Forest Fruits Victoria Sponge for Tea Party Tuesday

I love a good Victoria sponge.

A super moist, soft and fluffy sponge is hard to come by but when it goes right, man do I love it! I had a pot of homemade blackberry jam that I thought would be just perfect with some forest fruit berries and a good dollop of fresh cream. Perfect for afternoon tea wouldn't you say?

Now I know that Tea Party Tuesdays are only held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month but to be honest, I bake enough to have one every week and I like having Tuesday as my recipe-to-share-with-ye kind of day :)  So if it's OK with you, I'll have cupcakey, bakey type posts of a Tuesday... But not just a Tuesday- I couldn't restrict my baking to just then!

You will need two 8 inch round tins, or square, I'm not actually strict about your choice of shape.
Turn your oven to 180 C, line and grease (I use Wilton Bake Easy)  your two tins and have them ready for transfer.

• 225 grams of soft butter
•  225 grams of caster sugar
• 40 grams of plain flour
• 210 grams of self raising flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 eggs (free range)
• 3 tablespoons of cold milk

1. Cream your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. About 5-7 minutes with an electric mixer.
2. Dry whisk the flours and baking powder together. Or sieve them together.
3. Add the eggs into the butter/sugar mix, one at a time and mix until the yolk has disappeared. Repeat for the other 3 eggs.
4. Add half the flour to the mixture, then the milk and then the rest of the flour. Be careful not to over mix as you want it to stay nice and light and fluffy!
5. Divide the mixture between your two tins and pop into a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until golden on top or your cake tester comes out clear. 

As I said, I used homemade blackberry jam and fresh cream as the filling for this sponge and it was a lovely take on a cake that sometimes is left for garden parties with strawberries and cream!

The blackberry jam was zingy and cut through the sweetness of the sugar and vanilla in the cake in just the right way. The cream added a smooth, thickness and made your slice heavier but very delicious!

Have you a version you like to make? Do tell, I'd love to hear.