I have been thinking hard what to write about this week.

With being a cake maker, I am constantly being asked hints, tips, advice and certain techniques on cakes and how to bake them. This is something I can do with my eyes closed now. I will send you away again with an easy recipe to follow.

You have to think about heating your oven properly. I use a fan oven and make sure that I heat it up at 160 degrees before I put the mixture in the oven.

It is also really important to have your eggs and butter at the same temperature before using. They need to be at room temperature.

Some people throw all the ingredients in together, but I prefer to do it in stages as I believe it helps with the rising of the cake and the fluffiness of the sponge.

The recipe for a basic vanilla sponge that I use for my cakes is listed below. I use this very recipe and technique for the vanilla sponge cakes I produce for people’s novelty birthday cakes.

For the larger cakes and bigger tins required, I double up this recipe for what size cake is needed.

• 250grams of room temperature butter
• 250grams of sugar
• 250grams sifted self raising flour
• 4 room temperature eggs
• 1 tspn vanilla extract
• 1 tspn of good quality baking powder
• 1 tbsn of milk

And your choice of filling. For one of my commisioned pieces, (unless directed otherwise) I tend to use buttercream and jam

Firstly make sure the oven is heated to 160

Grease and line your cake tins well. This will prevent the mixture from sticking. I use 2 seven inch tins for the above recipe.

I am lucky, I have three food mixers. I tend to use my Kitchenaid or my Kenwood with the churn mixer to make cake mixture.

Add the butter and sugar to the bowl and bind them together until the mixture is soft and lighter in colour.

Whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and add them to the sugar and butter mixture until they are fully mixed in. Do not over mix.

Add the milk, flour, and vanilla until it has a nice smooth consistency and right at the end I always add the baking powder. This I find helps the sponge rise nicely.

Separate into the two tins you have prepared and bake in the oven for around 30-40 minutes or until  a skewer comes out clean.

I always make sure I get the cakes out of the tins almost straight away as they come out easier.

Once they are cooled they are ready to decorate with your chosen fillings and decorations.

I have added a few photos of cakes that I have made in the past to show you what can be done with this recipe.

I would love to hear if you have been able to try my recipe and photos of what you made. Please get in touch at Brighton Cake Creations

Cakey Love, Steffi x