12.03.05
Victoria Sponge
Well, here’s another one. Now I know most of my readers are men, and men don’t bake as a rule (they cook, which is different) (for dinner parties especially so everyone thinks they are great) BUT I am having dreadul trouble with my victoria sponges. They won’t rise nicely.
I am using self raising flour AND baking powder
I leave it in the processor for 10 minutes
I use soft butter
I grease the tins really well and use greaseproof paper and grease it too
The amounts and size of tins are as recommended by Delia
What is going on?
The only thing I don’t do is use a palette knife to spread the mixture evenly through the tins before they go in the oven, because I don’t have a palette knife and I keep forgetting to get one when I am in Arnotts. It is most frustrating. They taste lovely, but still…..
Beth Bond said,
December 3, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Sarah,
I used to make cakes with a processor until I got sick of all the washing up afterwards; my cakes never rose until I started making them by hand. I know it defies logic, but making cakes this way gives much better results. The main thing is to make sure when beating that you get loads of air into the mixture.
Give it a try and see …
Beth Bond said,
December 3, 2005 at 6:18 pm
oops, mistyped URL – now correct
gp said,
December 5, 2005 at 1:19 pm
Did you open the oven door to check on it? AFAIK this can cause cakes to flop.
tom said,
December 5, 2005 at 2:44 pm
hi sarah,
fortunately I am a world reknowned expert on victoria sponges.
why are you leaving it in the processor for 10 minutes? it sounds to me like you are “beating all the air out of it” as my mother would say.
your casual sexism is noted btw.
“as a rule” baking suits men as it requires following clear instructions in exact detail, something that women “as a rule” are not very good at doing.
Sarah said,
December 5, 2005 at 9:36 pm
But one catering person I know said leave it for as long as possible…however on my processor there is a plastic lid on it to prevent flour flying everywhere. It had occured to me this was not helping the air content. I will have another go on Thursday. Standby.
Many thanks btw for the tips. Tom, technically you are right, but the men I know who cook don’t bake. You are obviously the highly evolved exception
Colman said,
December 8, 2005 at 7:00 pm
Way too much beating. Processors aren’t great for sponges anyway, you’d be better off with a nice mixer with a beater attachment or doing it by hand.
Yet another male who cooks and bakes. Well, until that nice bakery opened up the road.
Sarah said,
December 9, 2005 at 4:16 pm
Wow! Just did one and only beat for a couple of minutes. Its a different cake! Now, I still think I will have to invest in a palette knife. I didn’t spread it out properly in the tin and one side came up more than the other. But! I am stunned. I had gotten into my head that the more you beat it the better it should be.
I think I’ll try another one tomorrow and go one step more. I have been using the all in one method. I suspect even better results can be achieved by creaming the sugar and butter first. Standby. And thanks everyone!
(And I will check out a hand beater in the sales.)
Sarah said,
December 9, 2005 at 4:19 pm
oh..I double checked with the catering person. She said I clearly had misheard her. “Overworking flour is the big mistake. The raising agent starts acting as soon as you wet it. That’s why you should cream first, then add flour.”