Sweet Raspberry Victoria Sponge

I’m heading over to my ‘mother in law’ this weekend, formally known as my boyfriend’s mother. It’s her birthday and all the family will be there, she’s a housewife and a fantastic cook. I wanted to give her a lovely treat for all the family so I chose the gorgeous sweet raspberry Victoria sponge. This cake is a classic and so simple to create.

I start off by pulling down my biggest bowl and weighing 225g of golden caster sugar. I open out 225g of butter pop it in the microwave for 10 seconds to make it go soft and then blend the sugar and butter together with a whisk until creamy and fluffy.


Lightly I whisk four eggs with a fork into a small bowl and gradually add the eggs into my creamy mix. I whisk them together for a few seconds to make sure they are well combined. At the moment it may look a bit lumpy but that is when you need to add the self-raising flour. I weigh out 225g of self-raising flour and add it to my mix and vigorously mix it with a wooden spoon until no flour can be seen anymore.

Next I spoon in the mix with a wooden spoon and a tablespoon into two round cake tins evenly. The cake tins I use are soft flexible ones these ensure that when they come out of the oven I can easily push the cake out of the tin without having to shake it out. I smooth down the top with the back of the tablespoon to make sure it rises evenly in the oven.

Finally I pop it in the oven at 180c and let it rise for about 25 minutes until its golden brown and smelling amazing.

Afterwards I let it cool down in its tin and then carefully lift the tin upside down onto a plate.

Jammy goodness

I pour in two handfuls worth of raspberries into a pan, add two tablespoons of orange juice and a generous serving of a tablespoon of golden caster sugar.

It is left to simmer for 15-20 mins until the raspberries have disintegrated and the result is soft sweet jam.


When it is ready I take the jam off the heat and let it cool and turn soft. I then spread it onto one of the cakes.

The top cake is placed ready for the cream.

The Best Buttercream

150g of icing sugar and 150g of butter is weighed out and put into a bowl, I add a teaspoon of vanilla for flavour and whisk them. I step well back at this point – essential if you want to avoid being smothered in icing sugar!
The rest of the mix is stirred with a wooden spoon and I taste it thinking I must not eat it all now and spoon all of it on the top of the cake.

For the finish I chop up some strawberries and lay them on the top of the cake.

Baking Basics

When I started baking all I had was a small bowl and some wooden spoons. My collection has now grown, a massive clear bowl, three red bowls in different sizes, a whisk, ice cream scoop, various spoons, weights, silicone cupcake holders and a few more. If you fancy it you can have a snazzy whisk and an expensive food mixer but if your starting out your better off sticking to the basics first, a simple whisk will do most jobs well and might even teach you to whisk eggs with your wrist rather than relying on electricity. I find most of my baking things from lovely little shops in random places rather than the plain high street, unique kitchen shops tend to stock an array of colourful items and things you wouldn’t think of buying but are actually quite handy, nevertheless you have to tell the difference between a good baking basic (cutter shapes) to a useless thing that will sit in your drawer (banana slicer) Simple supermarkets can also be a saviour for people on budgets, I picked up my clear bowl which I create pretty much everything in for a pound in my local supermarket. When I had all my basic baking instruments I forgot about the fact I would need something to put my sweet treats in! There are so many shops that do lovely cake tins, John Lewis do nice ones in different sizes. Being short on cash I often double up a lasagne tin for a baking tray for brownies, it saves on buying more baking trays and cupboard room!

Flour is flour; these days you can get all sorts of flour, depending on dietary requirements. I buy the best eggs though, they are going to be incorporated into your whole creation and they should be of the best quality and the right sizing. Don’t forget sizing, check the ingredients, it does matter. Cooking chocolate and eating chocolate are not the same thing, I have learned this the hard way through trying to cook some milk chocolate with some butter and noticing it quickly went lumpy and looked terrible. If you insist on using eating chocolate treat the chocolate as precious and be quick and careful melting it. Cocoa powder is a life saver but use it in combination of melted chocolate and it will taste amazing. Baking powder is not the same as bicarbonate of soda (sounds simple but I thought they were basically the same, use one when the recipe says the other and believe me your bake will suffer).

Most recipes begin with pre heat to such a time, and then the making moments, if your new to it all and anything like me it will take you a while to gather your ingredients, measure out the correct amounts and whisk whatever needs to be mixed. Then pre-heat.

Atmosphere is everything. For me I like to be in the right kind of mood to bake. Inquisitive, experimental and keen springs to mind. I like to make sure the kitchen is clean before I start otherwise it can get hectic with bowls and sugar and eggs in the middle of the bake. Not to say I always clean, I usually leave things lying around. Up until now I refrained from bringing in any music into the kitchen but if you can I find it the best inspiration and motivation if you are unsure of what you are about to do. Open the window let the air come in and put your favourite music on. My kitchen is small and uninviting, by putting some music on, a pinny (recommend it if you don’t want flour all over your favourite jeans for the rest of the day) and colourful baking instruments I am ready.

So with a clear kitchen (clear mind), basic essential utensils, music, correct ingredients and fresh air your ready to go. I best get baking!