White Chocolate and Raspberry Victoria Sponge

One of my fondest memories of being a child was when my mother made a birthday cake every year for my birthday, I haven't been at home for my birthday for a few years now, given that my birthday is in october, but these memories were reborn last year when my housemate Zanna made me a beautiful chocolate cake for my birthday.

This year, mostly thanks to the suggestion of my friend Alice, I sought to bring the same joy that I had felt to someone else, and made a cake for my friend Morgan. Given that Alice was busy working, my friend Ali and I got to work. I will admit to not having actually made a sponge cake in many years, but it turned out pretty well, so it's either thanks to Ali, or its just like riding a bike. I think it's probably thanks to Ali. (unlike me he remembers to check the oven before the sponge burns to a cracker)

Start by creaming together your sugar and butter until it is light and fluffy, and crack in four eggs and mix them together until combined. Add the self-raising flour one spoonful at a time, folding in the flour gently. Separate the mixture between two lined cake tins at 180 for around 20 minutes until risen and springy, or until a skewer pushed into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove the cakes from their tins and place them on a wire rack, wait until they've cooled entirely, and spread the tops of both of the cakes with raspberry jam. Place one cake on top of the other, and you can turn your attention to the whipped cream icing.

Place your double cream in a clean and dry glass bowl, and start to whip it with an electric whisk. Whip until it forms soft peaks, but isn't yet hard or discoloured, if your cream has a yellowish tint you have whipped it too long and you are now on the way to making butter, it will be delicious on your toast, but won't make a good cake topping. When the cream has been whipped, and this will take a while, fold in 8 tablespoons of icing sugar and two teaspoons of vanilla.

Spread the icing over your cake, making it smooth and even, though you will struggle to get it entirely flawless, and its lack of perfection is part of what I love about this topping. I am not the greatest cake decorator, unlike both my mother and my housemate, both of whom are practical artists. This icing is great for me, because it has an imperfect elegance.

Top the cake with upside down raspberries, and surround the outside with white chocolate fingers.

Not only is this cake delicious, and you can alter it using whatever sponge cake you like, red velvet would be particularly good, but it is also gloriously pretty, and the combination of the white chocolate and the red raspberries is particularly elegant.

ingredients

for the cake

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

4 eggs

225g self raising flour

for the topping

600ml double cream

8 tablespoons icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 x 114g boxes white chocolate fingers

150g raspberries