How to make a basic genoise sponge cake

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5 whole eggs
¾ cup (5oz) – 150g sugar
5oz – 150g all purpose (plain) flour (plus a little extra for cake pan)
¼ cup – 60g salted butter (plus a little extra for greasing)
Pre-heat your oven to 375°F – 190°C.
Grease a cake pan (tin) using butter then sprinkle a little flour until it coats the base and the sides. Tip out excess flour. Tap it upside down a few times to remove flour.
Melt the butter (not hot) and keep aside.
Using an electric mixer (or a hand whisk) add the whole eggs to the mixer bowl. Add the sugar and whisk until it becomes thick in consistency and a light cream colour.
Place all the flour into a fine sieve above the mixer bowl, give it a few shakes then gently fold the flour on the surface into the egg mixture. Repeat that five or six times. Once the flour has been incorporated, add the butter all at once and continue to gently fold.
Place the mixture into your cake pan and drop it on the bench a few times to remove any air bubbles, 5 or 6 times should be enough. Don’t tap it too many times or you will lose all the fluffiness.
Place in oven and bake at 375°F – 190°C for 25-30 minutes. Note if using a convection oven, turn temperature down to 320°F – 160°C after 15 minutes.
Once cooked place a cooling rack onto, flip upside down and remove cake pan immediately using a kitchen towel. It should drop out easily, don’t use a knife.
**My own notes**: The creator of this content just flours his pans, but I strongly urge you to put a round of greased parchment in the bottom of your pan. It will make the removal of the sponge cake so much easier. Nothing is worse than a sponge that sticks, because if it sticks you will destroy it trying to get it out.
Also, **use room temperature eggs** as you will get better volume. In addition, I’m not quite as rough with my genoise when I take it out of the oven–it can fall if you’re *too* hard on it, so be gentle.
When you beat the eggs, you want to hit something called **ribbon stage**. The eggs and sugar will become pale yellow and have enough air trapped in there that when you lift the whisk over the mixture the batter should fall slowly forming a ribbon that holds its shape a bit. This means there’s enough air trapped in there to gift your cake lift!
There is a variation on this called a **hot milk sponge** which is similar but incorporates both eggs and baking powder as leavening agents, and it calls for milk to be whisked into the egg and sugar after you hit the ribbon stage. I describe how to make a hot milk sponge [here] for anyone interested.