My mother always told me stories growing up about how my grandmother was the best baker and how on Sundays my mother would come home to a table full of cakes and sweet treats full of colour that my grandmother had made for her. 

My grandmother, Mary, used to be a professional baker in a small shop in my mom’s town she grew up in. One thing that she always made was Victoria sponge cakes. 

Since the quarantine I have thought a lot about whether or not I can bake like her, or even attempt to do it well. When she died she didn’t leave any recipes behind so I have taken some off the internet and made it so many times that I will now share what is the best and easiest Victoria sponge. 

A Victoria Sponge cake is very simple to make and requires minimal ingredients, which is ideal during quarantine. The key to a sponge is for it to be light and fluffy, so when making the batter make sure to see the bubbles.

The filling on the inside is just a simple strawberry jam, you can get it at nearly every grocery store since it isn’t a big ticket item like toilet paper. Then the top of the cake is just a thin layer of evenly distributed powdered sugar.

To start, preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit and when putting your cake in the oven make sure that you put it in the middle rack. The middle of an oven is the hottest part so your cake will bake quicker than if you put it on the top or the bottom rack. 

Once you have done that, then you will need only one bowl, a mixer or spoon, and the following ingredients. Four eggs, one cup of sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, one fourth teaspoon of salt, and finally one cup of flour.

If you’re an avid baker you will see that there is a consistent amount of the ingredients meaning that it isn’t the most flavorful cake in the world but it is supposed to be simplistic. When making the batter, you can add it all in the same bowl at the same time. Since it is a simple batter it can let it sit out, and you can mix it together in no particular order. 

Once you have mixed all the ingredients into a smooth texture where the mixture is smooth enough to just fall off your spoon or beaters. Before splitting the mixture into the two eight inch pans make sure to coat the inside with butter or pam to allow the cake when it is done to simply slide out of the tins.

Then split the mixture into two circular pans with a diameter of eight inches. Let it bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, allow the cake to get a light golden brown on top but it is better to edge on a lighter color. 

To make sure that the cake is done, take a toothpick or a knife and put it through the center of it come out clean then your cake is cooked all the way through. At this time, you want to let them fully cool for about 15 minutes out of their pans. To get them out of their pans you may need to use a knife to trace around the edges of the pan. 

Finally the assembly of the cake, once both cakes have cooled fully you want to cut off the top of one of them and this will act as your base. Try to get the cut across the top to be even so that balancing the top layer is easier.

Then once you have the base layer of the cake cut, you want to spread a thick layer of strawberry jam across the top of the base layer. When you have finished that you want to add the second layer of cake.

For finishing touches use a sieve to add powdered sugar to the top of the cake. You can then add half cut strawberries to the top if you want, then enjoy.