The beauty and the beast!

Do I talk to you about how spongy n tasty my Victoria Sponge Cake turned out? Or how I made a disaster of it with my stupid whipped cream icing?

Well, yesterday I was in a happy mood and wanted to bake a cake. Folks at home are tired of my Chocolate cakes, so, for a change, I wanted to try Rachel Allen's Victoria Sponge Cake. The recipe was quite simple and I started off, all excited!

Let me share my precious recipe with you now...

Rachel Allen's Victoria Sponge Cake

125g butter, softened
175g castor sugar
3 eggs
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Grease and flour the sides of two 18cm (7in) cake tins, and line with greaseproof paper.

Cream the butter until soft, then gradually add the sugar, and beat until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating well all the time.

Sieve the flour and baking powder, and stir in gently, then stir in the milk until just combined.

Divide the mixture between the two tins, hollowing it slightly in the centre, so that it will be flat on top when cooked.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the centre of the cake springs back when you push it gently. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow it to cool. (Place the cake that will become the top layer on its base so that the top isn't marked by the cooling rack.)

Hmmmmmmmmm.............it was absolutely delicious! The smell was great! Fresh! And it was so so so soft!

Did I leave it at that? No! I almost killed the cake with a spoilt whipped cream icing. The icing actaully turned out so beautifully, a lavender base with pink flowers. I was waiting to taste it. So, as soon as I was done with my icing I cut a piece and ate it. Yuck! The cream tasted sour! I quickly went and checked my whipping cream pack, well, you guessed it right. It expired about 2 months back.

Now, I put on my thinking cap.......think....think...think.....

Of course, I did not have the heart to throw away my yummy spongy cake... so, guess what I did? I scraped the icing off the cake, cleaned up all the mess and went to bed!

Today I got back from work, determined to ice my delicious sponge cake.

But before getting into the icing bit I had to make dinner. Mom had gone out, so I had to cook. I like to try new stuff, so today I created a delicious pasta recipe on my own!

Aparna's pasta (Will anybody name my pasta?!)

200g pasta
100g zucchini
100g eggplant
400g tomatoes
100g onion
1/4 cup loosely packed basil leaves
Olive oil
1 tsp chilli powder
Salt to taste




Put the tomatoes in hot water for 2 minutes. Peel the skin. Chop into chunks.

Thinly slice the zucchini, eggplant and onion.

Wash the basil leaves.

Cook the pasta until soft, with salt. Drain and keep aside.

Heat a pan, coat it with olive oil. Add the onion.

When it starts to turn golden brown in colour, add the zucchini and eggplant. Cook until vegetables are soft.

Add the basil, chilli powder and salt.

Add the tomatoes and keep cooking until the mixture becomes saucy.

Add the pasta. Cook for a few minutes until the pasta and the sauce are combined.

That's it! You are done!

Back to my Victoria Sponge Cake

I started all over, but this time with buttercream icing for one half and chocolate fudge for the other. I'm happy, it turned out quite well. Clap! Clap! Clap!

I followed the buttercream icing from Rachel Allen's website -

75g butter, softened
125g icing sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract




Beat butter until soft, add icing sugar and vanilla.

I did a chocolate fudge on my own -

225g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
50g butter
50g icing sugar





Melt the butter and chocolate together in a double boiler and add the icing sugar. Bring to a boil. Spread the icing quickly on the cake.