Strawberry and Cream Sponge (and variants)

Ingredients (serves 6)

• Melted butter, to grease
• Plain flour, to dust
• 5 eggs
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 2 tbs cornflour, sifted
• 115g (3/4 cup) self-raising flour, sifted
• 1 tbs milk
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• Pure icing sugar, to dust
• Fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, halved, to decorate

• Strawberry cream

• 250g punnet strawberries, washed, hulled, halved
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tbs finely grated lemon rind
• 300ml ctn thickened cream

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Brush two 20cm (base measurement) round cake pans with melted butter. Line the bases with non-stick baking paper. Dust the inside of the pans lightly with flour. Shake off any excess.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until thick and pale. Gradually fold in the combined flours alternately with the milk and vanilla. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden and the cakes spring back when lightly tapped. Set aside in the pans for 5 minutes to cool slightly before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, to make the strawberry cream, combine the strawberry and sugar in a saucepan. Place over medium-low heat for 5 minutes or until the strawberry softens and the sugar dissolves. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the strawberry is soft and the mixture becomes thick and syrupy. Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon rind and set aside to cool completely.
4. Beat the cream until firm peaks form. Lightly fold the strawberry mixture through the cream. Place 1 cake on a serving plate. Spoon the cream mixture over the cake. Place the remaining cake on top, pressing down gently. Dust with icing sugar and top with the strawberry.

Notes

• 
  With a twist: It's easy to turn this into a chocolate 'n' raspberry sponge. Here's how. For the cream filling, replace strawberries with raspberries and use vanilla bean seeds instead of lemon rind. Drizzle the cake with a rich sauce made from dark chocolate and thickened cream.