RECIPE: White Chocolate and Raspberry Victoria Sponge Cake

This deliciously indulgent cake is a twist on a classic vanilla and strawberry Victoria sponge, but one could say that white chocolate and raspberry is a somewhat classic combo in itself. Either way, it's delicious! I like this because the colours look like a normal Victoria sponge, so it's a bit of a trick. Mwah ha ha! This cake is so easy and quick to make, and of course, decorating however you wish is tons of fun.  As I made this cake for my friend, Chris's birthday (hence the final design) I had to suppress my desire to make it all girlie and pretty, and I have realised that boyish cakes are difficult to make! Anyone can do this, and the feeling you get when giving someone a home-made cake is actually even better than the joy you get from eating it *gasp*. No, really. So go forth and bake!

The basic cake recipe I've used is from trusty ole bbcgoodfood.com, but I sort of invented the filling myself. I personally like rather a lot of icing (damn you, sweet tooth), but if you're less keen, by all means use less. The more traditional finish would be to sprinkle icing sugar on top. If you're a super duper icing fan (or just make too much) you could put icing all round the sides too. Make sure you take your butter and eggs out of the fridge well in advance so they're at room temperature. Trust me, you don't want to try and whisk rock hard butter. It's a nightmare. Please do leave any comments or suggestions as I'd love to know how you get on or any other ideas you may have. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS


For the cake:

• 200g caster sugar
• 200g softened butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tbsp milk

For the icing:

• 100g butter, softened
• 125g icing sugar,
• 75g white chocolate
• 3 tbsp raspberry jam (or however jammy you like!)

METHOD

1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Grease two round 20cm sandwich tins and line with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl, beat all the cake ingredients together until you have a smooth, soft batter.
2. Divide the mixture between the tins, smooth the surface as best you can with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and the cake springs back when pressed. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
3. To make the filling: melt the chocolate either in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water (making sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water), and leave it aside to cool slightly. While this is happening, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar. Then pour in the melted chocolate and, you guessed it, beat it in some more! I recommend doing this for a good five minutes - the longer you beat your icing, the fluffier it will be. Spread around two thirds of the butter cream over the top of one of the sponges, spread the jam over the bottom of the other and sandwich the two together. Spread the rest of the buttercream and decorate however you wish (I used Dr Oetker writing icing pens, red M&Ms and white chocolate chips). Keep in an airtight container and eat within 2 days... as IF it'll last that long though!

My halves pre-sandwiching together.