I am a huge fan of baking recipes using oil instead of butter; not only are they much more economical, cakes made with oil don’t require any hanging around while you wait for the butter to soften, nor is there any of that “trying to find the whisk for your food processer” business so you can cream it together with the sugar. This is my go-to recipe for a quick and easy Victoria sponge, but it can be customised in lots of ways; add a little melted espresso powder for a coffee cake, or a few drops of almond essence for a Danish flavour.
Ingredients
4 eggs
300g sugar
240g self raising flour
240ml milk
175ml sunflower oil
1 tsp baking powder
A few drops of vanilla essence
250ml double cream
1 tbsp icing sugar, plus a little extra for dusting
Raspberry jam
- Grease and line two 8 inch cake tins, and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
- Mix the sugar, baking powder and flour together in a large bowl, then tip in the oil, eggs and milk; beat until combined. Don’t worry if it looks runnier than a sponge made with butter, it will be quite a liquid batter.
- Split the mixture between the cake tins and bake for 20-25 mins in the centre of the oven until risen and firm to the touch; leave to cool in the tins before removing.
- Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks, then sift over 1tbsp icing sugar. Give it a final whisk until it just reaches the stiff point.
- Smooth over the base of one cake, before spreading the jam over the top of the second sponge. Sandwich together and dust with a little extra icing sugar to serve.