Hard though it may be for me to admit, we live in a world where even cakes, apparently, are ruled by the fickle,tyrannical hand of fashion. Whetheryou choose a cupcake or amacaroon, even a whoopie pie oracake pop, says as much about youas the car you drive or the shoesyou wear. Exhausting, isn't it?
Well, today I'm standing firm against the vagaries of cake cultism, letting the baking bandwagon roll right on by, and celebrating the unsurpassed joys of the Victoria sandwich. Yes, the cake that launched a thousand afternoon teas and church fetes, and the subject of hotly contested baking competitions at many a country show.
You'll notice in my recipe's ingredients list that I'm a little lighton numbers. This isn't some dreadful error on my part, nor somego-as-you-please hippyishness. No, I'm following in the path of that quintessentially Victorian figure Mrs Beeton, wholaid out the classic recipe for the Victoria sponge in her 1861 Book Of Household Management. In her recipe, the cake is made from equal quantities of eggs, butter, sugar and flour. You simply weigh the eggs in their shells and then measure out the same amount of butter, sugar and flour. So if the eggs just happen to weigh 250g, then you want a250gblock of butter and 250g of everything else. They won't, of course, but you must do what the eggs tell you – that's the fun of it.
If you have a reasonably accurate weighing contraption, it couldn't beeasier, or more delicious. There isa wonderful rightness about this, a simplicity reflected in the cake itself. Nothing fancy, nothing elaborate, and yet it's one of the finest cakes ever to grace a plate.
Even better, you can use the same batter to make fairy or butterfly cakes, too. If you'd like to ring the changes a bit, add the zest of alemon in place of the vanilla and usethe lemon juice instead of milk to lighten the batter, then sandwich it together with a slick of lemon curd. You can use it as a base for coffee and walnut cake, or even myrather more exotic cardamom and orange cake.
While other cakes might come andgo, usurped by more boastful, trendier confections, I can proudly say I'm glad to live in the kingdom of Victoria Regina.
Victoria sandwich
The classic. What teatime was madefor. Remember, weigh the eggs first, then use the same amountof butter, sugar and flour. Makes a 20cm cake.
Unsalted butter, softened, plus alittle more for greasing
4 eggs
Golden caster sugar
Self-raising flour, sieved with apinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk, if necessary
Raspberry jam
Whipping cream
Icing sugar or caster sugar, fordusting
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease two 20cm sandwich cake tins with butter, andline the bases of each with baking parchment.
Weigh the eggs in their shells andweigh out the same amount of butter, sugar and flour. In a bowl, beat the butter until creamy, then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, adding a tablespoon of sifted flour ifthe mix looks as if it's going to curdle. Beat in the vanilla extract, then gently but thoroughly fold in the flour. Now check the consistency of the batter. Scoop up a tablespoon of the mixture and hold it over the bowl. If it drops down fairly easily, it's just right. If it sticks stubbornly in the spoon, fold a tablespoon or two of milk into the mixture.
Divide the batter equally between the two tins and gently smooth the tops with a knife. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes, then turn out on to awire rack to cool completely.
Turn one of the cakes upside down on a plate, so the flat surface is uppermost. Spread generously with raspberry jam. Spread a good layer of whipped cream on the flat surface of the second cake and sandwich the two together. If you like, dust the surface with icing sugar or caster sugar before serving.
Coffee and walnut cake
A darling of village fetes and church fairs everywhere, and with very good reason. Makes one 20cm cake.
Victoria sponge ingredients, as listed in the master recipe (above), apart from the milk
2 tbsp instant coffee dissolved in 1½tbsp hot water, or 2 tbsp espresso
100g walnuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
For the icing
100g unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp instant coffee dissolved in 1tbsp hot water, or 1½ tbsp espresso
300g golden icing sugar, sieved
12 walnut halves, lightly toasted
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Lightly grease two 20cm sandwich cake tins and line the base of each with baking parchment.
Prepare the batter as in the masterrecipe on the previous page,adding the coffee liquid alongwith the vanilla and gently folding in thewalnuts after the flour. Spoon the batter equally into the prepared tins, smooth the topsand bake for 25-30 minutes, until atoothpick comes out clean. Leaveto cool completely, as in the master recipe.
While the cake is cooling, make theicing. Beat the butter untilvery smooth, then beat inthecoffee and icing sugar until smooth. When the cake is cold, sandwich it together with half of theicing, spread the remaining icingon top and decorate with the walnut halves..
Orange cardamom loaf cake
The addition of the orange and cardamom syrup makes this loaf cake wonderfully moist. Makes one 1kg loaf cake.
8 cardamom pods
2 small oranges, zested, plus the juice of 1 of the oranges
Victoria sponge ingredients, as listed in the master recipe (above), apart from the vanilla and milk
For the syrup
Juice and zest of 2 small oranges
6 cardamom pods, bashed
2 tsp honey
3-4 tbsp orange curd
Remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and discard the husks. Chop the seeds, or pound them with a pestle and mortar, until roughly broken up. Put them in asmall pan with the orange juice and warm until just simmering. Cool andstrain through a fine sieve.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Butter a 1kg loaf tin and linethe bottom and sides with buttered baking parchment.
Prepare the sponge as in the Victoria sandwich recipe above, beating the orange zest into the batter along with the flour and lightening the mixture with the cardamom-infused orange juice. Spoon into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 35-40 minutes, until atoothpick or skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
While the cake is baking, make thesyrup. Put the orange zest, juice, cardamom and honey into a pan, simmer for three to four minutes, then leave to cool in the pan. Strain out the cardamom pods.
When you take the cake out of the oven, immediately pierce the top all over with a skewer and pour over the syrup, letting it trickle all over the surface and down the sides. When the cake is completely cold, remove from the tin and remove the paper. Cut it in half horizontally, and sandwich it together with a good layer oforange curd. Dust with caster or icing sugar, and serve in fat slices.
theguardian.com/hughfearnleywhittingstall
