Super Easy Victoria Sponge Food

MARY BERRY'S EASY VICTORIA SANDWICH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line two 20cm/8in sandwich tins. Use a piece of baking paper to rub a little butter around the inside of the tins until the sides and base are lightly coated, then line the bottom with a circle of baking paper.
• Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, flour, baking powder and butter. Mix together until well combined with an electric hand mixer (you can also use a wooden spoon), but be careful not to over mix. Put a damp cloth under your bowl when you're mixing to stop it moving around. The finished mixture should fall off a spoon easily.
• Divide the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn't need to be exact, but you can weigh the filled tins if you want to check. Use a spatula to remove all of the mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.
• Bake the cakes on the middle shelf of the oven for 25 minutes. Check them after 20 minutes. The cakes are done when they're golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins. Press them gently to check - they should be springy to the touch. Set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes. Run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tins and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
• To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam. If you want to, you can spread over whipped cream too. Top with the second cake, top-side up. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.

VICTORIA SPONGE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
• Grease and line 2 x 18cm/7in cake tins with baking paper.
• Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs, a little at a time, and stir in the vanilla extract.
• Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if necessary, to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency.
• Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with a spatula.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack.
• Whip the cream with a whisk or electric handheld mixer until it forms soft peaks when the whisk is removed.
• Sandwich the cakes together the whipped cream and berries. Dust with icing sugar.

VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees and place a rack in the center. Grease and line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until incorporated, then beat in milk, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary. Mix in flour mixture until combined, then scrape into prepared cake pans, smoothing the top.
• Bake cakes until golden brown and springy, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes, then unmold them onto a wire rack to cool completely, flat side down.
• Transfer one cake (the less attractive one) to a serving platter, and spread jam evenly on top. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip cream, confectioners' sugar and vanilla just until it holds stiff peaks. Dollop about half the cream on top of jam, then top with remaining cake. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve immediately, with the extra whipped cream on the side.