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Dessert

Yeasted Vanilla Sponge Cake

A light vanilla sponge cake made with eggs, sugar, oil, milk, flour, yeast, vanilla extract, and baked in a water bath.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Yeasted Vanilla Sponge Cake

Oven150°C
Time65 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Crack the eggs into the mixing bowl and beat them to homogenize.

  2. Mix in the sugar until well-distributed.

  3. Mix in the oil, then the milk.

  4. Sift in the flour, and mix just until incorporated.

  5. Mix in the yeast powder.

Bake

  1. Transfer the batter to a cake pan lined with baking paper.

  2. Place the cake pan into the larger baking tray, and place it into the oven.

  3. Pour the hot water into the larger baking tray to make a water bath about 1–2 cm deep.

  4. Set the oven to 150°C and bake for 65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with no batter on it.

Cool and serve

  1. Remove the cake pan and let it cool.

  2. Unmold the cake and cut into squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

862Calories
27 gProtein
28 gFat
121 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Flour + vanillatop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,241 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Beaten eggs trap air and build the structure that holds the sponge up.
All-purpose flour
Provides the gluten network and starch that set the crumb once baked.
Vegetable oil
Adds moisture and a tender texture to the crumb.
White granulated sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps give it a fine, tender crumb and golden colour.
Instant yeast
Produces gas that lifts the batter, giving the cake a lighter, airier texture.

The step that matters

Bake in a water bath. The water bath surrounds the pan with gentle, even heat, so the sponge rises and sets without drying or cracking on the edges. Testing with a skewer in the centre confirms it is fully set before cooling.

Swap the vanilla

The recipe marks vanilla as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, milk, flour):

  1. Vanillathe original
  2. Raisinfits about as well
  3. Figfits less well
  4. Blueberryfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, milk, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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