Victoria sponge cake

A basic sponge cake has only flour, sugar and eggs. It depends on well whisked eggs as the leavening agent. (To enlighten; leavening agent is one that helps a cake to rise.) Victoria sponge cake has fat and a leavening agent added too, namely, butter and baking powder. It is named after Queen Victoria who used to like this cake with her tea. Victoria sponge cake takes after the pound cake, in that it uses equal measures of flour, butter, sugar and eggs. I follow the old-fashioned method of baking; which is to cream caster sugar and butter, mixing it well with beaten egg, then folding in flour and baking powder. So let's dive into the recipe..

Granulated sugar - 250g

Butter - 250g  or 156ml olive oil

Organic brown eggs - 4

Vanilla essence - a few drops

All-purpose flour - 250g

Baking powder - 1/2 tsp

Milk - 1/2 cup

I cut down on the sugar to 220g and butter to 200g.

So, the modus operandi..

Grind granulated sugar to a powder. Keep butter out of the refrigerator a few hours ahead so that it softens. Cream caster sugar and butter until fluffy. 

Separate eggs white and yolk. Whisk the whites in a separate bowl until the texture falling from the beater is ribbon shaped. (To enlighten; blending eggs helps add air, thus acting as a raising agent.) Add egg whites, yolk, vanilla essence into the sugar-butter bowl and bring it all together. 

Sieve flour and baking powder into another bowl. (To enlighten; sieving helps add air, thus aiding in raising the cake.) Fold this into the sugar bowl in batches using a spatula. The spatula should move in a circular motion and then a slice through  the center, repeating many times. Pour in milk and combine.

Prepare cake tin by greasing the sides with butter and sprinkling flour. Greasing guarantees that the cake can be easily removed from the tin. The flour is an add on so that the butter doesn't combine with the batter and become a part of the cake.

Pour batter into cake tin and level it gently with the spatula. Preheat oven to 180C and bake for 50 mins. Revel in the sweet aroma that wafts in. Take out of oven and allow to cool in the cake tin for an hour. Cut a slice and wallow in all its goodness!

Store the cake in a closed tin in room temperature for up to 2 to 3 days. If kept in refrigerator, it could become hard.