Classic Victoria Sponge Cake

I think everyone has their own recipe for a Victoria Sponge, but I find this one to be pretty foolproof. The trick here is to weigh the eggs first and then measure the rest of the ingredients to that same weight. This also makes it very easy to scale the recipe up or down depending on what size cake you want to make. 

Ingredients: 

Cake:

4 Eggs 

Caster Sugar

Margarine (I find Stork is best for baking, but any margarine will do)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Self Raising Flour

Vanilla Buttercream:

50g Unsalted Butter

150g Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

1-2 tbsp Milk 

Jam - to fill the cake 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Grease and line a deep cake tin, or two shallow tins

2. Weigh the eggs in their shells. Make a note of what they weigh as this is measurement you'll need for all the other cake ingredients. Weigh your sugar, margarine and flour to this weight, and beat the eggs in a separate bowl or jug.

3. Cream together the sugar and margarine in a large bowl until light and fluffy. You can mix this either by hand or with an electric mixer. At home I normally do this with a mixer, but I'm staying with my boyfriend at the moment and there isn't one, so I went old school with a wooden spoon! This takes a little longer, but I figure its a good workout (and you can feel less guilty when tucking into the cake later...) 

4. Add in the vanilla extract and beaten eggs a little at a time. If you add a spoonful of the flour with each addition of egg it will stop the mixture from curdling. Beat well until all the egg is incorporated and the mixture is smooth.

5. Gently fold in the rest of the flour. Try to be as gentle as possible here as you don't want to knock any air out of the mixture. Once the flour is all incorporated, transfer the mixture to your tin(s).

6. Bake in the oven for 20-25 mins if using 2 tins, and about 35-40 mins if using a deep tin. If you are baking in a deep tin, be sure to keep an eye on the top of the cake as this can cook quicker than the rest of the mixture - if you do see it starting to brown a little too much just cover the top of the tin with a baking tray. You'll know the cake is done when it's lightly springy on top and a skewer comes out clean when inserted. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely 

7. Now for the buttercream - this is an optional step as you could just fill your sponge with jam and it would be delicious, but buttercream definitely adds to the taste! First up soften the butter, then sift in the icing sugar, a spoonful at a time making sure to thoroughly mix after each addition.

8. Add the vanilla extract and mix again. You're looking for a pale mixture with a soft, fluffy texture and if your mixture is stiff add in a tablespoon of milk and mix well. If the mix still isn't quite there, add a little more milk but be very sparing! You don't want your buttercream to be too sloppy, but if you have added a little too much milk don't panic! Just beat in some more icing sugar to balance it out. 

9. Spread the buttercream on one half of the cake and top with jam. Raspberry jam is traditionally used, but I only had strawberry in the cupboard and that's equally as delicious! To be honest you could use any jam that you want here. Place the other half of the cake on top and dust liberally with icing sugar. Perfect in the afternoon with a cup of tea!