While measuring or weighing out your butter, cut into cubes about 1cm, ⅓″ size. A smaller surface area will soften quicker as well as be easier to mix with. If in a hurry, or you forget to take out on time, here’s a hack I tried. Soften Butter In About 12 Minutes. Add the sugar to the softened butter, in a medium mixing bowl or on the bowl of your stand mixer. Tip - if using scales, you can place the bowl on top and press the TARE button to set to zero, before adding your sugar in to the desired weight. This will reduce the amount of bowls you use. Now beat the sugar and butter together, (use the k-paddle attachment for your stand mixer), until very smooth, creamy and paler in colour. This is known as 'creaming' and the best method for incorporating air into the batter, for a nice light cake. Learn more in the notes before the recipe card.
Next add the eggs, one at a time, and mix on low to medium speed, only until mixed through. Also known as ‘amalgamated’ or you might read the term ‘emulsified’. (See Photo 2 below). Emulsify just means combining two liquids that don't normally want to mix together (examples being vinegar and oil). So for our recipe, at this point we are trying to emulsify eggs and butter. This is why sometimes after adding the eggs, your batter might look a little curdled or split. If this does happen, add a few spoons of your flour while mixing in the eggs. That said, you don’t need to worry about it, as it will bake out fine.
Top Tip - For even more height to your cake, you can whisk the eggs first. Whisking activates protein in the egg, and this protein provides structure for your bake. Now add the vanilla extract, and mix briefly.
Sieve the flour (and baking powder if using Plain or All Purpose flour), on top of the batter. Tip - for more rise, you can also sieve in a different bowl, before sieving a second time on top of the batter. See Photo 3 above. Mix on a low speed to begin with, add in the milk & increase to medium speed, until all incorporated & you have a smooth thick batter. Mix only until no flour is visible. Do not be tempted to over-mix as it can knock out the air you incorporated, which can cause a cake not to rise as well. Holding the sieve a bit higher above the bowl, can also get more air into your cake batter.
Heat the oven to 180°c/160°c Fan oven/350°f/Gas Mark 4. (You know your own oven, so if it takes longer than 7 - 10 minutes to reach temperature, put on a bit earlier.)
Prepare your cake tins by greasing well, before lining the bottom. Check out my review of Homemade Lining Paste/Cake Goop by Bake Off winner Nancy Birtwhistle. Alternatively, you can use a Quick Release of Cooking/Baking spray (such as FryLight spray). Or softened butter & flour. But be sure to cut a circle of baking/parchment paper for the bottom of the tin too. Check my article for cutting to fit any sized round tin. Or see my video on how to fold paper circles to fit a cake tin. And simply place in position, on top of the greased tin. Note I prepare the cake tins at this stage, (not at the very beginning),so that the paper sticks nicely in place. Now add the cake batter evenly between the two cake tins and smooth out the top, best you can, with the back of a spoon. Tap the tins a few times on the counter/worktop to expel any trapped air.
Now for a slightly better bake, I like to reduce the temperature slightly, before putting the cakes in the oven - to 170°c/150°c fan oven/340°f/Gas Mark 3½*. Then pop the 2 cake tins in the centre of the oven to bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. If your oven doesn't bake evenly or has hot spots, turn the tins after the half-way mark (and they will not deflate). So wait until at least 13 minutes before opening the oven. Then begin checking if the cake is ready, from about the 19 minute mark.
The sponges should be a golden colour, but you need to be sure they are fully baked. Use a cocktail stick/tooth pick, and make a hole in the centre of the cake. You want it to come out dry & clean of any crumbs. If not, pop back in the oven for 2 more minutes and keep checking until done. Other indicators of when the cake is ready are - springy to touch, and you will be able to see the sponge coming away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool in the tins, on top of a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes.
Take the tins off the cooling rack, and place a clean, folded tea-towel on top of the cooling rack. Then turn the cake tins over to release the sponges on to the tea-towel. (If sticking at the sides at all, just run a palette knife around the sides). Leave in this upside-down position to cool, for at least 10 minutes before attempting to carefully peel back the paper. If they are not coming off easily, leave to cool a bit more.
TOP TIP – Placing cakes on the tea towel means there are no rack marks left on the cake. If you intend to fully decorate on top, this is not important. But if going for the classic look for a Victoria Sandwich cake, you don’t really want lines showing on top. And leaving to cool upside down also results in less of a dome. (But also please note a dome to the top layer of a Victoria Sandwich, is classic).