Strawberry sponge cake
July 1st, 2006 | Written by jfolkmann | Topic: Dessert
Saturday we spent the day lying in the park, enjoying the summer sun and playing frisbee. After a long day of doing not much we were treated to a fabulous cake that my wife had prepared the night before. This one is pure sin….
Using the cake base you can add just about any filling you can think of, Nigella suggests using jam…I prefer the real fruit.
for the cake (taken directly from Nigella’s – How to be a domestic goddess
225g unsalted butter, very soft
225g caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4 large eggs
200g self-raising flour
25g cornflour
1 teaspoon baking powder (if using processor)
3-4 tablespoons milk
2x21cm sandwich tins (about 5cms deep), buttered
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. If the tins are loose bottomed, you don’t need to line them, otherwise do.
I always make this basic sponge cake in the food processor, which involves putting in all the ingredients except the milk and processing until you’ve got a smooth batter. Then pulse, pouring the milk gradually through the funnel til your cake mixture’s a soft, dropping consistency.
If you want to make this the traditional way, cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour between each. Fold in the rest of the flour and the cornflour, adding no baking powder, and when all’s incorporated, add a little milk as you need.
Pour and scrape the batter into the tins and bake for about 25 minutes, until the cakes are beginning to come away at the edges, are springy to the touch on top and a cake tester comes out clean. Leave the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 mins before turning out and leaving to cool completely.
This is our bit (not taken from nigella):
2 punnets strawberries, green bits removed and sliced
1/4 cup sugar
Mix strawberry slices and sugar in a large bowl. Stir and place in the fridge until you’re ready to eat your cake.
When you’re all set to dig in, put one of the cakes on a plate and spread with whipped cream. Scatter strawberries on top of the whipped cream, place the second cake on top of that. Spread whipped cream on top of the second cake, and add strawberries as before.
