VICTORIAN SPONGE CAKE

This is a classic cake recipe that is perfect for birthdays, special occasions or simply for afternoon tea. I've used strawberry jam and fresh strawberries because I love the taste, but feel free to use raspberries or blackberries instead, or even a mixture of all three.

Ingredients Serves 10

for the sponge

• 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

• 200g flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting . 225g caster sugar or ordinary sugar.

• 4 large eggs . 1 teaspoon vanilla essence and 1 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling

• 250g fresh strawberries 200 g strawberry jam

400 ml double cream Iicing sugar, for dusting

To make your sponge

Preheat the oven to 180ºC . Grease the bottom and sides of one 20 or 24 cm sandwich cake tin with butter and then line the base of the tin with greaseproof paper, then dust the sides lightly with flour.
Beat the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon, until very light and fluffy. Then add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well before you add the next

Sift in the flour and the baking powder. Finally add the vanilla essence.
Bake in the hot oven for around 20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown and risen. You can check to see if the cake is cooked by sticking a cocktail stick or skewer right into the middle of the sponge. Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tin, then carefully turn it out onto a rack to cool completely

To make your filling

Hull and slice your strawberries. After that, gently warm the jam in a pan over a low heat.
Remove from the heat and stir in your sliced strawberries
Add the cream to a bowl with the sugar. Whip until you have nice soft peaks.
Smear over the jam and strawberries, then spread the sweetened cream over the top. Place the second cake, with the pretty side facing up, on top and dust it with icing sugar.

To finish the cake

If it's a little rounded on top, simply trim and flatten it off by using a sharp knife and rotating the plate and sponge as you cut