Duck egg Victoria sponge

I only very rarely make a large sponge cake, I'm much more of a cupcake girl really. But when the beautifully squidgy-faced James Martin instructs the people of Great Britain to welcome the duck egg into their kitchens, what else am I supposed to do. This isn't quite his glorious 'revival' recipe, but it is very delicious, and I can highly recommend tracking down some duck eggs and giving it a go!
The trick to a split-free cake mix is room temperature ingrediants, so get those eggs out of the fridge!

Strawberries and Cream Sponge Cake

(adapted from James Martin- The Great British Food Revival)

250g butter

250g caster sugar

pinch of salt

5 duck eggs

250 self raising flour

200ml double cream, 

(whipped with a tablespoon of caster sugar and 2tsp vanilla)

Some lovely jam

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C

2. Cream butter and sugar until very fluffy. 

3. Beat eggs into a separate bowl, add them a little at a time to the egg mix, whisking all the time

4. Add flour, fold it in gently and smooth the mixture into 2x 8inch sandwich tins, (well buttered!)

5. Bake for 25 mins

If you, like Mr Martin, can make your own jam, so much the better. But I did the next best thing by sweet talking Tom into buying me some simply scrumptious posh cherry jam. 

Ah, you don't need me to tell you a classic jam and double cream filled sponge is good!

In other news, I've been raiding the farmers market. Aside from the occasional slug or caterpillar in my cabbage, its been great- I've been eating things I've never tried before- stuffed Hokkaido squash is now firmly on the menu!

Look at my lovely loot!  And yes, I know my camera (un)skills are showing, but it was just so damn exciting to have two kilos of beetroot in my kitchen, mingling with the duck eggs!

More squash, cabbage and marchpane that I have grand ideas for indeed! 

Am I the only person who thinks that Savoy cabbage is one of the most gorgeous looking things you can put in your mouth.

The leaves almost look like layers of an extravagent skirt.

 

Absolutely stunning! But for those of you who aren't as enamoured of the cabbage as I am, here's the rather more universally adored cake again!