![]() I'm sad to say, however, that I can't detect it in the cake itself. Holt also adds an audacious slug of rum, which, she says in the introduction, is inspired by a French recipe from the 1930s. I really like this bonus texture: it's a pleasant contrast to the sticky, fluffy cake beneath. ![]() Rhodes mixes the juice with golden syrup, which reminds me pleasantly of a steamed pudding, and Holt and Tonia George both go for granulated sugar instead which, as the latter promises, delivers a particularly robust sugary crust – indeed it's almost crunchy. Slater, who modestly doesn't even claim his cake as a drizzle number, simply squeezes over some lemon juice, but this makes the sponge itself too sharp for my taste. With a heavy heart, I have no choice but to disqualify it from the competition. The jam effectively acts as a seal, so there's no hope of any icing seeping into the sponge itself. The idea of drizzle also appears to have been lost in translation, because Blanc brushes his cake with apricot jam, followed by a lemon glaze made from icing sugar, lemon juice and zest. ![]() Although in ordinary circumstances I wouldn't kick it off the tea table, it seems dense and bland in comparison with the others. Raymond Blanc's Gallic take, meanwhile, ups the egg content and sticks in some double cream for good measure. Nigel Slater replaces some of the flour with ground almonds, which I like: the sweetness of the nuts works well with the sharpness of the lemon, and the cake itself has a more interesting texture. He does add milk to make a sloppier mixture, however, which seems to give a lighter, fluffier result.) (Rhodes claims it's a "classic example of an enriched bread which is now served as a tea bread", but as the ingredients and method are exactly the same as for a victoria sponge, the only thing bread-like about his is the loaf tin it's baked in. ![]() Rich and fluffy, the classic victoria is certainly one to bear in mind for my do-gooding new year's resolutions. Geraldene Holt's Cakes, Gary Rhodes and Tonia George all plump for a solid, workaday victoria sponge: equal amounts of butter, sugar and self-raising flour, whisked with egg, to produce a result Holt assures me is "recommended for a fundraising stall". ![]() Photograph: Felicity Cloakeīefore drizzle, of course, comes cake. ![]()
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