Victoria Sponge Cake

Everyone has a need for one of these now and then. The filling can be anything you like but this is a traditional version, though I made buttercream in place of cream. The sponge is moist and after a couple of days its flavour improves which is not something I would have said about cakes in my pre-gluten-free existence.

INGREDIENTS
Sponge
225g/8oz soft butter
4 free-range eggs
225g/8oz caster sugar
110g/4oz gluten free self raising flour
110g/4oz ground almonds
2 tsp baking powder

Icing
Strawberry Jam
250g icing sugar
80g unsalted butter, very soft (slightly melted is better than a little too hard)
25ml whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/340F and prepare two 20cm cake tins with a disc of baking paper per tin. Lightly butter the edges of each tin.
2. Make sure the butter is very soft and add it to a bowl. Mix in the sugar until light and fluffy and then the eggs. Follow the addition of each egg with a spoonful of flour which will help stop the mixture curdling.
3. Add the remaining flour, baking powder and all of the ground almonds. Mix in thoroughly. Do not over mix so as to have a light texture to the end result.
4. Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted in to the centre of each sponge, is clean when removed.
5. After a couple of minutes out of the oven, turn the sponges onto wire racks and cool.
6. Make the icing by mixing together the butter and icing sugar until what looks like breadcrumbs form. Add a drizzle of milk and some vanilla and whip up the icing for 5 minutes. This is made easier by using a food mixer such as a Kitchenaid.
7. Then the cake is fully cooled, piece together the sponges using jam and icing. Top the cake with the remaining icing and dig in within 3 days for it to be at its best.