Victoria sponge with spiced Christmas curd Victoria sponge with spiced Christmas curd

1 HOUR + COOLING|SERVES 6|EASY If you donÕt have time to make curd you can buy a version from M&S.

unsalted butter 200g golden caster sugar 200g self-raising flour 200g baking powder 1 heaped tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp eggs 3 large milk 2 tbsp, if needed CREAM double cream 300ml vanilla extract 1 tsp icing sugar 1 tbsp, plus more for dusting clementine 1, zested, plus 1 tbsp of juice CHRISTMAS CURD golden caster sugar 6 tbsp cloves 3 cinnamon 1/2 stick allspice 4 berries mixed spice 1 tsp orange curd 200g

• Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Butter and line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins. Beat all the cake ingredients together in a large bowl, add the milk if the mixture is too stiff to drop off a spoon when tapped gently. Divide the mixture between the tins and level. • Bake side-by-side in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the sponges are risen, slightly shrunk away from the edge of the tin, and spring back when lightly pressed. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then turn out onto a rack and peel off the paper. Cool completely. • To make the curd, put the sugar in a small pan with 3 tbsp water. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved then add the spices and simmer for 5-10 minutes until syrupy. Cool to room temperature, then remove the whole spices and brush half of the syrup onto the bases of the cake sponges. Stir the remaining syrup with the orange curd. • Softly whip the cream with the vanilla, icing sugar, clementine zest and juice. • Put one cake on a plate, syrup-side up and spoon over the cream and curd.The curd will be quite runny so keep most of it central then it will squidge out a bit when you put the top cake on. Dust with icing sugar to finish.

PER SERVING 997 KCALS|FAT 60.3G|SATURATES 36.7G CARBS 103.1G|FIBRE 1.7G|PROTEIN 8.8G|SALT 0.8G