Cheat's Victoria Sponge
You wouldn't think it would be necesary to have a cheat's version of a Victoria sponge. After all, it's such a simple cake to make ... or is it? Everyone loves a good Vicky sponge - the simple buttery moistness, light crumb and vanilla scent preparing the way for a big hit of raspberry jam. And on the face of it, a VS should be straightforward, with predictably good results: equal quantities of butter, sugar and flour, eggs and vanilla and you're there ... right? Wrong, it seems. Because when I do baking classes, and I ask relatively confident cake makers what they most fear, they tell me it's the VS. The mixture curdles; it won't rise or it sinks in the middle; the crust separates and cracks; it's as tough and chewy as an old brick. One of my pupils astonished me by actually managing to turn out two flat pancakes when the rest of us - working with the same ingredients, measurements, tins and ovens - had done uniformly well. "You see," she ye...