The Perfect Summer Sponge
Summer is almost upon us! It is definitely my favourite season, when the sun is shining everyone feels happier, the lighter evenings and the warm summers breeze means it's perfect to enjoy a slice of cake in the garden. My favourite part of this season however, is that my families allotment plot comes to life! Recently, I've been helping my mum plant everything ready for the summer, it's looking great! Luckily we only lost a few crops in the unexpected frost a few weeks ago. I'll be making a blog post purely about our allotment in a couple of weeks once everything's been planted and has began to grow.
One of the best ingredients I find at the allotment in the summer is berries - whether its the cherries, raspberries, strawberries or gooseberries! I'll be dedicating a number of recipes over the next few months to each of those beautiful fruits. Today, it's strawberries. The strawberries at the allotment aren't ready yet, but I wanted to get this recipe ready before the start of summer. Now, although strawberries are so versatile, I'm starting off simple. The classic Victoria Sandwich.
This recipe is perfect for summer - it uses fresh, seasonal fruit meaning they are sweeter and juicier than those imported in other months of the year. This Victoria Sandwich sponge is so light, which is complemented by the addition of freshly whipped cream. Often, people will choose to use a butter cream filling rather than cream. However, I find the addition of freshly whipped cream to the strawberries creates not only an even lighter texture, but also a natural sweetness rather than the artificial, overpowering sweetness from the butter cream.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can adapt the amounts dependant on the size you require your cake to be. You simply double the ounces of everything to the number of eggs - so for a 3 egg cake, use 6oz of sugar, butter and flour.
Or if you would prefer a chocolate sponge, substitute 1.5oz of flour for cocoa, when making a cake with 4 eggs.
So here is the recipe for the perfect summer's sponge!
Ingredients:
For the sponge
-4 eggs
-8oz golden caster sugar
-8oz Stork margarine
-8oz self raising flour
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-Icing sugar to serve
For the filling
-Strawberry jam (or raspberry)
-284ml Elmlea pot of double cream (or equivalent)
-Roughly 250g fresh strawberries
Method:
-Preheat the oven to 180 and grease an 8 inch circular cake tin.
-Using a KitchenAid, or by hand, cream the stork and the sugar together until pale and fluffy.
-One by one, add the eggs. Add a tablespoon of flour with each egg to prevent the mixture curdling. Once the egg and a spoonful of flour has been added, begin by mixing slowly and gradually speed up (if you are using a KitchenAid, begin on setting 1, gradually building up to level 4) until fully incorporated. Repeat until all the eggs have been added.
-Add the vanilla extract and mix.
-Sieve one third of the flour in at a time a gently fold by hand. Once combined, repeat until everything has been incorporated.
-Add the mix to the cake tin and bake for about 45 minutes or until a metal skewer comes out clean from the centre.
-While the cake is in the oven, whisk the double cream in a bowl and set aside.
-Wash the strawberries, cut off the heads and dice them.
-Once the cake has cooled, slice it in half. On the bottom half spread a thick even layer of jam. On top of the jam, evenly spread a layer of diced strawberries as shown in a picture above.
-Add the remaining diced strawberries into the cream. Then spread the cream on top of the jam and strawberry layer.
-Place the top half of the cake on. Dust with icing sugar and enjoy.
Notes:
-When folding the flour in, ensure you are gentle to prevent losing the air you created when creaming. I find using a metal serving spoon to fold is the most successful way of preserving the air.
-When whisking the cream, do so by hand to ensure it doesn't over-whip. If it becomes over whisked it, the texture will become buttery.
Thanks for taking the time to read my post, I hope you found the recipe useful. I'd love to see your creations, so please feel free to tag me in your photos on Instagram - @beethamsbaking