175 grams butter
175 grams castor sugar
3 eggs well beaten
175 grams self-raising flour
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Butter and flour two 18cm sandwich tins.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and pale, then add the beaten eggs a little at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour when about two-thirds of the egg has been added. Lastly add the remaining flour and stir it in lightly by hand.
Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and smooth the tops.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until well risen and golden on top. Let the cakes cool a little before turning them out of the tins on to a wire cake rack. Cool completely beforee filling.
To Serve:
Spread one cake with jam (strawberry or raspberry is best) and the other cake with whipped cream and sandwich the two together with the cream above the jam. Dust the top with icing sugar.
the real English sponge contained no butter and was originally made with eight or more eggs which provided the lightness. One early Victorian recipe for a rich sponge called for 16 eggs! Thankfully today our modern methods using self raising flour give a consistent result without the heart stopping cholesterol intake!