Basic Sponge Cake / Cupcakes

easy to remember quick sponge cake or cup cakes

1. 1

   place the butter and the sugar in a bowl and mix until the sugar is fully incorporated and the butter/margarine has become a pale yellow. crack both eggs into another bowl or jug and whisk until a little frothy. pour about 1/4 of the eggs into the butter and sugar mix and sieve in around 1/4 of the flour fold in with a spoon to keep the air in the mixture to help it rise. and repeat until all the flour and egg is added. pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees / gas mark 4. grease two 6" sandwich tins (or for less washing up line them with grease proof paper) and split the mixture between them. bake in the middle of the oven for around 20 min till golden brown. to check if they are fully cooked use a knife or skewer, place in the center of the cake, if fully cooked the knife of skewer should come out clean. (when checking if a cake is cooked i prefer to press lightly on top with one finger if where i press stays depressed the cake requires more cooking but if it springs back up it is ready - be very careful doing this are the cake, oven and tray will be very hot). leave for five min before transferring to a cooling rack. when fully cool slice the top off one of the cakes and turn upside down so that it sits level, cover the top face with jam and whipped cream and place the second sponge on top. dust with icing sugar for a final touch.
   Alternatively pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees / gas mark 6 split the mix into 12 cupcake cases and bake in the middle of the oven for around 10-15 min till golden brown and cooked all the way through- use a skewer or knife to test as before. leave to cool for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack. once fully cooled decorate as required.