So I promised you a second cake recipe today and I wasn’t going to back down. A promise is a promise. I confess that it wasn’t a difficult task for me, especially this week. I’ll be having a break for my birthday this weekend and as per tradition I am baking a double treat: two cakes or any two sweet other things for that matter. Forget the pitiful attempt at making this sponge way back when I was still new at this blogging thing. This is the recipe you want, and which I will repeat tomorrow.
It’s a mix between two variations of Victoria sponge I saw or read about in the past few weeks. One was Jamie’s and the other was Sophie Dahl’s. The basic recipe is there with a few tweaks. Jamie and Sophie are two of my favourite cooks. This is one of my favourite things to eat (apart from roast chicken of course) so the validity of this cake is unquestionable. Vulcan logic at its best.
For the sponge:
- 250g unsalted butter, softened
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 250g self-raising sponge flour
- 4 large eggs
- zest of 1 orange
For the strawberry filling:
- 2 drops of orange water
- 6 tablespoons strawberry jam
- a handful of fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and thinly sliced
For the vanilla cream filling:
- 150ml double cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon caster sugar
For sprinkling:
- plenty of icing sugar
Preheat the oven to 190°C. Grease two 20cm sandwich tins with a little butter and line them with parchment paper.
Beat the butter and sugar together until you have a pale yellow fluffy mixture. Add and beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat them well into the mixture. Next fold in the orange zest and the flour using a spatula or a large stainless steal spoon. Since you want the finished sponge to be light and airy make sure not to overmix the cake batter.
Divide the cake mix between the two greased and lined tins, and level it out with the spatula. Bake the two tins in the centre of the oven on the same shelf for around 20 to 25 minutes. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool for around 15 minutes in their tins. Remove them from the tins, carefully remove the parchment paper and place them on the wire rack once more. Let them cool completely. This will take quite a long time but be patient. You wouldn’t want the jam and cream to melt.
In a small bowl mix the jam and the rosewater together and set aside. Remember, only a few drops are needed here.
To make the vanilla cream, pour the double cream, sugar and vanilla extract into a clean medium bowl, and whisk. A large hand whisk is enough here because you only have a small amount of cream. It will be done in a few minutes.
When the cakes are cool, place one of them onto a large plate or cake stand. Spread the strawberry jam, layer the fresh sliced strawberries evenly, then spread the vanilla cream over everything, and put the other cake on the top. Sprinkle with icing sugar.
There will be a small tweak next time, and there will definitely be a next time. I’m thinking about adding some fresh strawberries or raspberries to the filling.
Rob.
Chorizo & Thyme 