Apple Victoria Sponge

Victoria Sponge is just the best thing to bake on a Sunday when your feeling at a bit of a loose end. Its so simple to do and most of the time you'll have everything you need in the storecupboard.

I didn't have any of the traditional raspberry/strawberry jam in the house, so in this recipe i've used my hubby's homemade apple jam (i'll try and get the recipe) with vanilla buttercream icing...

For one Victoria Sponge you will need:
180g unsalted butter
180g caster sugar
180g self-raising flour
3 medium eggs
dash of vanilla essence

And for the filling/topping:
Apple jam (or jam of choice!)
88g unsalted butter
175g sifted icing sugar
1 tbsp boiling water
dash of vanilla essence
Icing sugar for dusting

Before starting on the cake mixture pre-heat your oven to 180c. Make some preparations by greasing two 20cm sandwich tins, which you will then need to line with greaseproof paper.

Next beat together the butter and sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy in consistency. You'll then need to mix the eggs in one at a time before sifting in the self-raising flour. Once you have combined all of these ingredients thoroughly its time to divide the mix into the cake tins.

The cakes will need to be baked for around 20-25 minutes until the sponge has a golden brown colour and springy consistency. Once cooked, leave the cakes for around 5 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to cool.

Before even attempting the filling, leave the cakes to cool for at least 30 minutes...otherwise you will be left with a gooey mess! For the buttercream filling whisk the butter, icing sugar, boiling water and vanilla essence together until the icing has a nice thick consistency. If it feels slightly gloopy just simply add more icing sugar to the mix.

Finally to decorate, spread the jam onto both sides of the cake...its best not to spread the filling right up to the edges as it will spill over the sides once you press the cakes together! All you need to do now is add the buttercream, by spooning into the centre of the bottom cake before gently placing the top layer. If you wish you can now add a dusting of icing sugar on top of the sponge.

Happy Baking! x