Orange and Poppy Seed Victoria Sponge

Anyone would think this was a baking blog.

I love baking, this is probably my favourite aspect of cooking. Cakes like this one are not at all Turkish but here I am, living in Turkey, and I find that English-style cakes go down a treat!

here we have orange and poppy seed victoria sponge lightly sprinkled with icing sugar and
and more poppy seeds - looks good, doesn't it?

Victoria sponges - so-called because they were a favourite of our very own Queen Victoria - are one of the very basic tenets of British baking: a cake like this means 2 rounds sandwiched together traditionally with jam or for high days and holidays, some kind of cream or butter cream. So of course when I spotted this recipe, I was bound to go for it, especially with additional ingredients of orange and then the poppy seeds! I associate these at least with my country of residence, Turkey!

I love it when unusual ingredients are used in other more familiar recipes! I admire recipe writers who must be under the most enormous pressure to be forever creative. 

My eggs here were really organic, well at least as natural as you can get, as Hatice from Paşaköy which is the next village to Assos gave them to me. You will see that the yolks are bright yellow!

here's how she gave them to me: each egg carefully wrapped in newspaper

With this recipe, I noted that this is now the second recipe where orange marmalade is introduced, the other being the carrot and almond cheesecake I made recently. It used to be strawberry jam, now it's orange marmalade! Still, I certainly don't scoff at the combinations that these recipes propose! Wonderful stuff!

So here is the recipe for this sponge cake which is perfect for any teatime:

Orange and Poppy Seed Victoria Sponge

from my latest favourite woman&home Feel Good Food issue 26

Serves 10

Ingredients

185g/6½oz unsalted butter, softened

185g/6½oz caster sugar (toz şeker for us)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

185g/6½oz self-raising flour ( add 1½ heaped tsps baking powder to regular flour if you haven't got any SR), sifted

juice and zest 1 orange

1tbsp poppy seeds/haşhaş tohumu

for the filling:

200ml/7fl oz light double cream (1 little packet like Pınar)

2tbsp caster sugar (here I recommend pudra şeker so it won't be too gritty)

100g/4oz orange marmalade

1tbsp icing sugar/pudra şeker again

½tsp poppy seeds, to serve

you will need:

2 x 18cm/7in round cake tins, greased and base-lined with baking parchment

(my tins are actually a little bit larger)

Method

• Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/350F/gas 4.

• Using an electric hand whisk, beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale and fluffy.


• Add the eggs, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour over the mixture and fold in gently with a large metal spoon.

•  Add 1tbsp orange juice to bring to a dropping consistency, then stir through the orange zest and poppy seeds.

• Divide the mixture between the cake tins and bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 20 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

•  Leave the cakes to cool in their tins for 5 mins, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

you can tell if a cake is done by the way it comes away from the side like here

peeling off the baking parchment

• Meanwhile, whisk the cream with an electric whisk to soft peaks, then whisk in the caster sugar. Spread one layer of sponge with the marmalade then spoon over the cream.

here's the bottom layer covered with orange marmalade

•  Top with the other layer of sponge, dust with the icing sugar and scatter over the poppy seeds to serve.

utterly delicious orange and poppy seed Victoria sponge cake

Afiyet olsun!

Try this cake next time you have friends coming round -they'll love it!