Basic sponge cake.

Basic Sponge Mixture

This is the mixture I will be using when I visit my niece and I thought I’d share it with you.

This type of sponge is suitable for one large cake with a topping or a middle layer of jam if  you double the ingredients listed. Or you can use the mix for smaller individual cakes that you can ice and decorate. These measures below will make about a dozen small sponge cakes in paper cases, don’t use muffin cases or you will only get about four. If you want more mixture increase the amount of the ingredients by 2.

(4 oz) self-raising flour
(4 oz) butter, at room temperature ( 4 oz) caster sugar
2 medium eggs. Don’t use large eggs as it will make the mix too wet. If you only have large add one and a dash of milk.
1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C / gas mark 4.
Measure all the ingredients into a large bowl.
Mix all of the ingredients using a electric whisk or elbow grease if you like me and only have a balloon whisk.
Pour the mixture into 2 non-stick 8 inch tins for one cake, or into individual paper cases in a cake tin for little cakes.
Place them in the oven till golden brown 15-25 minutes.

You can tell the cake is cooked if you slide a clean knife or skewer into the middle and it comes out clean. Then your sponge is done. You don’t need to do that with the small cakes just tap one or two lightly with your finger and you’ll know they are done.

Take out of the tin carefully and leave to cool on a wire rack, this is important because if you don’t do it the cake will have a soggy bottom.

For your one sponge cake spread jam in the middle and put the best of the two halves on the top, dust with icing sugar.

For the little cakes decorate with water icing and any sprinkles you want, or cut a small section of the top off each cake cut this section in half to make wings, put a dollop of cream in the space where the top was and then add the two wings to make angel cakes.

If you try this recipe I would love to know if it worked for you and how you decorated your cakes. Let me know.