Cinnamon & Black Forest Berry Sponge

Lovely, light and airy this cake would be perfect for summertime picnics especially if you’re tiring of your go-to Victoria sponge. I brought it to a friends’ for dinner and it was a nice light finish to the meal, which was just as well because I’d had a rather generous helping of seconds. It freezes really well and doesn’t lose any moisture or fluffiness, it’s the perfect balance in fact. I made it one day when I had the urge to bake cake and then to save myself from a cake baby belly, froze it for a more appropriate time.

As you can tell, I hurriedly snapped a couple of pictures before we ate, hence the poor lighting.

For the sponge:

4 medium eggs
200g caster sugar
50g golden syrup
150g wholemeal flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsps ground cinnamon
100ml cold milk

Prepare a deep 20cm tin and preheat the oven to 180C

Beat the eggs, sugar and syrup until pale and thick, almost meringue like, if in doubt just keep whisking it took me a little while to achieve the right texture.

Add the milk to the mixture and beat again.

Sift the dry ingredients together and whisk until smooth.

Pour the mix into the prepared tin and bake for 35 minutes.

If your cake begins to look to brown cover the top with foil for the final ten minutes of baking.

The cake is ready when you stick a toothpick in and a it comes out with a few moist crumbs.

Allow to cool completely on a before doing anything with it, my sponge was quite fragile.

If you’re not a cinnamon fan you could use nutmeg instead or even a teaspoon of each. I think the flavours could easily be played with and changed to compliment whatever fruit you decide to fill it with.

To decorate:

Fresh or frozen fruit and/ or jam

* The original recipe uses blackberries as the fruit but seeing as they are expensive and not in season I went with a frozen black forest mix. I’d recommend fresh if you do intend to bring it do a picnic or event. I think raspberries would add a nice tartness as the sponge is quite sweet.