Day 8: Victoria Sponge Cake

This recipe is very similar to the Perfect Fairy Cake recipe, but this time I actually took the time to weigh each ingredient, and lemme tell ya, that made all the difference! I know; who knew, right? The recipe comes from the back of my bag of caster sugar, Whitworths brand.

The Recipe

INGREDIENTS

175g Butter, Softened

175g Whitworths Caster Sugar

3 Eggs, Beaten

Vanilla Essence

175g Self Raising Flour

150ml Double Cream, Whipped

45ml (3 tbsp) Jam

Whitworths Caster Sugar to decorate

METHOD

1. Grease and line 2 x 20cm (8″) round sandwich tins.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, followed by a few drops of vanilla essence.

3. Fold in the flour. Divide the mixture between the prepared cake tins, smooth the top and bake in a preheated oven 190C/380F/Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes until golden, well risen and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack.

4. When cooled, sandwich the cakes together with the whipped cream and jam. Dredge the top with Whitworths Caster Sugar to decorate.

My Alterations

I stuck as closely to this recipe as possible, in light of my dismal failure with the fairy cakes. The only real changes were that I didn’t bother to whip the cream (too lazy) and I used my sifter to sprinkle icing sugar on the top of the cake, not caster sugar (finely granulated sugar). Who sprinkles caster sugar on a cake to decorate it, I ask you? That would look weird.

The Results

This is a very simple, pleasing cake. It is a classic English cake (the name of it didn’t give that one away or anything!), and rightly so. This recipe worked fine, and my husband couldn’t keep his mitts off of it.

The cake itself is rather small and light-weight, so it’s not going to be a substantial dessert. It works well as part of a buffet spread or alongside some ice cream or something. This is the kind of cake that everybody likes, but it doesn’t have much oomph or pizazz.

The Verdict

Easy to whip up, pleasant taste and texture, classic recipe. This is definitely a keeper.

The Rating

4/5

A very dependable cake that will please the crowds. Ours didn’t last long!

Day 4: The Perfect Fairy Cake Recipe

As an American living in England, I am used to a certain way of baking, and I haven’t wrapped my head around the idea of weighing all my ingredients. I have a kitchen scale, but the battery ran out and I haven’t bothered to replace it. Personally, I just prefer using cups and teaspoons. It’s also easier for me to alter a recipe or double/halve it if it’s in American measurements.

But, since I live here, and sometimes American ingredients are hard to come by, I will make the attempt from time to time to use an English recipe. Today, I attempted to make fairy cakes (cupcakes) with my children. In theory, it is an easy recipe, and my kids had a blast creaming sugar, breaking eggs, and mixing batter, but I messed it up. Big time.

Taken from iVillage website.

The Recipe

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz softened butter

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz caster sugar

• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 125g / 4 1/2 oz self-raising flour

• 2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas mark 5. Either butter the tin or place the paper cases in the holes (see above). In a mixing bowl beat the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. You can use an electric whisk or a wooden spoon.

2. Add the beaten egg, a little at a time, whisking to incorporate, then beat in the vanilla.

3. Sift in half of the flour and fold into the mixture. Add the milk and the rest of the flour and fold until well combined.

4. Spoon into the tin and bake for 12 minutes or until risen and golden on top. Allow to cool for ten minutes on a rack before removing from the tin.

My Alterations

So, without the means to weigh my ingredients, I thought I could wing it with a half cup of each of the main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour) and stick to the same measurements for everything else. I failed to take into consideration that flour weighs a LOT LESS than butter, so we used far too much butter for these cakes. Far, far too much.

We followed the rest of the recipe as closely as possible with two young children in charge of the mixing. Wooden spoons all around; even if I had an electric whisk, there’s no way I would have let my 5 year old and 3 year old anywhere near one!

The children put decorations on the cakes before baking – mostly multicoloured sprinkles and little silver balls. I find it’s easier to bake the sprinkles into the cake itself than it is to make icing and do it after the cakes have cooled.

The Results

I didn’t notice anything amiss in the batter when we were spooning it into the paper cup liners; it wasn’t until after they were finished baking that I noticed the paper liners looked really greasy. My heart sank; I knew I messed up the recipe.

The cakes tasted very greasy when warm, and only less so when cooled. My kids didn’t mind it, and the cakes have now gone into the freezer for storage. These cakes will probably be reserved for kids’ treats only, depending on how well they hold up frozen.

The only redeeming quality of the cakes were the batch with cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top before baking. When eaten warm, they tasted like delicious doughnuts. When eaten cold, not so much. Ah well.

The Verdict

I totally messed up this recipe. I’m sure the cakes would have turned out “perfect” if not for my bungling, so their greasy taste is all my fault. Luckily, my kids didn’t seem bothered, and it was a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon with them. Sometimes baking isn’t just about how the finished product turns out.

The Rating

2/5

The only passable batch were the cinnamon sugar ones, and they only tasted good when warm. This recipe will probably be reattempted at some point, and made correctly!