Tilly Pamment’s recipe for Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam Victoria Sponges

I am a total sucker for just about any version of a Victoria sponge.

Plain cake, jam and cream – what more could you want? But make them little, individual Victorias and you really have my attention.

The beauty of this recipe lies in its simplicity.

These little cakes are made with cream, not butter, in the batter, meaning that you can mix them all in one bowl, by hand. And anything that gets me closer to a cake with less effort is a win in my book!

Filling them with whipped yoghurt-cream and homemade jam really does make them sing, but any good jam you are in possession of will do the trick!

Ingredients

• Unsalted butter, to grease
• A little plain (all-purpose) flour, to dust
• 200 ml thick (double) cream
• 165g caster (superfine) sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

For the filling

• 200ml thickened (whipping) cream
• 100g Greek-style yoghurt
• 1 tablespoon icing (confectioners’) sugar mixture, plus extra to dust
• 1 teaspoon rosewater
• 160 g Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160C fan-forced and grease a 6-hole large muffin tin (with 180 ml capacity holes) well with softened butter. Dust the tin with a little plain flour, tapping out any excess.
2. Make the cake batter by placing the cream, sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and using a hand whisk to combine. Do not overmix or the cream will become too stiff. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the self-raising flour and salt to the bowl, and whisk briefly to form a smooth batter.
3. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins, smoothing the tops with a spatula and tapping the tins gently on the bench to remove any air bubbles.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the cakes have risen and are cooked through. Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before carefully turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
5. These cakes are best served soon after assembling. So when ready, make the filling by whipping the cream, yoghurt, sugar and rosewater to soft peaks. Split the cakes in half, and top the bottom halves with a generous scoop of the cream mixture. Use the back of a spoon to create a little nest in the cream, then place a spoonful of jam on top. Gently sandwich the tops of the cakes on and dust liberally with icing sugar.

Tips: I have a tin with straight-sided cups, which looks lovely, but a regular large muffin tin works just as well.

Strawberry & Rhubarb Jam

Ingredents

• 500g strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 300g hubarb, cut into 2cm pieces
• 440g caster (superfine) sugar
• 125ml lemon juice (about 3–4 lemons)
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped or 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 teaspoons rosewater (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C fan-forced. Place the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla bean seeds and pod (or paste) in a large deep baking tray and mix well, making sure that no dry bits of sugar remain. Spread the fruit out into an even layer and place the tray in the preheated oven to cook for 20 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling around the edges of the tray.
2. Carefully take the tray out of the oven and mash the fruit with a potato masher or fork. Return the tray to the oven and cook for a further 15–20 minutes. Watch the jam carefully at this point as it can bubble over if it is cooked for too long. When the jam has reduced slightly and is bubbling and fragrant, carefully remove the tray from the oven.
3. Give the jam another little mash, stir in the rosewater (if using), then ladle it into a sterilised jar and seal while hot.

Tilly Pamment has just released her cookbook Handfuls of Sunshine, full of recipes about small cakes, muffins and cupcakes. Watch her on Sunrise on weekday mornings on Channel 7 or 7Two or you can catch up anytime on @7Plus