Yesterday I brought a delicious Victoria sponge loaded with strawberries and cream to college. Needless to say it didn't last long, us sciencey folks need cake to keep the research going...
I found the recipe in the Ballymalloe Cookery Course (big book by Darina Allen, great for the basics). Ideally you need an electric whisk for this recipe.- 3 eggs, separated
- 225g caster sugar
- 75ml water
- 140g flour, sifted
- 1tsp baking powder
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Tasty fillings of choice (for me it was jam, cream and strawberries)
Preheat the oven to 190ºC.
Line two 20cm baking tins (don't grease them, try to get the paper to fit as well to the edge as you can, you can use a knife to separate the sides if your tin isnt nonsticky. When recipes don't contain much fats, and use whisked egg whites, it's best to avoid greasing the tin).
Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Set aside.
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar for two minutes, until they turn pale.
Whisk in the water, whisk for ten minutes until it becomes light and airy.
Fold in the sifted flour and baking powder.
Fold in the eggwhites.
Divide between the tins, and pop into the oven for 20mins.
Turn out on to wire racks and think about filling the cakes.
First, I decided which end of the cake was the bottom and put it on the plate it was to travel on, then I whipped cream and set it aside. Spread jam on either side of the sandwich (to stop the juice soaking into the sponge and also, I like jam). Then quartered (and removed the green bit) of loads of strawberries and put them on the bottom of the cake, then lathered on the cream and put the top on. I dusted the cake when I arrived in the break room (the icing sugar sometimes sweats and looks less fancy after a few hours, so pop a sieve and the icing sugar in the bag with the cake, or you can get them nice icing sugar dredgers).
Sadly, there are no photos of this masterpiece, but there are a few researchers who can attest to it's tastiness...