Sweet Summertime Victoria Sponge Cake

Makes: 1 9-inch cake
Serves: 10 to 12

Ingredient:
6 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄4 tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract

Cream & Jam Filling:
1 1⁄2 cups whipping cream
3 tbsp sugar
1 1⁄2 tbsp instant skim milk powder
1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup good quality strawberry jam
Icing sugar, for dusting
Fresh strawberries, quartered, for decor

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 °F. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper, but do not grease the pan.

2. Whip the eggs and sugar on high speed until they are almost white in color, more than triple in volume and hold a ribbon when the beaters are lifted, about 5 minutes. On medium speed, add the zest and juice.

3. Sift the flour and salt and, still on medium speed, add the flour to the egg mixture. Spoon about a cup of the batter into a bowl, and stir in the melted butter and vanilla. Add this all back to the full batter and stir until blended. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until the centre of the cake springs back when gently pressed. Cool the cake completely in the pan.

4. For the cream, whip the cream until it holds a soft peak when the beaters are lifted. Fold in the sugar, skim milk powder, and vanilla or vanilla bean paste. Chill until ready to assemble.

5. When ready to assemble the cake, stir the jam to soften it. Run a palette knife around the inside edge of the cake pan to loosen it, then remove it from the pan and peel off the parchment paper. Slice into 3 layers using a serrated knife. Spread half of the jam over the cake, top with a third of the cream and then a second cake layer, repeating again with the jam, cream and last cake layer. Dollop and spread the remaining cream on the top of the cakes, leaving an inch or two of the cake exposed around the outside edge, and top this cream with quartered fresh strawberries. Dust the cake with icing sugar and chill until ready to serve.

The cake can be assembled up to 4 hours in advance.

Enjoy!