Victoria Sponge Cake

My mom turned 93 yesterday. I asked her what kind of cake she'd like for her birthday this year and she told me, "Victoria Sponge Cake." You might remember that my mother grew up in England. She has begun to crave all her childhood favorites lately. Last year she asked me to make this same cake and I refused. Why? Because this is a VERY BORING cake! But who knows how many birthdays my poor mother may have left, so I am no longer insisting on making a cake that the rest of us might also enjoy. 

That's a bit of an exaggeration. I prefer a more interesting cake, like a carrot cake perhaps, but I'm sure we will enjoy this one!

This Victoria Sponge is a basic butter cake, usually served as a "sandwich" or layer cake. The middle layer always contains jam, often strawberry but since my mom is allergic to strawberries, we are using raspberry. I found a recipe posted by the BBC which called for buttercream in the center, in addition to the jam. I asked my mother about that and she said no to the buttercream. So we're doing a simplified version. Just 2 layers of sponge with jam in the middle. The top of the cake gets a light sprinkle of powdered sugar, and that's it. Do you see what I mean by BORING?

If you watch The Great British Baking Show (and we would never miss it!!) you will see the contestants make all kinds of variations on the sandwich cake, all of which are much more interesting. But those are not what my mom wants, so I am sticking with the basics.

I halved the recipe and will only make one layer of sponge, then I will slice it in half. This is because I don't have 2 matching cake pans! If you are better stocked than I am, and wish to bake 2 layer cakes, just double the ingredients!

One more hint: ingredients in British recipes are always listed by weight, not measured in cups. You will need a scale to properly measure. This is really important for baking!

Ingredients

• 100g caster sugar
• 100g softened butter
• 2 eggs, beaten (I used duck eggs, which are very rich and yummy!)
• 100g self-raising flour
• 1/2 tsp  baking powder
• 1 tbsp milk
• 1 cup good quality jam 
• confectioner's sugar to finish
• Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a medium-sized round cake pan.
• Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add one egg at a time and beat until incorporated. Add flour and baking powder. Stir gently. Add milk.
• Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350F for about 25 minutes, until lightly browned on top and a skewer comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing cake in half horizontally. Spread bottom layer with jam. Place top layer onto bottom layer and sprinkle lightly with confectioner's sugar. Serve with a pot of strong black tea imported from England. No other tea will do.