Classic Victoria Sponge with Karen Wright

We teamed-up with Karen Wright, contestant on the Great British Bake Off and fellow Yorkshire baker, to take a trip down memory lane. We’re so used to seeing adventurous food creations these days that we often overlook the classics. So, here’s an opportunity to fall back in love with the simple recipes handed down the generations – the Victoria Sponge, made with fresh cream and lashings of strawberry preserve. Pair with a cup of tea and enjoy over a good chin wag!

Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

10

Serves 10

You will need

4 free range eggs (we recommend extra yellow yolks for a deeper colour to the sponge)
200g of caster sugar
200g of self-raising flour
200g of butter
300ml of double whipped cream
1/2 jar of Cartwright & Butler Strawberry Preserve
Icing sugar
Dash of vanilla essence

Method

To make the cake

Pre-heat the oven to 170˚C for fan assisted ovens / Gas Mark 3.
Grease and line 2 x 20cm springform cake tins with baking parchment, using a circle cut for the base and a long strip cut for the edge ensuring a minimum of 5cm additional height above the tin edge.
Add the butter and sugar to a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric hand-held mixer until creamed.
Crack the eggs into a separate bowl to check their quality and then add to the butter.
Add a tbsp of the flour to the mixture and mix until combined.
Sift the flour into the mixture and, using a long-handled metal spoon, stir in a figure of eight to add air to the mixture.
Spoon equal amounts into each cake tin and smooth to the edges with a spatula.
Bake in the oven for up to 30 minutes. The sponge is ready when the top is springy to the touch and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.
Remove from the tins and place onto a cooling rack to cool.

To finish the cake

Add the cream to a mixing bowl with a tbsp of icing sugar and a dash of vanilla.
Whisk with an electric whisk until the cream forms soft peaks.
Choose which cake will be the top and turn the other over so that it is flat side up.
Spoon the strawberry preserve onto the flat side of the base cake and gently spread until evenly coated, ensuring it is pushed fully to the edge.
Use a piping bag, pipe the cream over the base in rosettes, working in a circular pattern from the edge to the centre.
Carefully place the top cake onto the cream and dust with icing sugar.

Serve with fresh strawberries

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