June issue winning reader recipe - strawberry sponge cake

Serves: 8

You voted on the blog for Michelle Dickson's strawberry sponge cake, so here it is. Make it for a special occasion or on the weekend with the kids. Enjoy!

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Ingredients

• butter, for greasing
• 75g plain flour, plus extra to dust the cake tin
• 40g cornflour
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• 3 large eggs
• 175g golden granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• To serve:
• 175g lemon curd
• 1 x 150ml carton double cream
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 250g strawberries, hulled and sliced if large
• 1 tsp golden icing sugar for dusting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease and flour a 20cm-deep round cake tin. Line the base with baking paper.
2. Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl and mix well.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with an electric whisk until thick, creamy and pale yellow.
4. Use a balloon whisk to gradually fold the dry ingredients into the fluffy egg mixture. Scrape into the lined tin.
5. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the top is golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool completely.
6. To release the cake, run a round-bladed knife twice around the edge, then carefully upturn the tin and peel away the paper from the bottom.
7. Transfer to a board and use a large serrated knife to cut the cake in half. Put the bottom half of the cake on a serving plate or cake stand. Spread the lemon curd on top and sandwich together with the top layer.
8. Whisk the cream with the vanilla extract until thick and spoon on top of the cake. Top with the strawberries and lightly dust with icing sugar.