RECIPE: The perfect victoria sponge

Something you might not know about me (unless you follow me on Instagram) is that I love baking, and victoria sponges are one of my favourite treats to bake.  I've tried lots of recipes, and this one is my favourite - all credit for the recipe goes to Jamie Oliver!  It's in his 'Cook with Jamie Oliver' recipe book, but there's a couple of things I leave out.  One of the things I really like about this recipe is how easy it is to remember, 225g of everything, and 4 eggs :)

Ingredients

For the sponge:
225g softened unsalted butter

225g caster sugar

225g self raising flour

4 eggs

(the recipe also suggests the rind of one lemon, but I prefer it without)

For the buttercream:

75g softened unsalted butter

175g icing sugar

1 cap of vanilla extract (I use the Sainsburys Taste the Difference Madagascan vanilla extract)

Apricot jam

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 180c (160 fan), grease and line with baking powder 2 x 20cm baking tins
2.  Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (I usually do this with a wooden spoon)

3.  Mix in the eggs one by one (I use an electric hand whisk for this)

4.  When the mixture is light and well blended, fold in the flour (be careful not to over stir it as you'll stir all the air out of it)

5.  Spread the mixture evenly between both tins and bake in the oven for about 20 mins, or until golden

6.  While the sponge is backing, make the buttercream by mixing the butter and icing sugar together until you get a soft workable paste

7.  When cooked, take out and cool

8.  When the sponge has cooled but is still a tiny bit warm, spread a layer of apricot jam on one sponge, and spread the buttercream onto the other sponge.  Then place the one sponge on top of the other, and dust with icing sugar.

Tip: If you're planning on covering the sponge with royal icing (the sheet icing), then use a bread knife to cut the domed part of the top sponge off so you get a nice flat top on your cake.  If you do this, also brush some of the apricot jam around the outside of the cake, it'll help the royal icing to stick to the sponge :)

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