Sunday Bakes - Cardomom & Marmalade Victoria Sponge

Hi Everyone, 

I am usually totally hopeless at baking, so I thought I'd give it a try with a few cakes that hopefully might improve my skills a little. I think mixed results would be the fair way to describe it. 

My Nan loves traditional baking, and cakes are most certainly her speciality. I thought I'd try a take on her old favourite. The Victoria Sponge. 

Marmalade and Creme Fraiche replace the heavy jam and cream. Cardamom and zest lift the sponge out stoge. I got this one from Nigella, such a great book. 

The recipe:

Ingredients; 

For the cake:225g unsalted butter 

225g Caster Sugar

1 Small orange

200g Self raising flour

1 Tsp Cardamom (I ground this from pods in the pestle and mortar approx. 20 pods, if you can find it pre-ground even better)

4 large eggs

For the filling:

6 Tbsp marmalade 

150ml Creme Fraiche 

2 x 20cm round cake tins

Method;

1. Heat the oven to 160C (non-fan 180C) and butter and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins.
2. Bash the cardamom pods, discard the shells. Then crush the seeds until you have fine powder, this can take some time. But it's worth it. 
3. Put the soft butter and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer, or a bowl, if you are using a hand mixer, and cream until light and fluffy. Add the orange zest and beat again, and then, one by one, beat in the eggs.
4. Measure the flour, cornflour, baking powder and ground cardamom into another bowl, then slowly add this mixture to the batter.
5. Cut the orange in half and squeeze out some of the juice, then add 1 tbsp at a time to the batter (you shouldn’t need more than 3 tbsp), until it drops easily off the spoon or beaters, when lifted up out of the bowl.
6. Divide the batter equally between the two lined tins and smooth the tops. Place side by side in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, by which time the tops of the cakes should be springy to the touch and a cake tester should come out clean.
7. Take them out of the oven and leave on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before turning them out, but cover the cooling rack with baking parchment first to stop the rack leaving an impression on what will be the top of your cake.
8. Once the cakes have completely cooled, put one half top side down onto a cake stand or plate and spread with the marmalade. 
9. Spread the crème fraîche over the top of the marmalade, working it out to the very edges of the cake, so that it will begin to ooze out a little once the top goes on.
10. Put the other cake layer on top of the crème fraîche, top side up, and then sprinkle over the caster sugar to give a light dusting.