I was asked by a friend to make a "vanilla sponge" cake, which I have never made before. The cake will have fresh strawberry filling and will be fondant covered.

After trying my luck on Google, I decided I need the expertise here! Can you let me know your thoughts on sponge cake? Is it a dense/firm cake or is the opposite? Or does it all depend on the recipe used?

This cake will not need to be carved, but will be stacked tiers and I worry about the weight of fondant and a RKT cake topper if this type of cake is delicate. If the cake type is too delicate I could certainly tell my friend and instead make my usual vanilla white cake, but I wanted to be sure before I said anything.

Thanks for any input

I'm not sure, but I think sponge cakes can vary in consistency, depending on the recipe. For a tiered cake, you don't want the most delicate kind of cake, but you don't need it to be that dense, either. If you stack it correctly, with the right supports, the weight of one tier on another is not a problem, because the supports bear all the weight. The SPS stacking system comes highly recommended by those who use it. I'd also recommend Sharon Zambito's "Successful Stacking" DVD for further ideas on how to do this right.

Thanks, Marianna46, I appreciate the feedback. I am not worried so much about the stacking, but if the cake itself will hold up torted with a heavy filling and covered in fondant.

I see now after checking a few recipes for sponge that it does really vary, and seems to be similar to angel food cake, or the type of cake that is used to make rolled cakes. Many of the recipes call for no frosting at all, just a light coating of powdered sugar. So I am going to confirm with my friend what exact type of cake she was hoping for.

On the other hand, I was reading on here the other day about the Victoria sponge. I saw the recipe and it's about equivalent to an American pound cake which, as you know, is a whole bunch denser than an angel food. If you have some leeway, you might want to go for one more like that. It would be more like strawberry shortcake, I guess. Does it really have to be torted? I mean, are they asking for it torted or is it just something you usually do? If you're worried about stability, you might just skip the torting.