Category Archives: Royal

HM The Queen’s, Victoria Sponge Cake.

Leave a Reply

INGREDIENTS  

  • 3 eggs
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 150g sieved self-raising flour
  • 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
  • 100g jam (strawberry or raspberry)
  • 150g softened unsalted butter
  • 220g sieved icing sugar
  • 1/3 vanilla pod or vanilla essence

METHOD 

 1. Preheat the oven to 180C (375F, gas mark 4) 

2. Grease and line two 8 inch cake tins (if you only own one tin, you can bake the sponge and slice in half)

3. Cream the caster sugar, vanilla essence and softened unsalted butter until light and fluffy

4. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs

5. Gradually add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, to avoid the mixture curdling

6. Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture

7. Divide the cake mix between the two cake tins and smooth

 8. Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the cake appears golden brown

9. Insert a skewer and ensure it comes out clean

10. Remove the sponges from their tins and leave to cool 

11. Cream the softened butter with the sieved icing sugar and seeds from the vanilla pod (or vanilla essence) 

12. Ensure that both sponges are completely cold before spreading a layer of jam onto the surface of one sponge

13. Spread a thick layer of buttercream on top of the jam ( if you prefer this can be done first)

14. Gently place the second sponge on top and gently press down

15. Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with a pot of fresh English tea!

Her Majesty The Queen, HRH Duke of Edinburgh and HRH Duchess of Cambridge visit Baker Street Underground station as LU celebrates 150 years of serving London·

Leave a Reply

image003The Royal Party meet Tube staff and take a closer look at London Underground’s historic and future fleet· New S-stock train named “Queen Elizabeth II”

Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge visited Baker Street Underground station today (Wednesday 20th March) as part of a visit to mark the 150 th anniversary of London Underground (LU). As part of the visit, Her Majesty and Their Royal Highnesses met a cross-section of the staff who keep London moving every day including those who work on stations, trains and maintenance.

The Royal Party were also shown examples of LU’s past and future, firstly viewing the Metropolitan Railway Jubilee Carriage No 353, the oldest operational underground carriage in existence and used recently on a steam run to commemorate the 150 th anniversary. They went on to have a closer look at one of the new walk through air conditioned Tube trains which are being introduced on 40 per cent of the network, followed by Her Majesty unveiling a plaque naming the train “Queen Elizabeth II”.

Mike Brown, Managing Director of London Underground & London Rail, said: “Today’s visit was a huge privilege, helping us mark the 150 th anniversary of London Underground as well as recognising some of the staff who work tirelessly to keep London moving. It not only acknowledged our illustrious past but also the need to look to the future. “We are continually improving the network and our passengers are seeing the benefits including more frequent and reliable services on the Jubilee and Victoria lines and new trains now serving the Metropolitan line, which will be rolled out to 40 per cent of our network. The key to continuing this success, and supporting the economy of London and the UK, is sustained investment to enable us to provide a network fit for the next 150 years.” As part of the visit the Royal Party were also introduced to the team that restored the heritage carriage, as well as to representatives of the Railway Children charity.