Victoria Sponge Cake

When it comes to birthday cakes, there are a lot of options! Chocolate, vanilla, cupcakes, ice cream cakes, and even cookie cakes! There are tons of decoration choices, too. Turn on the TV at any moment and you can always find some sort of reality show that documents truly insane cake designs. If you want a life-sized cake of yourself for your birthday, you can totally find someone who can make it. But when my birthday rolls around each year, I prefer a very simple, old-fashioned favourite: a strawberry shortcake.

There are a variety of methods you can use to make strawberry shortcake. I've tested versions with a sweet biscuit base, a shortbread cookie base, chocolate-infused whipped cream, and recipes that use only fresh strawberries in the filling. In my opinion, it's hard to mess up the classic combo of strawberries and cream, so these were all pretty good. But my favourite version is a recipe by Irish chef and vlogger Donal Skehan. His sandwich uses a base of vanilla sponge cake and a heavenly filling of whipped cream and jam. The original recipe can be found here. I added a few tweaks here and there to suit my and my family's tastes, but the product is still amazing! It also happens to be super easy to make and requires very few ingredients. The measurements of flour, butter and sugar are all equal so it's super easy to memorize. If you cut the sponge into individual circles with a cookie cutter, it is the perfect no-fuss dessert to take to social gatherings. The first time I brought this to a family reunion, it was the hit of the day and everyone was begging for the recipe!

Of course, you don't need a special occasion to make this cake. Whip it up on any summer's eve and enjoy a slice. Or two. Or five.

Makes 1 tall, fluffy, creamy, fresh, AMAZING cake
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup whipping/double cream
- 1 cup of your favourite strawberry jam (I use one homemade by my grandmother)
- 5-6 fresh strawberries, plus extra to decorate
- icing sugar (to decorate)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

2. In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until pale yellow.

3. Mix in the eggs one at a time so the mixture doesn't split. Add in the vanilla extract.

4. Using a hand mixing spoon, delicately fold in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. If you find the batter is too thick, add in a tablespoon or so of milk.

5. Grease two 8 inch springform pans after lining the bottoms with cutout circles of parchment paper. Divide the mixture between the cake pans and bake for roughly 20 minutes each, until golden brown on top. Let cool before handling.

6. Whip the cream in a cold bowl. *Some people do not like the taste of true cream and prefer a sweetened version. If this is you, add a splash of vanilla extract and half a cup of sugar when whipping.*

7. Spoon the jam over the bottom layer of the cake. Dollop the cream on top of the jam. Thinly slice a few strawberries and arrange them in a single layer over the cream.

8. Place the top cake layer over the strawberries and press down a little until gooey jam and luscious cream ooze out the sides. Pile extra strawberries on top and sprinkle a dusting of icing sugar over the top. Enjoy!