This perfect air fryer cake recipe gives soft, moist, light, and fluffy sponge cake. It is easy and simple to make and requires just a few ingredients. Let me show you how to make a cake in air fryer from scratch.
Let's start the new year recipes with this delicious vanilla sponge cake made in the air fryer.
Cakes make me happy and this soft, light air fryer sponge cake is so good. It smells heavenly, it's moist and delicious with every bite.
If you've been wondering if you can make a cake in an air fryer, the answer is Yes! It comes out just like one baked in the oven. Although, the size and shape of the cake you can make in it depends on the size of your air fryer.
I don't use box mix and always make my cakes from scratch which I can confidently tell you it's easy to do, inexpensive and no artificial preservative added. You can however use store bought cake mix if that's what you prefer.
My cake mix usually makes use of a few ingredients and In this post, I will show you how to make the cake batter, bake, and store cake.
Air Fryer Cake Recipe
This air fryer cake recipe is easy to make, requires few ingredients, and comes out perfect! No hard or burnt cake here.
Unless you are baking more than 1 pan at a time, the air fryer is faster than the oven, and depending on the size of your air fryer you can bake a 6 or 8-inch cake in it.
I have the XL 5.5 liter air fryer and it fits in up to 8 inch round pan, so therefore you can bake 8 inch cake, 6-inch, 7-inch cake, etc in it as long as the pan comfortably sits in the air fryer.
If you have a smaller size of air fryer, put the pan in it first to ensure it will fit in before you start making your batter.
This recipe creates soft, light, sponge cake and you don't have to be a professional to make it. If you follow my guide, you will have a perfect cake.
Can You Bake Cake in Air Fryer
Yes, you can! You can bake any type of cake in the air fryer. The recipe in this post is for sponge cake that is soft and fluffy but you can adapt the below cake recipes to make the batter and follow the air frying guidelines in this post.
Tools you'll need
Air Fryer
Cake pan- Any cake pan that will fit in the airfryer. I used 6 inch round pan.
Baking paper- To line the cake pan.
Mixing bowl
Spatula
Electric Mixer - Hand mixer or stand mixer.
Cooling rack
Ingredients
Butter
Sugar
Eggs
Milk
Vanilla extract
Flour
Baking powder
How to Bake Cake in Air fryer
Prepare the ingredients - Using a weighing scale, measure out the ingredients.
Prepare the cake pan - Lightly grease the cake pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.
Preheat Air Fryer - Preheat at a temperature of 150C.
Make the Cake batter- In the mixing bowl, add butter and sugar then mix with the electric mixer till it's light and fluffy. This is called creaming.
When the butter and sugar is well creamed, add in the eggs and milk then mix with the electric hand mixer.
Add in the flour and baking powder and mix till smooth.
Pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pan.
Air Fry Cake - Put the cake pan in the preheated air fryer and bake at a temperature of 150C for 30 minutes.
Check for doneness - Insert cake tester or skewer in the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Bring it out of the air fryer.
If the skewer is wet, bake for more minutes.
Cool Cake - Turn the cake on a cooling rack and leave to completely cool.
Serve or decorate - Cut and serve or decorate with buttercream icing or chocolate frosting.
What temperature/time to bake Cake in Air fryer
With the brand and size of my airfryer which is 5.7 liters, for a 6 inch round cake, you should bake at 130C for 25 minutes. I bake at a low temperature to ensure the cake does not burn or get brown too quickly as I have found out cooking at a higher temperature makes the outside of the cake brown too quickly.
Note that air fryer baking and cooking time varies with each brand so you might need to adjust the time.
Once a toothpick/skewer inserted inside the cake comes out clean, then it's cooked.
Storage Information
Storing air fryer cake is like storing any baked in the oven. You leave the cake to cool completely before wrapping it in clingfilm and can then store it on the countertop (if not frosted) for up to 3 days or in the fridge for up to 5 days.
When you are ready to eat it, bring it out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature to get softness back.
Tips for Air Fryer Cake
- Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature before use.
- Don’t rush the creaming process, cream the butter and sugar till it’s pale in color and fluffy.
- Preheat the air fryer as instructed for even baking.
- Bake at a low temperature so the cake cooks evenly and comes out fluffy and light.
- Don't overfill the cake pan.
- You can use other shapes of pan as long as it fits in the air fryer.
- When the cake is completely cooled, you can cover it with buttercream or chocolate buttercream.
- Let the cake completely cool before adding frosting.
More Simple Air Fryer Recipes
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Recipe
Air Fryer Cake Recipe
Equipment
- Air Fryer
- Cake pan - 6 inch round
- Electric mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Spatula
- Baking paper
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 105 g Butter
- 110 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 1 tablespoon Milk optional
- ¼ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 105 g Self raising flour If using all purpose flour, add a teaspoon of baking powder.
- ¼ teaspoon Baking powder
Instructions
- Prepare the ingredients - Using a weighing scale, measure out the ingredients.Prepare the cake pan - Lightly grease the cake pan with butter and line with parchment paper. Set aside.Preheat Air Fryer - Preheat at a temperature of 150C.
- In the mixing bowl, add butter and sugar then mix with the electric mixer till it's light and fluffy. This is called creaming.
- When the butter and sugar is well creamed, add in the eggs and milk then mix with the electric hand mixer.Add in the flour and baking powder and mix till smooth.
- Pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pan.
- Put the cake pan in the preheated air fryer and bake at a temperature of 150C for 30 minutes.
- Insert cake tester or skewer in the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. Bring it out of the air fryer.If the skewer is wet, bake for more minutes.
- Turn the cake on a cooling rack and leave to completely cool.
- Cut and serve or decorate with buttercream icing or chocolate frosting.
Notes
- Bring the butter and eggs to room temperature before use.
- Don’t rush the creaming process, cream the butter and sugar till it’s pale in color and fluffy.
- Preheat the air fryer as instructed for even baking.
- Bake at a low temperature so the cake cooks evenly and comes out fluffy and light.
- Don't overfill the cake pan.
- You can use other shapes of cake pan as long as it fits in the air fryer.
- When the cake is completely cooled, you can cover it with buttercream or chocolate buttercream.
- Let the cake completely cool before adding frosting.
Hi Kemi,
Christy here, again!
Just to say sorry for some typos
that I do not see how to edit.
Like try... trying...
.84 cups flour, not 84 cups,
LOL
I presume that 105 grams of butter DO NOT
measure like 105 grams of flour. Yes?
Hi from California, Kemi!
This looks easy & tasty. I want to try this in a day or 2; but I have some questions: I'm using rising flour. Should I use unsalted butter?
Also, although I have a metric food scale, I'm try to convert to
American measurements. So... Are 105 grams of butter different
from 105 grams of flour? I realize dry flour measures different
from fat... This will make for a small cake, yes? Because this only
is made with 84 cups of flour. I'm new at air fryer baking &
Euro measures. If you're too busy to answer, I understand. If you
have time to be kind, I will make this very soon & get back with
you about results!
Sorry I'm only just seeing this. I recommend you use a digital measuring scale for accurate measurements. Yes, it's a small cake.
Very good thank you! Didn't know how long and at what temperature to cook for. Perfect!
Hi, I'm looking forward to trying this recipe. Can you let me know if you used the air fryer setting or the bake setting please.
Thank you
I use the air fryer setting.
Hi Kemi
I have a Ninja Foodi 14 in 1 which I use daily. After searching the internet and YouTube for air fryer cake recipes and trying various ones, none beat your plain sponge cake. My Husband loves it with custard, my Granddaughter loves when I make two and fill them with jam and cream. I love it just plain with my afternoon coffee. I have tried lots of your recipes and they have never let me down. At the weekend I made one of your chicken curries...delicious. Chicken is my favourite food, your curries make it so special. Subscribing to your website is the best thing.
Thank you so much for all of the recipes. Great work.
Kind regards
Marilyn. Scottish Borders.
I
Hi Marilyn, I really appreciate the feedback and glad you and your family love my recipes. Thank you so much for your kind words.
Wow Kemi,
I bought an air fryer & was impressed, but could not make cakes in it. So I ventured out & bought an air fryer oven, I browsed through a lot of different recipes & found your sponge cake. This is a great recipe, I did decide to put a little lemon juice in it & decorated like I would a drizzle cake. It was 100% fantastic, yummy. I have now started to look for others of your recipes both cakes &main meals. You most definatly are a super cook. Your recipes are great & you explain everything so well, I would give you more than 5 stars if possible.
Hi Christine, I'm glad you found my recipes great. Thank you so much for the kind words 🙂
Hi Christine, I'm glad you found my recipes great. Thanks so much for the kind words 🙂
Seemed like a bit too much butter, somewhat "oily", but otherwise good. Will make again.
As a side note, nowhere in the recipe does it say to add the vanilla listed in the ingredients. Also, a confirmation of what setting would be helpful as my air fryer has both air fry and a bake setting.
This is a family fav! My kids eat it plain with no frosting etc. it’s also good with custard or cream! Thanks for sharing - we wouldn’t be without it!
Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
Amazing! I enjoy making cakes and thought I would give the airfryer a go. I made this sponge today for my family to share after watching the queen's funeral. Safe to say its moved into my top 3 cakes of all time. Everyone loved it. Filled it with generous amounts of jam and cream after cooling.
I'm glad you all loved it. Thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
Wow! I made this and the result was outstanding! I made a few changes i gotta be honest, but it turned out so good.
Instead of butter I used vegetal oil (i didn't have enough butter in my fridge lol), and before pouring the mix in the pan I put little chunks of cold butter (after oiling and flouring it), then poured the mix and at the end I add some spoons of guava jam. I was in a mood for experimenting LOL thanks for the recipe! Will follow you and will try some more of your recipes! Xoxo from Mexico
Hello from Germany! When I googled ‘making sponge cake in air fryer’ your recipe was the first that came up. I shall definitely try it! Yesterday I baked bread in my 5.8 and it was amazing. Energy costs here are rising sky high, and an air fryer is the way to go IMHO! Thank you for the recipe.
Hello Gillian, Do let me know how it goes. I agree with you... love my air fryers!