Traditional Victoria Sponge Recipe

One of our birthday traditions is home made cake.  The birthday person gets to choose the type of cake and it's always "sponge and jam please!"  I've tried offering lemon drizzle or chocolate but Victoria sponge wins each time.  

I suspect everyone has their own reliable recipe but just in case you haven't, here's mine:

SPONGE

200gm room temp butter

200gm golden caster sugar

200gm self raising flour (or plain + 3 tsp's baking powder if you've run out of SR like me!)

1 tsp baking powder (in addition to plain mix above if using)

2 tablespoons milk

4 medium eggs

Heat oven to fan 180 celsius or non fan 200 celsius.  Butter two cake tins about 20cm across and line the bases with parchment to make it easier to remove the cooked cake.  Throw all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.  (I use a food mixer for about 4 mins).  Divide mix between the two tins and bake for about 25 mins.  When springy and golden on top, remove from oven, turn out onto a rack.  While it's cooling, make the filling:

FILLING

100gm room temp butter

150gm icing sugar (sift if it's lumpy but I usually miss this step as it creates such clouds of sugar dust!)

vanilla to taste - either from a pod, or a paste or extract.  (I use seeds from a whole pod or if I don't have one, about 1 tsp vanilla extract.)

Beat the butter till smooth, add the icing sugar in stages and add the vanilla once the butter and sugar are well mixed.

Spread the filling on the base of one of the cakes only once cake is completely cooled and top with jam flavour of your choice.  We always use strawberry but raspberry or apricot would work nicely.  You can also just use fresh fruit if you know you'll eat it all quickly!

Place the other cake on top and dust the top with sieved icing sugar

I couldn't find the candles so cut out the recipient's name welded with the word "cake" using a Brother scan and cut.  I cut two with one mirror imaged so I could stick them together with two pieces of wire sandwiched between them so it would stick in the top of the cake.  Next time I'll also cut out candle shapes!

And in final exciting news - after several months of planning, designing, researching and tearing out of hair, the new web site is inching closer!!  I can't wait to show you how pretty it looks, how clean and shiny and how easy to use but you'll need to wait a little longer while we jazz up its frou frou, buff its whizz and reassure it that it's gonna be fine and everyone will love it before thrusting it out into the limelight to take its place on the digital stage.  Soon I shall be saying goodbye to The Week Day Home and Blogger where we have been hosted for the past 4 or 5 years and shall move to a new host and a brand new name and logo which is having its first outing here.  I'll try and sneak the yoga cows in somewhere because so many of you have said they make you giggle and that's the whole point of this blog - to share ideas about crafting, food and life, to laugh at cows and hopefully inspire your own creativity.  You'll be the first to know when it goes live!