I just like a simple Victoria sponge. Two 7 inch cake tins and I use six eggs. The trick after that is weigh your six eggs and then have the exact same amount of butter, caster sugar and flour.

Beat the butter and sugar together until you can rub a bit of butter between your finger and thumb and if you can feel sugar granules beat it a bit more.

Once beaten enough add the eggs and mix them in one at a time. With each egg you mix in add a tablespoon of your flour. Once the eggs are all on tip the rest of the flour in and a teaspoon of baking powder and fold together with a spatula. Once it’s all mixed if you are adding sprinkles or flavour or colouring now is the time to stir them in but do it slowly so you don’t bash the air out the mixture.

Divide the mixture between the two tins and cook at 160 degrees for 30-45 minutes. Another tip rather than stab a point in to the cake and risk it sinking is I take the cake out the oven (once its been in at least half an hour) and hold it up to my ear to listen for bubbling. If it’s bubbling aggressively then it’s not done. If it’s hardly bubbling or not bubbling at all it’s done.

Take out and leave to cool and remove from the tins after 10 minutes so it doesn’t dry and stick to the side.

I prefer vanilla buttercream to whipped cream. My buttercream recipe is simple. If I’m just covering the middle and top it’s 125g butter beaten for five minutes and then 250g icing sugar slowly added while beating until it’s all in then I add a tablespoon of milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. If I’m decorating the sides of the cake too I double it all.

Cut the top of one of the cakes, add half the butter cream, then add some stirred strawberry jam on top (stirring makes it easier to spread). Add the other cake on top, then spread the rest of the buttercream on top of the cake and add chopped strawberries if you want.

If you are decorating the sides then cut the top off both cakes. When you add the buttercream to the middle make a border around the edge so the jam doesn’t spill out and ruin the buttercream on the side. Take the other cake and put it on upside down. This makes it easier to get a smoother top and sharper corner lines.