- 3 eggs
- Butter, room temperature
- Caster sugar
- Self-raising flour
- Pinch of salt
- Milk
- Fresh double cream, whipped to soft peaks
- Jam of your choice
- Berries and icing sugar to decorate
You may have noticed that I have not written any quantities for the butter, sugar and self-raising flour. The trick to a wonderful Victoria sponge is that all the ingredients should be of equal quantity. So the first instruction is to weigh your 3 whole eggs, in their shell. Once you have determined their weight (which will be somewhere between 170-190g) you can then weigh out the butter, sugar and flour to exactly the eggs’ weight.
Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4. In a large mixing bowl using a hand held whisk, or in a stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until really pale, light and fluffy. This may take longer than you think - which is why I like to do this in a stand mixer – but this is another trick to a really light and fluffy sponge, so persevere!
Whisk your eggs together in a bowl and then very slowly, little bit by little bit, add them into your butter and sugar mix, while whisking all the time and allowing a good whisking between additions. You will have a beautiful voluminous, mousse like mixture.
Sift in the self-raising flour and then fold into the mixture gently, using a large metal spoon. Add a splash of milk and fold in with the spoon. The mixture should drop off the spoon easily, when held above the bowl. If it doesn’t, add another splash of milk and fold in.
Lightly butter your bun/muffin tins and pour in the cake mix, levelling it out carefully with the back of a spoon.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes or when the cakes are lightly golden and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave the cakes in the tin for a few minutes before turning them out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.
Once cooled, cut the cakes in half horizontally and spread one half with your jam of choice and the whipped double cream. Place the other half on top and press down gently, just to secure them. It’s lovely to see a bit of the cream and jam oozing out of the sides, so be generous!
I like to top the cakes with another dollop of whipped cream and a berry that represents the jam you have chosen and then sift over a light dusting of icing sugar.