How to make...a Victoria Sponge that's fit for a royal wedding

Kirstie Allsopp created this delicious cake for the royal wedding

Victoria Sponge is pretty much my favorite cake of all time. So this strawberry and blueberry topped beauty is what I'll be eating to celebrate the royal wedding. The trick is to always add fresh berries to the middle of your sponge (so just tweak the below receipe by mixing in around 150 grams of berries into your jammy filling). 

Serves 12: Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients

Cake
200g (7oz) plain flour
405g can Carnation Condensed Milk Light
2 eggs
2tsp vanilla extract
150g (5½oz) margarine or butter
3tsp baking powder

Filling

6tbsp strawberry conserve or jam
Frosting
200g (7oz) icing sugar
100g (3½oz) margarine or butter, softened
2tsp vanilla extract
200g (7oz) mixed summer berries, to decorate

You will also need:

2 x 18cm (7in) sandwich cake tins, base lined with parchment

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C for fan ovens), Gas Mark 4.

2. Place the flour, condensed milk, egg, vanilla extract, margarine and baking powder in a bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until pale and fluffy.

3. Spoon into the tins and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes until springy to the touch and golden brown. Cool slightly then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

4. Place one half of the cake onto a serving plate and spread with the jam. Sandwich together with the other half.

5. Beat the icing sugar, butter and vanilla with a few drops of water to bring the mixture to a soft consistency. Spread onto the cake. Arrange the berries on top in a Union Jack shape if you like!

Top Tips

Look out for natural vanilla extract – not essence.  It is widely available in all good supermarkets and makes all the difference to baking homemade treats!

Make a chocolate version of this cake – substitute 25g of the flour for the same amount of cocoa powder in the sponge. Substitute the same 25g of the icing sugar for the same of cocoa powder and top with white and dark chocolate curls, pink wafer biscuits or sugar sprinkles.  Delicious!