic Austrian recipe and bring it closer to you!

In this post, find out how to create the perfect sponge cake base in no time. See what's behind the Viennese sponge cake base and how it differs from others.

If you fancy more basic pastry recipes, snag your freebie below!

Jump to:

• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🔪 Instructions
• Different Types of Sponge Cakes
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🌡️ Storage
• 💭 Top tip
• 🇦🇹 You might also like
• 📖 Recipe
• ⛑ Food safety
• 💬 Comments

🥘 Ingredients

• Eggs - medium-sized, ideally free-ranged
• Cake flour
• Vanilla sugar - I do not recommend using bourbon vanilla sugar for this recipe, as it gives the sponge a darker color.
• Superfine sugar

See the recipe card for quantities.

🔪 Instructions

Step 1

Before you can start preparing the dough, it is recommended that you first preheat the oven to 180 °C // 356 °F top/bottom heat.

To make it easier to prepare the dough in the following steps, I recommend preparing the eggs in advance as well. Separate the six eggs into two separate bowls. 

I suggest using deep bowls. The egg whites will increase in volume as they are whipped, and it would be very unpleasant if the whipped egg whites "overflow" into the bowl you have chosen, which is too small. 

I used a large mixing bowl for the egg yolk since you'll mix all the ingredients together in this bowl at the end, which also requires quite a bit of volume. So reach for the high and large bowl before a mishap happens. 

With all the essential things for creating the dough in place, it's finally time to get started!

Step 2

Take the bowl with the egg yolks and add half the superfine sugar and the entire vanilla sugar. Beat the ingredients with an electric mixer until very fluffy and set aside.

In the meantime, wash and dry the beaters of your mixer so you can use them for the egg whites. Let's move on to the bowl with the egg whites. Add the second half of the superfine sugar to the yolks and beat until very stiff. 

Step 3

In the following step, mix both whipped batches together. 

Carefully fold the stiffly beaten egg white into the mixing bowl with the beaten egg yolk. Then sift the cake flour over it and mix it in as well. 

Step 4

Before everything moves into the preheated oven, fill the cake batter into the springform pans (about three-quarters full) and place the filled springform pans into the oven. 

Bake on the middle shelf for half an hour. 

Test whether the sponge is well-done at the end of the baking time. 

Poke the dough with a long wooden toothpick. Pull it out again, and if no dough sticks to it, you can take the cake out of the oven.  

Remove the springform pan(s) from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes. Before opening the springform pan, cut along the edge once with a sharp knife to ensure no dough sticks to the edge. 

Step 5

Remove the dough from the springform pan and let it cool further on a cooling rack.

Once the dough is no longer warm, take the first sponge cake and cut it in half. Do the same with the second sponge. 

I used an ordinary bread knife to cut through. Since the dough has a fluffy texture, make sure you really "saw" when cutting and not just try to push the blade through the dough with sheer force. Force will cause the sponge to tear and fray. 

If you have a cake leveler at home, you can use it for creating the cake layers as well.

Voilà! Now you have created the perfect base! With those four sponge cake bases, made with this simple recipe, you are ready to transform them into a fabulous cake! 

Like the Austrian strawberry sponge cake recipe, you can fill them with whipped cream and fruit. Or spread the cake bases with jam and stuff the cake with any type of buttercream, topping it with icing or fondant.

Here you have complete freedom and can let your imagination run wild!

Enjoy! 

Different Types of Sponge Cakes

Viennese Sponge Cake

• Viennese sponge cakes contain both the egg white and yolks in the recipe. They are, however, first separated, whipped separately, then mixed back together.

Genovese Sponge Cake

• Genovese sponge cakes are created with whole eggs (no separation) and are best suited for shortcakes and roll cakes. 

Angel Food Cake

• The characteristic of an angel food cake is its white color. This bright color results from the use of exclusively egg whites. It does tend to be dry in texture.

Chiffon Cake

• This cake is a hybrid between oil and sponge cake since oil and baking powder are on the ingredients list. The eggs are also separated.

🍽 Equipment

• Mixing bowls
• Electric hand mixer or kitchen machine
• Close-meshed sieve
• Springform pans - 9-Inch
• Cooling rack
• Bread knife or cake leveler

🌡️ Storage

CAN I FREEZE THE SPONGE CAKE?

Freeze sponge cake right after it cools, tightly and well wrapped in a food plastic wrap. I prefer freezing it without the filling. You can freeze a sponge cake for up to 3 months. Let it thaw on the counter.

Source: hanielas.com

📖 Recipe

⛑ Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.