This sponge cake is to die for! It will literally soak up all of your taste buds within the first bite and make nothing else that you eat later on taste as good. In the past, I have had some sponge cakes that taste like air. So when I was put to the test to make someone a sponge cake for a special occasion, I sifted through my baking knowledge, the internet, and my go-to baking books to find the best tasting cake out there. What I found is what you see here, a beautiful and delicious sponge cake with a raspberry cream filling. I hope you can soak up all that this cake has to offer!

Makes one large sponge cake that will serve up to 8 people

Ingredients:

For the cake:

1 cup               Granulated sugar
1 cup               Softened butter
4                       Eggs
1 ¼ cups       All purpose flour
2 tsp                Baking powder
½ tsp               Salt
2 tbsp              Milk, 2%

For the filling:

2 cups              Heavy cream
1/8 cup            Sugar
¼ tsp               Pure vanilla extract, optional
1 ½ cups         Good quality strawberry or raspberry jam, I used homemade
Icing sugar to decorate

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 375F and line 2 round 9-inch baking tins (I used 3 tins because one of my cakes didn’t turn out so well on the first batch). Line the bottoms with parchment paper so that the bottom of the cake does not stick. Spray or wipe a little bit of oil around the edges.

For the cake:

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs for 1 minute. Add the butter, milk, and sugar and beat for another minute.
• Add the flour mixture in 2 additions until all the flour is incorporated.
• Pour the ½ of the batter into each of the prepared tins and smooth the top with a spatula.
• Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the cake springs back when pressed. Cool for 5 minutes in the tins and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the filling:

• Beat the heavy cream for 1 minute, add the sugar and vanilla, and beat until stiff peaks have formed.
• When cake has cooled completely, put the first cake on a serving platter and layer it with the whipped cream. Add the jam on top of the whipped cream so that it oozes out the sides. Place the second cake on top and sprinkle with icing sugar for decoration. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

Adapted from BBC goodfood