Victoria Sponge

If you are looking for a simple and quick cake to make that never fails to impress a Victoria Sponge is an excellent solution. Popular for tea time this English classic always gets me compliments and it is probably the worlds easiest cake to make.

One note about the recipe, the butter really does need to be soft, otherwise the ingredients don't mix properly. This is always a problem in winter as the house never gets warm enough for the butter to soften enough. I decorated this cake with mint but that was mostly because I was a little bored and we had a lot laying around. Also, the ingredients are in weight-I don't know what the cup conversions are.

Ingredients
6oz self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 large eggs
6oz caster sugar
6oz butter, room temp
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Sift floor and baking powder into a large mixing bowl holding the sieve high to give a good airing. Break eggs into flour and add remaining ingredients. Whisk together until you have a smooth well combined mixture. If it seems stiff add 1-2 tsp water. Divide between greased 8 inch cake tins and bake at 170c (325f) for 30-35 minutes. Leave to cool briefly in tins and then take cakes out of tins to cool on a wire rack.

The middle is layers of strawberry jam, whipped cream and fresh strawberries. I then put fresh strawberries on top. Yum!