Classic cake

Victoria Sponge cake - what a classic! It takes the cake at any party, picnic or church event! Although simple, when done well it can be better than any other extravagant cake! If you know me well then you know that most of my childhood memories are food related! My first memory of Victoria sponge cake is of the family trips to Iceland! I’ll give you a wee bit of context here. We lived in Portugal at the time and Cadbury’s and other British treats were not commonly found in Portuguese supermarkets. Therefore when Iceland opened up it was very exciting. Most times we went we ended up getting a frozen Victoria sponge cake and it was excellent. I looked forward to the possibility of having a slice for tea every time we went to Iceland! Although that frozen cake was pretty decent you can’t compare a freshly baked cake to a frozen one. Recipe 200 g caster sugar 200g butter 4 eggs 200g self raising flour 1 tsp baking powder 2 tsp milk Filling 100g butter 140g icing sugar Vanilla extract 100-200g jam Icing sugar to decorate Method Preheat the oven to 190c and line 2 8” cake tins. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. For a really light sponge the key is to beat the butter and sugar until almost white in colour. Next add the eggs in one at time making sure to scrape down the bowl each time. Sift in the flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Finally add in some milk and then transfer to tins and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean. Leave the cakes to cool. Meanwhile prepare the filling. Do this by beating the butter until white in colour. Then add in the icing sugar in two batches. Finally add in the vanilla extract and beat until smooth. Once the cakes have cooled, sandwich them together with the buttercream and jam. Sieve some icing sugar on the top for a classic finish. If you wanted to you could substitute the buttercream for regular cream. Just whip up about 250ml double cream with some sugar and vanilla