Marks and Spencer Made Without Wheat Victoria Sponge Cake Mix

We picked up a packet cake mix in Marks and Spencer - J's always been a fan of Victoria Sponge and he thought he'd "give it a go".  It's from their Made Without Wheat range and required the addition of two eggs, some melted butter and milk.

Gathering the ingredients and equipment that would be needed to bake the cake, Sous Chef J was keen to follow the mix's instructions
to the (rather small) letter.

Having greased and lined the baking tins, SCJ started by sifting the flour mix from the bag into a large mixing bowl.

Next the milk and eggs were lightly beaten together and added to the flour mix.

Melting the butter, this was then allowed to cool slightly before being added to the cake mix.


The batter came together well and was quite thick but easily mixable with a silicone spatula.






The mix was shared between two 6" sandwich tins (SCJ used scales to ensure even distribution) and then baked according to the instructions.

Once baked thoroughly, the cakes were removed from the oven and allowed to cool completely on a cooling rack.

Raspberry jam was then spread on the top of one of the cakes.  SCJ used a small silicone spatula to do this.

Finally, whipped cream was added, the other cake was placed on top and it was covered with a dusting of icing sugar.

The cake was moist, light and very tasty.  It didn't last long!  We'll definitely buy the mix again... so long as supplies are on the shelves, that is.

Victory-a sponge cake!

After months of trying to sort out an appointment for a very specific reason for Sous Chef J, today was the day I succeeded. With this and the final of Great British Bake Off in mind, we decided to risk making our version of a special sponge cake.  Having trawled the recipe books we went with this one on the Dove's Farm website.

The ingredients needed were:-

100g softened butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 drops vanilla extract
5ml baking powder (gluten free)
150g gluten free plain flour
45ml milk

First, the butter, sugar and vanilla were creamed together.  Then the eggs were added one at a time. Finally, once the mix was light and fluffy, the baking powder, sifted flour and milk was added.

The mix was then shared between two greased and lined baking tins. These were put in a pre-heated oven (170ºC fan) and the timer set for 15 minutes.  The cakes were ready to be removed after just under 20 minutes when they were placed, in their trays to cool, for 10 minutes before being turned out and left to cool fully. 

Once the sponge was cool, a pastry cutter was used to cut small cakelets out.  This was Sous Chef J's idea - spurred on by what he'd seen in the Great British Bake Off final on Tuesday - as he wanted mini cakes.  He chose the tops and bottoms and covered the base of the cakes in raspberry jam.  He made sure the jam went right to the edges of the sponge base. 


Some butter icing was piped onto the jam before the tops were added.

As a final touch, icing sugar was sprinkled over the top. Yum!

Thanks to Jo, the winner of Great British Bake Off 2011, for giving us the idea.