Victoria sponge
Makes a 25cm cake
The classic British sandwich cake, this was – as you would expect – named in honour of Queen Victoria. We haven’t tinkered with it and ours is quite traditional, being light but firm and filled with good jam and whipped unsweetened cream.
250g soft butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
250g plain white flour
2 tsp baking powder
20g icing sugar for dusting
filling
80g raspberry or strawberry jam
150ml double cream, whipped
1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Beat the butter with the caster sugar until pale and fluffy.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs just to mix. Slowly add the eggs to the butter and sugar mix, making sure each addition is well mixed in before adding more.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder, then gently fold into the egg mix with a spatula.
4. Use baking parchment to line the bottom of a 25cm round cake tin with a removable bottom. Line the side of the tin with a separate strip of parchment. Pour in the cake mixture.
5. Bake for 30–35 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
6. Remove the cake from the tin and split into two equal layers using a bread knife.
7. Spread jam on the cut surface of one layer and whipped cream on the other cut surface. Sandwich together. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar.
Gammon with potatoes and parsley sauce
Serves 6
Here’s a traditional dish you once found in every pie shop and cafe. It is well worth a revival. Make this when you have more time at the weekend, and you’ll have leftovers for the week – stock for soup and meat for sandwiches and salads or to mix into scrambled eggs.
1 cured free-range gammon or bacon joint, weighing about 1.5kg
2 medium onions, roughly chopped
100g carrots, roughly chopped
200g leeks, roughly chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
20 black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
to serve
1kg floury potatoes
Parsley sauce (p205)
1. Put the gammon joint in a pan big enough to hold it comfortably. Add the vegetables, peppercorns and bay leaves. Cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer on a very low heat for 1 hour.
2. Remove from the heat, cover the pan and leave for 1 hour to complete the cooking.
3. About halfway through this time, peel the potatoes and cut into quarters. Place in a saucepan, cover with cold water and add some salt. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20–25 minutes until tender. Drain well.
4. Remove the gammon joint from the liquid. Cut off the skin/rind but leave a nice layer of fat. Discard the skin. 5. Cut the gammon into slices of the desired thickness. Serve with the potatoes and with parsley sauce poured over the top.
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