Tuesday 29 April 2014

Fresh Raspberry Victoria Sponge


Weekends aren’t proper weekends until they involve cake. I baked this little beauty up on Saturday morning and by Sunday it was almost gone,I may or may not have had a slice for breakfast.


So the job hunt is continuing, but that’s about all there is to report, its continuing. It has been extremely difficult trying to find something I absolutely love and to get paid for it. Maybe one day I will just pack up and start my own bakery. That would be the dream. Anyway, before I start thinking about how I can afford cookery school, let me tell you more about this cake.


A basic sponge is the first recipe my Grandma taught me how to bake, the most simple of recipes 100g sugar, butter and flour and 2 eggs – what can go wrong? In the good old days we baked this recipe into buns (yes, that’s cupcakes for all of you non-Yorkshire folk) and drizzled with icing.

My baking skills have progressed somewhat since then but the simplicity and versatility of that recipe will never leave me. It makes great butterfly buns, and as seen below, when the quantities are increased it makes a fantastic Victoria sponge. Increase it again and you could have yourself a three or even four-tiered creation. If that were the case I would suggest a buttercream filling rather than whipped cream to support the weight of the extra tiers.



(my breakfast slice)


For a wonderfully moist, light Victoria sponge here’s what you’ll need:

Ingredients:
200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
4 eggs
200g self-raising flour
1tsp vanilla extract
2tbsp Raspberry jam
200g fresh raspberries
200ml whipping cream

Method:

  1. Butter two 23cm cake tins and preheat the oven to 190C/ 375F.
  2. Cream together butter and sugar. Try to keep mixing after it has combined, you want to incorporate as     much air as possible and your butter/sugar mix should lighten in colour.
  3. In small batches add in the eggs and flour. I like to add 1 egg and 50g of flour, mix until combined and     then repeat.
  4. Add in your vanilla extract and a splash of milk, mix until combined.
  5. Split your mixture between your buttered cake tins and bake in the oven for 20minutes or until a cocktail stick in the centre of each cake comes out clean.
  6. Once baked, transfer onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  7. Whilst the cakes are cooling, use a hand mixer or whisk to whip the cream to stiff peaks.
  8. Once cooled, decide which will be your bottom cake layer and which will be the top, invert the bottom layer so that the flat bases are touching.
  9. Spread the raspberry jam onto the bottom layer, top with whipped cream.
  10. Place a quarter of the fresh raspberries into the cream and top with the second cake layer.
  11. Pipe or spoon the rest of the whipped cream onto the top of the cake and top with the rest of the raspberries.



xx

No comments:

Post a Comment