The Victoria sponge

To carry on from yesterday royalist vain today I give you the Victoria sponge. The Victoria sponge cake was named after Queen Victoria, who liked a bit of the sponge cake for afternoon tea. Now what a Victoria sponge consists of is rather a strongly disputed question considering the cake. Personally, I think it should have raspberry jam and whipped cream in the centre. No icing or decorated just a simple dusting of icing sugar. But the Women's Institute say that it should have only raspberry jam as the filling and dusted with caster sugar, not icing sugar. So faced with this, and what could be a backlash of protest I will leave it up to you what you put in the middle and on top.This is one of the simplest of sponge cake recipes that you can ever come across and for that reason very hard to get just right.  So be careful when you are making it, follow the instruction carefully, and do not rush in to making it, you should be okay. Then all you need is a good jam and whipped cream to finish it off and you will get a prefect sponge.

You will nee for the sponge

225g/8oz butter
225g/8oz caster sugar
4 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
225g/8oz self raising flour
Milk, if needed

Now in most of the recipes I do I never really bother about the tin you should bake it in or what dish but with this, it is different. You will need two 18cm or 7in cake tins 4cm to 5cm or 1½in to 2 in deep. Grease and line the base with baking paper or greaseproof paper. Then turn on your oven to preheat set at 180c/ 350f and now you are ready to make your cake.

Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until you get a light pale and fluffy texture. Now whisk your egg slightly and then add them a little at a time in to the butter mix. Now stir in the vanilla extract.

Sift the flour then, using a large spoon, fold in the flour gently. What you are looking for is a soft dropping consistency with you batter. If you need to this is the time to add a little milk if necessary, you do not want the batter to stiff or to runny.  

Divide the batter  between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula and make a dip in the centre. This will stop you getting a dome in the middle. Now Place them on a try and pop them in the oven. You will need to bake them for about 20 to 25 minutes. You want them to look golden-brown on top. However, to make sure use a stick a skewer into the middle, if it comes out clean they are done .

Then remove from the oven and pop on the side and let cool for a moment. After about 5 or 10 minutes remove from the tin and take off the paper, place onto a wire rack and let it cool.

Finally sandwich the two cakes together with what you think is right, for me a good raspberry jam, whipped cream and busted with icing sugar. I am sorry lades of the women’s institute but that is the way I am made, just a rebel.