Raspberry Blueberry and Cream Victoria Sandwich



Light sponge with fresh cream and raspberries (made for Queen's Diamond Jubilee)



For the cakes

4 free-range eggs

225g/8oz, caster sugar plus a little extra for dusting the finished cake

225g/8oz self raising flour

225g/8oz butter at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins

For filling

5 table spoons raspberry jelly

100g fresh raspberries

300ml whipping or double cream

For decorating top

100g fresh raspberries

100g fresh blueberries

1 tbsp sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Grease and line 2 x 20cm/8in sandwich tins.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the sugar, flour, baking powder and butter.

Mix everything together until well combined.

Be careful not to over-mix – as soon as everything is blended you should stop.

The finished mixture should be of a soft ‘dropping’ consistency – it should fall off a spoon easily.

Divide the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn’t need to be exact.

Smooth the surface of the cakes.

Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes.

The cakes are done when they’re golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins.

Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool in their tins for five minutes. Then run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tin and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

To take your cakes out of the tins without leaving a wire rack mark on the top, put the clean tea towel over the tin, put your hand onto the tea towel and turn the tin upside-down.

The cake should come out onto your hand and the tea towel – then you can turn it from your hand onto the wire rack.

Set aside to cool completely.

To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam.

Pipe or spread over whipped cream and add raspberries.

Top with the second cake, top-side up.

Sprinkle over the caster sugar.

Decorate with raspberries and blueberries.