Victoria Sponge with Blueberry Jam and Blackberries

I was a little bored last bank holiday weekend. I didn't have much to do or places to go therefore I did what I usually do when I'm bored, I bake. I made two types of biscuit, Dark Chocolate & Ginger and  Cinnamon & Date. I also made this cake.
At a recent Appetite Sheff event I won a set of preserves from Just Preserves and they have been sat in my cupboards since then, mainly because I don't eat much Jam and when I usually have toast it's smothered in beans and cheese, so I wanted to put it to good use and you don't get much better than a quality Victoria Sponge.

If you have never made one then be ashamed because its very easy. 4 ingredients (not including fillings) a little effort, half an hour ish baking and voila you got yourself a cake.

Ingredients (for two 22cm cake tins)
250g soft Butter
250g Caster Sugar
250g Flour
5 medium eggs

Filling
100g blackberries
100ml double cream
50g blueberry jam

Icing sugar to dust

Method
OK you have yourself a choice here, you can use the all in one method, in which you throw every ingredient into a bowl (not filling ingredients) and mix together either by hand or electric mixer until a smooth batter is made.

Or you can take your time and do it properly

Cream the butter and the sugar together until light and fluffy, using elbow power or an electric mixer.
Beat in the eggs one at a time.
Sift in the flour and fold in gently using a wooden spoon until all combined.

Then pour into two lined cake tins and bake in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes until golden and a skewer, when inserted, comes out clean.

Leave to cool

Filling
Whip the cream until it can hold its shape and can stay in the bowl when turned upside down, spread over one side of the cake. dot with black berries.
Spread the jam over the other side then sandwich the two together and dust with icing sugar to finish.

Enjoy

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Alright I'll admit it, I'm not the biggest fan of Nigella, in fact she irritates me (awaits to be lynched). However this recipe may go a small amount of the way to remove some of that irritation. I was shown this recipe the other day and after very little persuasion (it is cake after all) I decided to give it ago this weekend, having nothing yet on the baking agenda.

This cake is a bit different to what you would normally expect and can be unnerving if you have never used this method before to make a gingerbread for instance. It involves a lot of melting and stirring and you end up with a very liquidy cake batter, however follow the measurements exactly and it will turn out fine.

Recipe available here: chocolate guinness cake at Nigella.com

Verdict
Soft, squidgy, chocolaty, deliciously moist. It's like the recipe description says: gingerbread without the spices and is one of the nicest chocolate cakes I've eaten, the Guinness aspect is very subtle also. If you can't be bothered with the topping this cake would be fine without it. She stills annoys me though but slightly less than before this cake, There may be hope yet.

Cinnamon and Date biscuits

After yesterday's biscuit exploits, I got the urge earlier to make a few more, mainly because I ate them all. I decided this time to vary the flavours. There has been a tub of dates sat in the fridge for several months now and for the life of me I cant remember what I bought them for. So I used these and paired them with cinnamon having used ginger yesterday and omitted the cocoa to make them plain biscuits.

Ingredients
125g Soft butter
200g Light brown soft sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium egg
195g plain flour
1 tsp bicarb
1 tsp ground cinnamon
150g Dates, stoned and chopped into small pieces

Method
Beat the sugar, butter and extract together until light and fluffy
Beat in the egg.
Sift in the dry ingredients and stir together until combined.
Stir in the chopped dates
Roll a heaped tsp of mixture into a ball and place on a baking sheet.
Repeat until tray is full, give each biscuit room to spread, about 3cm around.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170C/150C(fan) for about 12-15 minutes
Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Verdict
Crisp, chewy and spicy. These won't last long either.

Dark Chocolate and Ginger Biscuits

Annoying isn't it? You are in the mood for a brew and a few biscuits or chocolate and the cupboard is bare, the house is empty and the nearest shop is long walk through the rain. Solution? get wet or make these little beauties. This is a fairly simple biscuit recipe that makes many many biscuits and can be thrown together and made in about 45 minutes, less if you move quickly. The end result is a chewy but slightly crisp chocolately biscuit with little burst of gingery goodness.

Ingredients
125g Soft butter
200g Light brown soft sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 medium egg
170g plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp Bicarb
25g cocoa powder
100g Chocolate chips or chop up some dark chocolate
100g glace ginger

Method
Beat the sugar, butter and extract together until light and fluffy
Beat in the egg.
Sift in the dry ingredients and stir together until combined.
Stir in the chocolate and glace ginger.
Roll a heaped tsp of mixture into a ball and place on a baking sheet.
Repeat until tray is full, give each biscut room to spread, about 3cm around.
Bake in a preheated oven at 170C/150C(fan) for about 12-15 minutes
Leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.