Victorian Sponge Cake

Who is planning to watch the Royal Wedding tomorrow? I know I am looking forward to it.  I remember as a  kid I had this Ladybird book about Prince Andrew and Sara Fergurson's Wedding. As any little girl , princes and princesses were pretty fascinating and a real one was like WOW!!.  So to enjoy watching the big wedding, how about making a delicious Victorian Sponge cake. Of course, I will be having mine after the Magrib prayers😋😉.

I have tried a few Victorian Sponge Cakes,  but the one I did by following Mary Berry's recipe was the best one.I didn't have self-raising flour so I used regular flour and used 2 teaspoons of baking powder. Instead of caster sugar, I used regular sugar. If the sugar is coarse pulse once or twice in the grinder to make it slightly fine but not icing sugar fine.   I didn't have the same-sized cake tins so I  baked the whole thing in one cake tin. I removed the cake, cut it in half, spread the jam and sandwiched it back together.  Its a great cake to make, no fancy icing just simply jam filling and icing sugar to dust on top. Perfect with a cup of tea.

Recipe : Victorian Sponge Cake recipe from Mary Berry's Complete Cook book. 

175g softened butter or Margarine plus  a little extra to grease the pan

175g sugar 

175g plain flour

3 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

4 -5 tbsp raspberry or strawberry Jam

icing sugar to dust on top

Grease an 8-inch round baking tray with the extra butter and line the bottom with some baking paper.  If not rub some butter and lightly dust with flour and tap the pan to remove any excess flour.

Preheat oven to 180 - 200 degrees C.

In to a mixing bowl,  cream butter and sugar together with a beater till light and fluffy. Add the eggs and beat again. Sift in flour and mix to a smooth batter. 

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray level the top and place in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes till the a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake. 

Remove from the baking tin and cool. Once cool carefully slice the cake in half with a sharp knife. Spread with jam on the bottom half and then place the top on top. Dust with icing sugar on top. 

Enjoy!