Victoria Sponge...

This past December, a friend of mine rang the cafe and put in an order for a birthday cake...nothing unusual about that..however, she had requested a Victoria Sponge cake.. being from Seattle i had never heard of a Victoria Sponge.. So, I asked Taylor if he had...and he said no, so then we asked Taylor's partner Kevin, who is Irish and a chef, and he said, "Of course! Its made like this..." and proceeded to tell us how it was made...So, we made one, and my friend said it was delicious...three layers of sponge with a bit of jam, fresh berries and cream...

Yesterday I made another one for a friends 50th birthday...this time I dipped the strawberry's in chocolate and soaked the sponge in a vanilla-Cointreau simple syrup...punched up the cream by adding honey...and a dusting of icing sugar...here is a photo:

Shannen

PS...add a bit of zing to any of your cakes: to make a simple syrup simmer equal parts water and sugar...then steep the herb of your choice(tyme, rosemary and lavender are my fav's) or used vanilla pods...I then add a little liquor(like Cointreau or Grand Marnier or a lovely Frambois) into the mix!! Cool, and use a pastry brush to brush on to the cake..aloow to saok in and frost! If you dont use all of the syrup for your cake, save it in the fridge and use it when you are mixing some lovely libations at the end of your work day!!