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Grain Chain: Episode 8 – Flour Power

What goes into a cake?

We all love cake! But do you know what’s in that delicious slice of Victoria Sponge?

Of course, there’s eggs and caster sugar – that’s a super-fine type of sugar – and flour!

As we know now, there’s loads of types of flour. But what type of flour do you need to make a delicious, crumbly cake?

  • White flour uses just the endosperm of the grain – that’s the soft, starchy bit.
  • Brown flour uses the endosperm and the wheatgerm, plus some bran!
  • And wholemeal flour uses, well, the whole of the grain!

One of the brilliant things about the types of flours we have is that we can use them in all sorts of different things!

In our Victoria Sponge recipe, we’re using white flour – and we’re sieving it to keep the mixture light.

Let’s get going!

Victoria Sponge Cake

You will need…

  • For the cake:
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 200g softened butter
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp milk
  • For the filling
  • 100g butter, softened
  • 140g icing sugar, sifted
  • drop vanilla extract (optional)
  • half a 340g jar good-quality strawberry jam
  • icing sugar, to decorate

Method: 

  1. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Butter two 20cm sandwich tins and line with non-stick baking paper.
  2. In a large bowl, beat all the cake ingredients together until you have a smooth, soft batter.
  3. Divide the mixture between the tins, smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake for about 20 mins until golden and the cake springs back when pressed.
  4. Turn onto a cooling rack and leave to cool completely.
  5. To make the filling, beat the butter until smooth and creamy, then gradually beat in icing sugar. Beat in vanilla extract if you’re using it.
  6. Spread the butter cream over the bottom of one of the sponges, top it with jam and sandwich the second sponge on top.
  7. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving. Keep in an airtight container and eat within 2 days!

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The Grain Chain

Find out all about bread and baking with George Explores... The Grain Chain

More From The Grain Chain
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