My oldest friend and best bud, Elinor, asked me if I would make her sister, Claire, a cake for her 30th Birthday.
My brief, to make a 'posh style victoria sponge'!
I used a recipe I saw on a Hairy Bikers programme, I think they visited the WI and they passed on the recipe. Its pretty simple.....
Weigh 3 eggs for a 6 inch cake
or
4 eggs for a 7inch cake
Use the same weight as the eggs for the...
Butter
Caster Sugar
Sifted Self Raising flour
then...
A pinch of baking powder
A few drops of Vanilla Extract
Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat the eggs together and beat in a little at a time to the butter and sugar, adding a small amount of flour at the same time to prevent the mixture from curdling.
Add in the Vanilla Extract.
Fold in the rest of the flour and baking powder gently with a metal spoon. ( Be very gentle with it at this stage)
The mixture should be a soft dropping consistency, if it's a little stiff add a small amount dash of milk.
Divide the mixture into two lined and greased tins.
Bake in the centre of the oven 180c/gas 4 for approx 25-30 mins until golden and springy.
Remove from the tins and cool on a wire rack.
When the cake cools this is your chance to go to town. Most recipes suggest to sandwich the cake with jam and then sift icing or caster sugar over the top.
I filled the cake with raspberry jam, whipped cream, strawberries and raspberries. On the top I piped a little more whipped cream and then piled on the leftover strawberries and raspberries. I left a few of the stalks on strawberries to give it some extra colour. To finish it off i sifted some icing sugar over the top.
I hope this answered the brief, I was pretty happy with the outcome.
Happy Birthday Claire!
