My personal challenge: baking my way through "How to Bake". This post is my experience baking and learning new skills from tackling each recipe in Paul Hollywood's, "How to Bake". I will also document any recipe changes that I made - mainly as a result of not having the ingredients on hand (i.e., we never have regular sugar in the house) - and how the recipe fared. I will not be providing the recipes that are in his book.
If you are looking for something epically sweet, then this recipe from Paul Hollywood is a must try. With every bite, you get a light vanilla sponge, tart berry jam, and semi-sweet fluffy whipped cream. I made a homemade quadruple berry jam with blackberries, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries and it paired perfectly with the Victoria Sponge.
I made this cake with holidays right around the corner. One could say my husband and I were overly-indulgent over the holidays and the weeks leading up to the holidays, but in honor of "intuitive eating" we made homemade sweets that we craved and only ate until satisfied. And yeah, we might of had two slices one night.
I have never made a sponge cake before and it seems to be such a staple on The Great British Bake-Off (GBBO) that I just had to try it. I was impressed with how light and airy the sponge turned out and the berry jam that Paul Hollywood suggests was a perfect balance. I do believe that I slightly overcooked the sponge, so honestly the cream and the jam saved some of the drier parts of the sponge. All in all, this might be on a rotation for friend-night get togethers.
Here are some of the lessons that I learned while making the Victoria Sponge with Berry Jam:
Baking Time. Paul Hollywood mentions to bake 25-30 minutes, or until the cake pulls from the side of the tins. Well, I usually use parchment paper that lines the side of the tins as well, so it usually doesn't pull from the sides. Additionally, I did not have two cake tins so I could not split the batter into two, so I guesstimated to double the bake time. As a result, I think I added 5 or so more minutes to the bake than it needed and it resulted slightly dry in some places. Next time, I plan to actually cut the parchment paper to the tin, use two tins, and bake slightly less than the first bake. What to do if you don't have two cake tins? To ensure that the cake cooks evenly and does not dry out, you could (and I should have) reduced the oven temperature after the recommended cooking time and temperature and cooked for an additional time and checking halfway through. OR, you can bake in a sheet pan and then use a cake ring cutter to cut out circles for the layers. By using a sheet for your cake, you ensure that everything is evenly baked - no issues with splitting the batter and no issues with slicing the cake in half.
Two Cake Pans is Better than One. My husband and I go through minimalist phases and it usually results from 1. moving or 2. donating to a good cause. Because of this clearing and cleaning, we donated one of my cake tins because we didn't think that we needed two. When we donated our second cake tin, I thought that I could always slice the cake into two for a layered cake and since it was for a good cause, I didn't think much more past the "feel good" donation. All that to say, two cake tins are better than one. I would highly recommend two cake tins because it was really difficult to slice the cake into two even and equal parts and I did not get the rise that appears to be achieved in Paul Hollywood's "How to Bake" photo. Note: If you don't have a steady hand to slice the cake through the center, baking in two separate cake tins will allow for easier and more appealing assembly.
Decor. In case you did not see my note under the photo above - red and white is a tough combination. In "How to Bake", the Victoria Sponge is not decorated on the top and is simply dusted with icing sugar with the center filled with cream and jam. Because I have to blend our sugar to make powered sugar, I opted not to decorate the cake that way. Instead, I chose to pipe the whipped cream on top of the cake in small peaks and then drizzle the jam over the top. While my intention was there, the execution was a complete fail. The top of the cake looked like blood splatter, so I had to pipe more whipped cream on top to combat this less than appetizing look. Good thing: The cake tasted delicious.
Watch your Cream. I have actually never over-whipped cream before, but this time I got distracted by watching GBBO in the background while making this cake and I over-whipped the cream. So, I guess I can know never say that I never over-whipped cream. It was just a touch too whipped and luckily, no where near butter. I decided to still use the cream to decorate and eat - it was still tasty. How to Fix? If you catch it fast enough and it had not yet turned grainy or separated, you can add some un-whipped cream and fold in. Turn your mixer on a lower speed and slowly pour the un-whipped cream into the bowl. Keep adding until the whipped cream reaches a fluffy state again. Make butter. Otherwise, if you whipped too far and it's more like butter, well make butter! Keep whipping until the fat solids form and create a large clump. Drain the excess liquid (this is essentially buttermilk and you can use). Fold the fat solids until it turns smooth and knead in an ice bath to pull out any excess water. It's butter when there is no more buttermilk liquid coming from the solids. Now you have a sweet butter, considering you probably added sugar - it'll be great on toast or a sweet bagel!
Homemade is Always Better than Store-bought. Every time that I bake something, we are often reminded that homemade is always better than store-bought. With this cake, we were reminded of just that! The homemade jam was the icing on the cake, and I highly recommend you check out the recipe below or make your own jam with another recipe. Either way, skip the jam for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and make your own! Recipe below.
Homemade Quadruple Berry Jam:
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups frozen (or fresh) berries - strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
1/4 turbinado sugar
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
2 tablespoons agar agar flakes
Directions:
Place berries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat.
Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes or until the berries cook down and the sugar is fully dissolved.
Remove from the heat and strain the berries through a sieve.
Add the agar agar and stir until dissolved.
Cool to room temperature.
Place in the fridge to thicken until needed.
Note: You can save the seeds after straining the berries and use for smoothies or as a spread on toast.
Our Review: I don't think that I am going to open a bakery anytime soon, but despite the sponge being slightly dry in some places it was a delicious cake and such a nice treat for a few evenings. As I said before, I will definitely give this recipe another try and reduce the baking time to make a moist sponge. I plan to make this for our next friends night as a sweet treat. I also think that starting the pre-holiday festivities with a little cake helped curb our sweet tooth for the rest of the holiday celebrations as I found myself turning more towards the Christmas oranges and grapefruits than making sweets for all the celebrations.
On that note, I hope that you find a recipe book you enjoy, or this one, that I am currently baking my way through. Either way, enjoy baking and nourishing yourself and your family.
All my light and all my love.
Namaste,
Jordan
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