Victoria Sponge Cake* (or the only Victoria Sponge Recipe you’ll ever need)

I love the Victoria Sponge Cake. There is something so simple, yet so alluring about it. A light, lovely, sponge cake filled with jam, fruit and cream is a perfect reminder of summer. The first recipe I ever made from Nigella Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess, was the Victoria Sponge. I fell in love with the recipe, with Nigella and with the book. The recipe is very forgiving, it always turns out wonderfully.

There is currently a celebration of London with the recent Jubilee, Wimbledon and the Olympics about to commence. I was inspired to make this cake, as a loving reminder of summer and berries in the middle of a cold and wet winter.

Victoria Sponge Ingredients:

• 225g softened, unsalted butter
• 225g Caster Sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 200g self-raising flour
• 25g cornflour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3-4 teaspoons milk

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line two 21cm round sandwich tins.
2. Place all ingredients, except the milk, in a food processor and mix until combined.

3. Add the milk and pulse until combined.
4. Divide evenly between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Victoria Sponge Layer Ingredients:

• 2-3 tablespoons of a good berry jam
• 1 punnet of berries of your choosing
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1 tablespoon liquor*

* The liquor is purely optional and not published in the originally recipe.

1. Place the bottom layer of your cake on the serving dish. Gently drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the liquor.
2. Spoon the jam on the cake, leaving about a 1cm gap from the edge of the cake.
3. Arrange the berries on top.

4. Spoon the cream on top.

5. Gently place the top layer of cake on top of the cream layer.

6. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

7. Enjoy!