Bake With Me: Victoria Sponge Cake.

For some reason my body clock woke me up at 7:30am this morning which I was A) not very happy about but B) kind of grateful for because it has meant I've had a super productive day. In fact, by 11am I'd already baked this masterpiece (if I do say so myself!) and since the weather was all kinds of gorgeous, I thought I'd share the recipe with you guys.

You Will Need:

For The Cake Mix:

200g of butter (or margarine)

175g of caster sugar

4 medium sized eggs

200g self raising flour

1tsp baking powder

1-2tsp vanilla essence

For The Filling:

200ml whipping / double cream

Any smooth jam (I'm using plum, but it doesn't matter)

1/2 punnet of strawberries

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (fan oven), 200 degrees C (non fan) or 350 fahrenheit. Grease and line the bottoms of two circular baking trays using baking parchment and butter.

Measure out the butter and sugar and place in a large mixing bowl. Using a hand whisk (I'm using a Kitchen Aid) cream the two together until the mixture turns pale yellow and is smooth in texture.

After this add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each new addition. Don't worry if it starts to curdle a little here, that's normal and won't effect the cake at all. At this point it will usually look quite runny and gloopy but once again, this is expected and as soon as the flour is added, it will resemble more of a cake-mix!

Now it's time to add the remaining ingredients. Measure out the flour and baking powder and sieve into the mixing bowl. Stir it round a couple of times using a wooden spoon before mixing with the hand whisk. This should stop the flour from flying into the air.

After the mixture begins to resemble cake mix - i.e. it's smooth and pale yellow in colour - add the vanilla essence and continue mixing until enough air is present, otherwise your cake will not rise.

Now it's time to evenly distribute the cake mix into the two baking trays. Once completed place in the oven and cook for about 20 - 25 minutes.

After the time is up, check the cakes are cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre of each cake. If it comes out clean, they're ready, but if their is still cake mix clinging to the skewer, pop them back in the oven for another few minutes.

Once cooked, place the cakes on a wire cooling rack to cool down. Ideally give them about 5 - 10 minutes before removing the metal tins and then a further 20 minutes to cool fully.

Whilst the cakes are cooling, you can get on with making the filling. Firstly whip the cream, using a hand whisk, until it's stiff and no longer runny. It shouldn't look as though it would be liquid enough to run off of the surface of the cake.

Next take your strawberries and chop off the tops. I've also halved mine, but depending on how you wish to decorate, you can always skip that step.

Right! It's time to construct your masterpiece.

Firstly lay one of your cake halves down, upside down onto a plate. Next, apply a (generous) layer of jam, and top with whipped cream. At this point I'd use about two thirds of the cream in the centre.

Now, add the seconds cake layer on top and spread the rest of the cream over the top like icing. Here you can get creative! I've arranged the strawberries so that they're covering the whole top, but you can do pretty much whatever you like.