Traybake Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and blue, red and white sprinkles for a patriotic touch, a fantastic cake if you are looking for 4th July dessert ideas for a crowd. Both the sponge and the cream cheese frosting have a delicate vanilla flavour, and are ridiculously easy to make with a handful of ingredients.
Have you ever bought a cake that looked mouth-watering, but then you had a bite off it, the sponge was bone dry and the frosting was tasteless? Well, none of that with this deliciously moist sponge cake that has a wonderfully silky vanilla cream cheese frosting!
Honestly, a good homemade cake can't possibly be beaten! And there is hardly any effort here, the sponge is ready in only 25 minutes, and the frosting in less than 5! The only wait is for the sponge to cool down in order to be decorated, but that's it!
And while a nicely layered cake does look good - my Vanilla Buttercream Cake is a great favourite on this blog - with a traybake cake you don't need to worry about perfect layers that have equal amount of buttercream in between.
Once the sponge has cooled down, you can just slap the frosting on top, add the sprinkles, and done! It's ready to be slices into squares and enjoyed straight away! And you get 20 squares out of a tray, plenty to feed a crowd!
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Ingredients used to make the sponge cake
- self-raising flour - it helps the sponge get that nice rise it needs for a light texture
- baking powder - for a good lift
- butter - it has to be soft, but not melted
- sugar - I used granulated sugar, but caster sugar works well too
- vanilla extract - use a good-quality extract for deeper flavour
- eggs - they work best at room temperature
How to make the vanilla sponge
- in a large mixing bowl, add the soft butter and sugar, and use a hand mixer to beat them well until creamy ( see photo 2)
- crack the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition
- sift in the flour, add the baking powder and vanilla extract
- use a spatula to mix all the ingredients together ( see photo 5)
- line a rectangle tray with non-stick paper and add the batter, smoothing it well in an even layer
- bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit) for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
- remove the tray from the oven and allow the sponge to cool down completely
Ingredients used to make the cream cheese frosting
- soft cream cheese - I used Philadelphia cream cheese, which in the UK comes in a spreadable form ready to be used
- icing sugar - or confectioners' sugar
- vanilla extract - for a nice flavour
- butter - soft, otherwise you can't make the frosting
How to make the vanilla cream cheese frosting
- for the frosting, it's literally just a case of adding everything to a blender or kitchen aid, and blitz until smooth - that's it
- if you don't have a blender, just use a hand blender, it works as well
Variations
The red, blue and white sprinkles give this cake a nice patriotic touch for the 4th of July celebrations, but it can also be enjoyed all year round. Just ditch the patriotic sprinkles, and use any other sprinkles like funfetti, and done!
Or simply leave it without the sprinkles, and just decorate it with the buttercream frosting, it will still look as impressive, I promise you!
Expert tip
My vanilla sponge cake is a failproof recipe, and you get a beautifully risen, moist and flavourful sponge every single time! Make sure the butter has the right texture, which means it is soft, but not melted, and it can be beaten easily to a smooth texture.
With the frosting, I find that if I don't sift the icing sugar well before adding it to the blender with the rest of the ingredients, more often than not it's pretty lumpy, which can really ruin a good frosting. You must, must sift the sugar please!
Another thing that could ruin the cake is adding the buttercream frosting to a still warm sponge - that's a big no no, the frosting will melt and make a right mess! Do make sure the sponge is completely cooled!
Other sponge cakes
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Traybake Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 225 g self-raising flour ( 2 cups)
- 225 g butter, soft (1 cup)
- 4 large eggs
- 200 g granulated sugar ( 1 cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the vanilla cream cheese frosting
- 55 g butter, soft ( ¼ cup)
- 100 g icing sugar ( 1 ½ cup)
- 200 g cream cheese ( 1 â…” cup)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Other ingredients
- ¼ cup blue, red and white sprinkles for decorating
Instructions
- To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Add the butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl, and use a hand mixer to beat them well until creamy.
- Crack the eggs in one by one, mixing well after every addition.
- Sift in the flour, add the baking powder and vanilla extract and use a spatula to mix well to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Line a rectangle baking tray with non-stick paper and spread the batter evenly.
- Bake for 25 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the sponge from the oven and leave it to cool down completely.
- To make the buttercream frosting, add all the ingredients to a blender and blitz to a smooth texture.
- To decorate the cake, spread the frosting over the cooled cake and add sprinkles over.
- Cut the cake into squares and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- My vanilla sponge cake is a failproof recipe, and you get a beautifully risen, moist and flavourful sponge every single time! Make sure the butter has the right texture, which means it is soft, but not melted, and it can be beaten easily to a smooth texture.
- With the frosting, I find that if I don't sift the icing sugar well before adding it to the blender with the rest of the ingredients, more often than not it's pretty lumpy, which can really ruin a good frosting. You must, must sift the sugar please!
- Another thing that could ruin the cake is adding the buttercream frosting to a still warm sponge - that's a big no no, the frosting will melt and make a right mess! Do make sure the sponge is completely cooled!
Nutrition
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