Mary Berry is Britain’s most famous baker and not for nothing is she known as the “queen of baking”. For decades she has helped people from all walks of life get to grips with baking, helping them produce wonderful-tasting creations in as simple a way as possible.
It’s quite simply good old-fashioned cooking at its best — but still delivers great results today. So when my daughter came home from school one day saying there was a class Victoria sponge contest in a couple of days that she wanted to take part in, I instantly knew the first place I’d turn.
I love cooking but I am by no means an expert baker. In fact, I still find cakes intimidating despite how much I enjoy being in the kitchen and experimenting with new foods and flavour combinations (you can find my healthy chocolate peanut butter bar that tastes better than Snickers here or my superfood chocolate mousse here).
But Mary Berry’s classic and easy Victoria sponge recipe was a really straightforward recipe to make with a nine-year-old, who really enjoyed the whole process.
Depsite the simplicity of the sponge recipe, both sponges (one on top, one on the bottom) still came out of the oven really springy to the touch, exactly as they should.
Mary Berry’s easy Victoria sponge cake recipe is described as “a baking classic and a tasty tea-time treat” that’s best eaten fresh. In this recipe, the sponge is simply filled with jam, but I added the optional extra of whipped cream, which I think made it so much more moist, indulgent, tasty and inviting.
As it was a cake for a school competition too, we had fun with decorating the top with whipped cream in different colours as well as strawberries and blueberries, which wasn’t part of Mary’s recipe and some Victoria sponge purists might disagree with!
Of course, you don’t need to do that and you could just fill the centre with jam (or jam and cream) and dust some icing sugar across the top. The beauty of this recipe is it’s a great base for being as creative as you like.
