Well it’s been a while. The summer holidays came and went in a blur of days out, rain and many, many expensive ice creams. We’re three weeks back into term time and I’ve just about recovered enough to spend some of my free time getting back to baking. The inspiration to get baking this week came from a friend who was offering some rhubarb on Facebook. I decided it was obviously a sign I needed to get baking and so snapped some up. Many years ago I had the most amazing rhubarb Victoria sponge at Mudchute Farm in London and ever since have wanted to try replicating it. I’d found various recipes for rhubarb Victoria sponges (some including custard) but in the end opted for this John Whaite recipe from the Waitrose wesbite.
This is a relatively easy recipe to make. Don’t be put off by making the jam as given time it does thicken. I didn’t quite have 300 grams of rhubarb (I had closer to 225g) so reduced the amount of sugar but still had enough jam for the filling. I used Rachel’s rhubarb yogurt as it was on offer in Sainsbury’s this week but I’m sure there are plenty of others that you could use. You’ll need 2 20cm sandwich tins. As the cake contains fresh cream you’ll need to store it in the fridge once made.
Ingredients
-
For the cake:
- For the filling:
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line 2 20cm sandwich tins.
-
Cream the butter/margarine, yoghurt and sugar together until well mixed. Add the eggs and beat in – they may curdle and you might think the mixture looks too runny but don't worry.
-
Sift over the flour and salt and gently fold in, to create a smooth cake batter.
-
Divide the batter evenly between the two cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for five minutes, then turn out onto wire racks to finish cooling completely.
-
For the filling, put the sliced rhubarb and sugar into a saucepan with a drop of water. Bring to a boil, stirring, then reduce to a simmer and cook down gently, stirring frequently, until thick and jammy – this will take about 15 minutes. This can be as thick as you prefer, but do remember that it will thicken even more once cool. Pour onto a plate and allow to cool completely.
-
Once the cakes have cooled, place one onto a cake stand or plate and spread over the rhubarb jam. Whip the cream to soft, floppy peaks and drape that over the jam. Top with the second cake and dust with icing sugar.
