I got a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas from my lovely parents - which was a wonderful surprise - so I’ve been getting to know it by attempting to master my favourite cake. Tom and I are both quite partial to a Victoria sponge. In London, I had neither the equipment nor the time to make them regularly but, fortunately, there was a very reliable one we could buy at our local Sainsbury’s. But nothing beats homemade!
Last week my PhD supervisor and I took a little road trip - in the name of research but also for the Westerway Raspberry Farm, which is a quite delightful place. We picked a bucket each of raspberries and I’ve turned mine into gin (currently marinating in the pantry), breakfast yoghurt and granola parfaits, jam and as a filling for this delicious cake. One of my favourite tearooms in London, Drink Shop Do, did a lovely sponge cake with fresh raspberries in the filling. I took full advantage of the bucket of raspberries in my fridge to recreate it!
The wondrous thing about this cake is you can make the filling any flavour you please. Tom’s favourite so far is strawberry jam with buttercream icing (instead of cream), mine is blackcurrant jam with mascarpone (flavoured with a little Westerway blackcurrant syrup, our version of Ribena). I plan to try lemon curd next. The possibilities are endless.
And of course there will be those out there who will say a sponge cake is more the domain of experienced bakers - I gleefully ignore such snobbery and encourage beginners to give this a go! Whether it’s cake-making, piano or yoga, a regular practice is the best path to confidence.
Classic Victoria sponge
230g margarine (you can use unsalted butter if you prefer, but I was advised that margarine makes for a lighter sponge, and that has proved to be the case)
230g caster sugar
230g sifted self-raising flour (occasionally my hand has slipped and it’s ended up being 240g, but that’s fine)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or extract
4 eggs
For the filling: your choice of jam and/or fresh fruit and cream/mascarpone or buttercream icing
Sifted icing sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 190 C. Grease two 20cm round springform cake tins (sometimes they’re called “sandwich tins”) and line the bases with baking paper.
In a large bowl, or the bowl of your KitchenAid mixer, place all the ingredients and beat together for a few minutes until you have a smooth batter.
Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins (I use a digital scale - I usually get around 470g in each one). Smooth the tops with a spatula.
Bake in the oven for around 20 minutes until the cakes are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly in the tin before turning out on to a rack to cool completely.
To assemble, spread the mascarpone, cream or buttercream icing over the bottom of one of the sponges. Top with jam and sandwich the second sponge, bottom side down, on top.
Dust the top with icing sugar before serving.
Store in an airtight container and eat within 2 days. Which will not be a problem - send word out to your family that a sponge cake has been made, and it will be gone in no time!
If you make any of my recipes, do tag me on Instagram at @travelling_philbury - I’d love to see!