Victoria Sponge Layer Cake for 15th Blog Anniversary

Do bloggers remember blog anniversaries any more?  It used to be such a fun thing celebrating a blogiversary but I don't see much about it now.  Which might be that after 15 years of blogging, my enthusiasm and energy has waned somewhat.  I still love blogging but I have such a wealth of recipes to return to if I find time to cook.  There is also so much else to keep me busy that blogging is slow going these days.

However it is easy to remember my blogiversary because it always follows E's birthday.  Although we are separated we are still friendly and this year Sylvia and I made him a Victoria Sponge Cake with buttercream and jam.  I know it is a childhood favourite of his and was rewarded with a declaration that it was as good as his Aunty Dolly's.  Now that is high praise.

We baked the cake the night before.  Then on the day of the birthday, we decorated the cake.  We kept it simple.  Sylvia and I decided on a gold theme with caramilk, gold leaf and gold spray.  I also did some piping for fun.  Making a layer cake was enough work so we also ordered pizza on UberEats. 

And because it is my anniversary and I haven't had as much time to share lately, I am including a list of links to articles that have made a thoughtful contribution to what in school we called "current affairs".  And a few quirky links that took my fancy.

Street Art Cities - Thanks to Mae for sharing this site for searching street art in various cities.  Sometimes it seems I have visited all the fun street art of my area so I have enjoyed some virtual visits to new street art sites and made notes of places I must visit when I get time.  However I am not sure if and how they keep it updated, given how quickly street art can change.

Celebrities Call Out Controversial Government Bill For 'Criminalising' Refugees - the Russian war on Ukraine has faded a little but it is still making huge effects in people's lives, including Ukrainian refugees.  It is not a proud moment when the UK takes the lead from Australia on demonising refugees and all the cruel treatment that follows this.  So I hope many will see this video reminding us exactly what "criminal" means when the UK government talks of refugees.

The 1969 Easter Mass Incident - This story on Chickens of Unusual Size tumbler about a bread Jesus is a good laugh, though I know it will not appeal to everyone.

Digital’s hidden cost to the Earth is in its manufacturing  - I find Gerry McGovern's writing on World Wide Waste fascinating.  One of the benefits of the paperless office was saving all those trees.  The environmental effects on the Earth are far more hidden in digital information than watching paper churn out of a printer.

Why Australia’s daily Covid cases are on the rise again - Raina MacIntyre shares her insights about the pandemic still having an impact on our lives whether we have restrictions or not.  And sometimes it seems that not a lot of other people know that!

Museum offers a toast to Vegemite as centenary looms for Australia's favourite spread - I love that there is a team of Vegemaniacs creating a Vegemite museum in Beaufort named after the food technician who created the taste.  They are calling for Vegemite memorabilia donations.

Shakespeare Insult Kit - The guy really knew how to throw around an insult.  I just wish I could remember these insults when I need them.

Election 2022: brain farts, amnesia and moronic scare campaigns - There has been a lot of talk about the media's role in our current federal election campaign.  This article gives a great discussion about this with some analysis of newspaper headlines.

Each blogiversary it seems a miracle that I am still blogging.  When I started I never could have foreseen I would blog so much interesting food, learn so much about cooking, and make so many wonderful connections with other foodies.  I've got better at photography. found new foods, ate out at amazing cafes, and accompanied meals with good friends and fine music.  I had fun. I never could have foreseen so much change in my life and in the world since 2007 when I started blogging.   But I look back and see a lot of these changes here in my blog.

The blog has grown so big.  It is now 2337 posts but I don't really keep track of statistics any more.  Apologies if you get lost in the long archive, or stumble over a typo, or find yourself clicking on a broken link, I don't have as much time for maintenance as I would like.  But there are also many recipes I love to make over and over, posts that make me proud and great memories, It is sort of like an old rambling shabby house.  I might be aware of the cobwebs, I might not invite over lots of other bloggers like I used to (or even visit them), but I still enjoy pottering in my own wee cosy corner of the internet when I can.

And so I hope to continue blogging, albeit at a slower pace.

More blog anniversary cakes on Green Gourmet Giraffe:

• Sloth cupcakes 2020
• Floating Malteser cake 2017
• Ombre pink cake 2016 
• Ghost cake 2012
• Guitar cake 2011
  
• Viking cat cake 2010
  
• Green giraffe cake 2008
  
• Vampire cake 2007
  

Victoria Sponge Layer Cake
Slightly adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe and BBC Good Food
Makes 2 x 20cm round cakes

225g butter
225g castor sugar
225g (4) eggs
225g self raising flour

Filling:
100g butter
3 cups icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
generous 1/2 cup of raspberry jam

Grease and line 2 x round 20cm cake tins.  Preheat oven to 180 C.

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs, beating after each egg.  Gradually beat in the flour.  The batter is quite thick.  Spoon batter into the prepared tins, smoothing the top of each.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cakes are golden brown and spring back when touched on top.  Cool on a wire rack.

To decorate: first made the buttercream icing by creaming butter and gradually adding icing sugar until you have a thick icing.  Add a squeeze of lemon juice and beat to loosen the mixture slightly.  Spread one cake generously with jam (warm for 30 seconds in microwave if that makes it easier to spread.)  Spread or pipe buttercream over the jam.  Place second cake on top.  At this point you can dust the top with icing sugar.  Or you should have enough icing to spread on top, scrap around the edge of the cake and pipe some rosettes in a circle.  

NOTES:

Traditionally Victoria Sponge Cakes are made by weighing the eggs and then adding exactly the same amount of butter, sugar and flour.  I remembered this before adding the eggs and when I weighed them they weighed 205g so I added 20g of milk to make up the difference.  Not quite traditional but it worked. 

When I spooned the mixture into baking tins, I weighed it to get it even.  By my calculations I should have had 450g each but I only had about 430g each.  I guess the rest was stuck to the beaters, the spoon and the bowl.

The jam that I used was a home made raspberry and plum jam which was a bit old and quite thick.  I added a squeeze of lemon juice and then heated it 30 seconds in the microwave and stirred it to check the consistency to make it easier to spread. 

I added lemon juice to the buttercream sugar as the cake and icing were very sweet.  You could also add a little milk or vanilla to loosen the icing.

I was really pleased that this amount of icing made just enough without any over.  I might have liked slightly more for the side but went with the rustic naked cake look.

If you wish you can pile some of your favourite things inside but it is not necessary.  We put some caramilk chocolate squares and choc chips, please some gold leaf and gold glitter, as well as birthday candles.

On the Stereo:
Eyes Open: Snow Patrol