Mary Berry’s ‘lovely’ coffee sponge cake

A lovely change to a classic Victoria sponge*, it’s the perfect treat to pair with a cup of tea and is incredibly easy to make in only 5 minutes.

Ingredients
To make the cake:
225 SR
225g caster sugar
225g baking spread (straight from the fridge) ie Lurkpak or Fairy (or butter etc)
4 large eggs
2 heaped tsps instant coffee granules – decaf made up
1 level tsp BP
To make the icing
225g icing sugar
75g butter (softened)
1 T coffee essence (carob, espresso, chicory)
Kitchen equipment:
Two round sandwich tins
Non-stick baking paper
Large mixing bowl

Preheat the oven to Fan 160C. Grease sandwich tins, line bases with baking paper.

Place instant coffee in a bowl: dissolve with 1T boiling water – mix until smooth.

Measure out baking spread, caster sugar, SR, eggs & BP into a large mixing bowl. Add coffee mixture and beat until you have a well-blended & smooth batter.

Divide batter evenly between the sandwich tins, bake in preheated oven for 25-30 mins until
well-risen. Leave cakes to cool in the tins a few mins then turn out onto a cooling wire rack, making sure to peel off the baking paper as you do so.

To make the icing, blend the butter, icing sugar & coffee essence tog in a mixing bowl until you have a smooth icing. Once cakes are completely cold, sandwich together with icing and place onto a serving plate.  Sprinkle a little icing sugar on the top before serving.

* The secret to making a sponge cake is making sure the butter temperature is perfect before baking. For the cake, the butter or baking spread needs to come cold straight from the fridge while the butter for the icing needs to have sat at room temperature before use.