The Basics - Sponge

As with everything in life - getting the basics rights helps so much with harder stuff. For us, that means having some good solid recipes that under pin everything we do. Over time we want to introduce you to some of our favourite recipes we use that are part of our daily baking.

What better place to start than the humble sponge. This is a trusted Women’s Institute recipe and I was blown away when I first realised I didn’t need a fancy recipe to make a decent cake.

The basic principle is yours eggs and everything else is the same weight. Once you have mastered the basic recipe you can add flavour. We like:

• Lemon zest and a little lemon juice

• Coconut and raspberries

• Coffee (achieved by mixing a tablespoon of instant coffee with a little boiling water and adding to mix.

• For a quick mid week dessert, dollop a good amount of golden syrup in an oven proof dish and top with sponge batter and bake until golden- this is the girls favourite!

You can bake the sponge in anything that can go in the oven. Just remember to grease your tin really well.