sponge cake quantities URGENT!!

[misshardbroom]

I need to make DS1's birthday cake this morning, which needs to be a regular Victoria sponge baked in an 8 inch springform tin (it's then going to be cut up to form a snake. Really, it is.)

What quantity of mixture would you use?

6 oz each of SR Flour, Butter and Caster Sugar, 3 medium eggs. This is actually a mix for two 7" sandwich pans, but if used in an 8" pan, should wind up slightly shallower than the finished 7" cake (about 3/4 the depth) in other words, about 1 3/4". Remember that the butter and eggs should be at room temperature before you start.

125g butter
125g caster sugar
2 lge eggs
125g SR flour
vanilla extract or flavouring of your choice
tblsp hot water
cake sounds fab
what are you decorating it with?

great, thanks!

It's going to have a circle cut out of the middle to be the snake's head, then the remaining ring cut in half and the two curves off set so that it's like a long wiggly snake. Then it has orange fondant icing and green stripes, and a rede forked tongue. Not decided how I'm doing the eyes yet.

The foolproof way for Victoria Sponge is to weigh the 3 eggs, then use the same weight of flour, sugar and butter.

A hint of vanilla extract if you like it (altho all those grandmothers' grandmothers didn't used to use it).

Works every time.

what clumsy said.

Thanks clumsymum, my cake shop lady has recommended that to me so many times and I always forget to do it!

I'm firmly putting this in pedants' corner!

it's a Victoria Sandwich, not a sponge!
a Victoria Sandwich is a creamed cake, not a sponge.
a sponge by definition has very little (if any) fat, so by putting equal quantities of fat into your cake, you are not making a sponge, you are makinga creamed cake!
just call it a cake if you can't get it right.

(i'm very sorry for the rant, but i've been hearing Victoria sponge from everywhere at the minute and it's just plain wrong!)

do you want to sit down with a nice cup of tea and a piece of my cake?

thanks miss hardbroom, i think i should!

ahem.

I'm sorry Nickelbabe, but in my book, if DELIA calls it a sponge, it's a sponge.

have you decided what you are using for the eyes yet miss hardbroom?

aah, but there was something about Delia getting stuff wrong before: i think in the expresso thread she's cited as getting something wrong!

and she didn't do very well at school, so....

i'm quite excited about hte prospect of this snake cake though!
you should use jelly sweets as eyes. and liquorice as the tongue (but you probably know this already!)

will post a picture of the completed snake on my profile providing it isn't a total shambles.

I am not going to debate the naming of the cake because I am full of sugar and uncharacteristic goodwill... and besides, I need to conserve my energy for dealing with people who misuse apostrophes. Like the BBC, for instance.

will look forward to seeing it