Victorian Sponge and Dresden Plate Quilt Update

Well what a busy weekend. It was Mr CLI's Birthday on Sunday. So I cooked a roast - pork and chicken - for Mr CLI, Miss Le Coiffure and her partner and myself.

Miss Fish had been asked to come into respite at the last minute, but that doesn't mean she missed out as I cooked another Birthday tea last night. One of Mr CLI's all time favourite meals, crumbed sausages, mashed potato, steamed vegetables, gravy and tomato sauce. He loved it.

Miss Fish and I also made cupcakes which I iced and she showered with multi coloured sprinkles. She also insists that we have candles on them and sing happy birthday. This makes her so happy.

For Mr CLI's actual Birthday I made a Victorian sponge which I filled with chantilly cream and jam. I iced it with plain icing, Mr CLI actually loves passionfruit icing, but Miss Le Coiffure doesn't so plain icing it was.

A Victorian sponge is quite easy, you just let the mixer do all the work, then a little bit of metal spooning at the end. My sponge looked like I had used polenta in it because it was so yellow, but is was actually the free range chicken eggs from Miss Fishes work !

Victorian Sponge
4 large eggs, beaten together using a fork, 220 grams each of - S.R. flour, caster sugar & butter -soft, 1 tsp baking powder

Chantilly Cream
1 tbsp vanilla caster sugar OR 1 tbsp caster sugar + 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 x 300 ml thickened cream

Beat all ingredients until soft peaks form.

Icing
1 cup icing sugar, 1 tsp softened butter, 2-3 tsps boiling water

Place  the icing sugar and butter in a small bowl, using a butter knife add the boiling water 1 tsp at a time. Mix until a thick icing forms.

Preheat oven to 180.c. Butter, flour and line base with greaseproof or baking paper of 2 x 20cm (8") cake tins.

 In an electric mixer beat the sugar and butter until light and fluffy, it took 5 minutes in my mixer.

While the beaters are on medium speed add the eggs at about 1 tbsp at a time, beat in after each addition.

Remove bowl from mixer, sift in flour and baking powder 1/3 at a time, fold in using a large metal spoon. When the flour is nearly folded in add the next lot, this way you have less chance to lose too much air from the mixture.

Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and flatten the top with a spatula.

Bake in the middle rack for 20 - 25 minutes. Mine took 20 minutes.

Remove from oven, let sit for a couple of minutes, then run a butter knife around edge of cake upend onto a teatowel, remove the paper from base then invert onto a cake rack, let cool before icing.

Upturn one cake so you have a flat surface ice with icing, leave to set.

Place the other cake flat side down onto the serving plate spread with jam then cream. Top with other cake.

Slice, eat and enjoy.

Now for the Dresden Plate quilt update I finally finished the top yesterday and todays big job, which might even run into tomorrow is to pin it all together for quilting.

A view of the borders.

One of the Dresden Plate Panels. Wrinkly as it hasn't been ironed yet.

So till tomorrow I had better stop dragging my feet and get pining !