Rules for Village Show Victoria Sponge Cake

[Slubberdegullion]

So I am taking the plunge and am going to enter a Victoria Sponge Cake into our local village show.

I'm not pussy-footing around with lemon curd. Oh no, straight into the Blue Riband event.

But I am a little afraid as I know there are rules. And these rules are not written down. If you have to ask, well you shoudn't be entering (well that's what I am sensing).

So I'm going to ask in happy annonymity here.

Size (18 or 20cm)?
Butter or marg?
What type of jam?
Cream filling?
Icing sugar or caster sugar on the top?
Doilly? (Sp?)

Seasoned village show entrants (or judges) your help gladly recieved.

have just made an enormous coffee cake because this thread had me thinking of cake all day (sigh). I hold you personally responsible for my ever expanding waistline Slub!

Fan ovens are fine - I just do the cakes at 170C rather than 180C.

T'was I who mentioned Flora, several hundred posts ago (I would have replied sooner but I was doing dull things like de-nitting dd) but I must add it was not just any old Flora, but Flora BUTTERY (the clue is in the name...), which has hoodwinked numerous old ladies at my church's cake sales. (How was the Gamma version, Slubber?)

As for tins, you can't beat Silverthorns. Bloomin' brilliant, they have revolutionised my VSCs.

Robinpud, if you're still there - the Delia cake book is fab - but have you ever made her Poire Belle Helene Cake from it successfully? I've tried it twice and both times it came out like Slubber's aforementioned biscuits - I can't help feeling there's an ingredient missing from the list (like flour!)

Well the Nigella got a little drenched in this syphilitic rain on the way from the car into MIL's house, washing all the icing sugar off and re-revealing the crater. MIL said it looked v. nice though (probably a lie).

The taste was OK. Bit of a rubbery texture compared with the Bishops, and full of worm holes again.

I def. have issues with trapped air. I need to advice on this, I am prepared to reconcider droppings but need specifics from the experts re height and frequency.

way-hey, over 400 posts on this thread!! Must be a record for the recipes section

I am embarrassed to post that after dishing out advice on baking cakes earlier in this thread, I made some banana muffins yesterday and forgot to put the egg in. They were so dry that DS1 told me 'don't like this toast mummy'. So no more advice from me till I'm back to my usual standard!

lol at the toast.

My DC are rapidly going off my VSC's. Today they both just licked the jam and cream off and then scarpered.

After the comp on sunday I think I will be laying off the VSC's for a week, re-charge the passion and then have another big push at perfecting the Delia.

No, you can't abandon us for a whole week

I know I suggested it - but could the supreme sponge flour be introducing too much air?

But franca, the VSC's are having a physiological effect on me. As DH's granny said tonight...I'm becoming 'egg bound'.

Right, SlubberCakeQueen, as promised, here's a summary of Tamasin's cake tips:

The making
Weigh everything carefully

Butter should be soft but not melted ? melted butter doesn?t hold air.
Cream the fat and butter very thoroughly until light and fluffy.

Add lightly beaten eggs gradually. If eggs are cold and the mix curdles add spoonful of sifted flour (though she suggests this can result in a ?not so delicate? cake with a coarser texture).

The mix should have a soft dropping consistency when sufficiently creamed. It will plop off the spoon when banged on the side of the bowl, but it shouldn?t slide off independently.

Put the cake in the oven immediately the mix is ready.

Don?t keep opening the oven door, and make sure it cools on a wire rack.

Readiness
Cake should be well risen and evenly browned.
Touch the surface lightly and if it seems firm, it is done.
Insert a warm skewer into the cake ? if it comes out dry the cake is ready.
If the cake is shrinking away from the sides of the tin it is probably over-cooked.

The disaster and why it happens
A COARSE-TEXTURED CAKE is the result of too much raising agent, so never exceed the specified amount.

A DAMP AND HEAVY CAKE could mean:
That you?ve used the wrong proportion of ingredients
The oven is too cool
The cake has been exposed to a sudden draught

A CAKE WHICH HAS SUNK IN THE MIDDLE may be due to
A sudden draught caused by opening the oven door too soon
Too hot an oven at first
Too much baking powder which causes the gluten in the flour to over stretch and the cake to collapse as a result

A CAKE WITH A PEAKED TOP is due to
Not enough liquid ? the mixture was too dry
Too hot an oven
Baking the cake too high up in the oven

Or the triple (high) siftings SMS?

I want little bubbles in, and big bubbles out. maybe I'm transfering the mix into the tins all wrong?

Pidge...where is the zitty cake sub section?

The shrinking away from the sides happens to me. Will reduce tomorrows cooking time by 5mins for the MkIV.

Thank you.

What exactly do you mean by zitty?

Do you mean little spots of wrinkled stuff on top?

That would suggest you're overcooking it - too hot an oven, too long in the oven.

In my fan oven I subtract 20 from the cooking temperature.

The surface is covered with lots of little lumps. looks just like trapped air bubbles under the crust.

I'm not using my oven on fan, just normal top & bottom heat (as recommended in the manual for cake baking). Will turn down the heat tomorrow then.

I'm already feeling withdrawal symptoms

Don't worry I'll keep you posted Franca on the Mk V, VI VII etc etc.

Yup, I reckon shrinking away from sides and bubbles is a sign of overcooking. Try lower heat. And don't leave it in too long.

And you're putting your cake in the middle of the oven right?

Yes, both tins on middle shelf. 170 for 25mins (as recommended by Delia).

Yup, I reckon shrinking away from sides and bubbles is a sign of overcooking. Try lower heat. And don't leave it in too long.

And you're putting your cake in the middle of the oven right?

computer playing up - excuse double post - am not hectoring you

yes, yes Pidge, they're in the middle I promise

Will turn down temp tomorrow miss

You may get away with 20 mins cooking time.

And you could even try 160 degrees.

Trouble is a lot of ovens are wildly inaccurate. That's why old Heston Blumenthal is so obsessed with oven thermometers.

But my new posh siemens is digital (can alter temp by 5 degs)

Ahh - oven envy setting in now!!!

Rather hope I'm not a scary teacher type though - that's dp in our house - he spends his days shouting at the teenage girls of south london who would rather be txting their mates than listening to his science lessons. Me, I'm the mild mannered computer nerd!