Ok, this doesn’t look the prettiest or the nicest and it would certainly be a bit of an embarrassment for proper foodie enthusiasts who spend hours and hours moulding and modelling their cakes. I really don’t have time for that kind of cooking so mine is always pretty quick and easy.
This came from the kids wanting something sweet when the cupboards were empty of any treaty stuff altogether.
I have to admit to using a basic sponge cake recipe and simply adding a teaspoon of vanilla to spice up the flavour. I had to use plain flour as I was out of self-raising and also dumped in a teaspoon of baking powder to make it rise.
The topping is simply a spray can of cupcake icing. I know, I hear some of you groan with the complete frivolity of it, but it was in the cupboard, just staring at me. The red balls are just regular old sugar balls and the filling is 400ml of long life double cream that was in the cupboard as a standby and whipped.
The basic sponge cake is below, but make it minus the buttercream icing and jam for this version. See what you can make if you don’t have much in the cupboard.
Instead of buttercream and icing, this recipe uses.
- 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
- 400ml Double Cream
- Frosting/Icing
- Sprinkles
Basic Sponge Cake
Ingredients
- 250 g Caster Sugar
- 250 g Butter
- 250 g Self-Raising Flour
- 4 Eggs
- Icing Sugar For Butter Icing
- Butter For Butter Icing
Instructions
- Mix sugar and butter together in a mixer or a bowl until smooth.
- Add in the eggs and again mix until smooth.
- The final step is simply to fold in the flour until fully mixed through and you've added air with the folding.
- Cook in a moderate oven around 160 - 170. You can split the mixture into two tins which should cook in around 35 minutes, but it will take longer if you use one tin and slice the cake as I do. My last cake took nearly 50 minutes to be fully ready and I reduced the heat a little. I use a skewer to pierce the cake and if it comes out clean, I know it's ready. I use cake release spray on my tins, but a good old spread of butter will also help to turn out your sponge once it's cooked.
- I slice my cake into two portions, allow them to cool and then fill with butter icing.
- I judge butter icing by eye. I put approximately half a block of soft butter into a bowl and then just add icing sugar in small amounts until it reaches the thickness and consistency that I am after. Spreading the icing sugar on finishes the simple cake and then just sprinkle a dusting of icing sugar over the top.
- Serve with fruit coulis or sauce.
