Birthday Sponges!

Suitable for veggies, Yay!

As today was my daughter, Lottie's, 3rd birthday so I made her some treats! Both are made with a basic sponge mix then just a few bits added in... Enjoy! - Bekki

Basic Sponge Ingredients;
225g Butter at Room Temperature
225g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
225g Plain Flour
1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

Basic Buttercream Ingredients;
150g Butter
300g Icing Sugar
1-2tsp Milk to Slacken

Equipment;

Depending on whether you want to make cupcakes or a large cake you will need either a muffin/cupcake tray (this mix makes 12 muffin sized cakes or approx 20 cupcakes) or a 20cm cake tin.

Oven Temperature;
180c/350f/Gas 4

Method;

• Personally I am a huge fan of the "all in one" method. Pop all the ingredients into a bowl and either use a kitchen aid/electric whisk to bring the mix together into a smooth, thick, airy batter.

• At this point, you can customise your mix to suit your personal tastes. In the large cake I popped in 100g of Milk Chocolate Chips and 100g of Glace Cherries finely chopped.
  In the cupcakes I added 2tsp vanilla extract and some pink food colouring.
  Top tip! To stop any sort of chunks or chips falling to the bottom of your cakes when they are baking, dust them with a little bit of flour before you add them to your cake mix! This will ensure that they are suspended and distributed evenly throughout the cake.

• Line and grease your baking tin or pop bun cases into your tray and fill accordingly. This recipe rises well so if making cupcakes, only fill half way up the bun case.

• Bake in the oven keeping a close eye that the tops don't begin to catch. The large cake takes 35-40 minutes, the cupcakes take 15-18 minutes.

• Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.

• Whilst the cake(s) are cooling, make your buttercream by beating the butter until soft and then mixing in the icing sugar. If the mix seems a little too thick, add a little milk to slacken off to the desired consistency.
  Little confession - I have yet to find a recipe which tops Betty Crocker's Chocolate Buttercream, so I confess that the chocolate cupcakes were iced with this.. I'm not even sorry ;)

• Decorate your cakes however you desire & voila! Birthday fun for all to enjoy!

Verdict;

The large cake rose to the occasion and held form well. Soft crumb and the cherries and chocolate worked really well together. The batter was thick so held the chips and cherries well.

The cupcakes were pretty plain so great for fussy types. Lottie's words were "mmmm 'licious!" and as it was her birthday, her opinion wins!