Advantages: tastes lovely
Disadvantages: lots of calories, not suitable for certain allergy sufferers, quite expensive

...The name Marks and Spencers has always been associated with good quality food in my mind. It is true that their stores have come under quite a lot of criticism in recent years but to me their quality of food has never deteriorated and it is still second to none. I do not shop at Marks and Spencers regularly but if I get the chance I do like to make a few selective purchases. One such treat that I have discovered is their Iced Sponge Cake. At £1.39 for a 335g Sponge Cake this could be considered to be on the expensive side. However, this may be a Sponge based treat but do not think that it will taste anything like a Victoria Sponge Cake for a moment, because this treat is in a whole different league. The Cake is rectangular in shape and comes in three different layers each separated with a generous layer of Raspberry Jam... Read review

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Advantages: Good For Those With Food Allergies
Disadvantages: Plain Ones Lack Taste

...Egg Free Sponge Birthday Cake: 6 oz self-raising flour with 1 level teasp baking powder OR plain flour with 3 level teaspoons baking powder 2 1/2 oz margarine 2 oz sugar 2 level tablespoons cocoa powder 1/4 pint milk Sift the flour and baking powder. Cream the marg and sugar until soft and light Gradually add the flour and cocoa powder then a little liquid. Continue like this until you have a smooth mixture. Add a little extra milk if needed. Grease and flour two 7 inch sandwich tins and divide the mixture between the two. Bake on Gas Mark 2, 300F, 150c for about 1 hour in the centre of the oven. Check that the sponge is cooked by piercing with a skewer, leave a bit longer if necessary. When cooked switch off oven and leave the cake inside until cold (because the cake is egg free it will fall if taken out to cool... Read review

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Advantages: Tastes devine and will melt the heart of whoever you share it with
Disadvantages: It gets eaten to quickly!

...Given that Valentine’s Day is imminent, I thought a recipe for a simple sponge cake to melt your loved one’s heart was in order. I must add it is also perfect for eating alone, to ease the feeling of being all by yourself. Obviously, it is a cake which is also perfect all year round, whether it’s for a family treat, taking with you when you first meet your future mother in law, a girly night in or just for eating! This is a tried and tested recipe in my house and has been made many times. I can testify to its loveliness! It’s a recipe for anyone from the complete novice to the experienced baker. It really is very easy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EQUIPMENT: For the cake: ~ 2 x 7 inch-ish cake/sponge tins (If it is for Valentine’s Day, it would be prefect to be made in a heart shaped tin but given they are hard to get hold off... Read review

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Advantages: Cream, chocolate, cake...
Disadvantages: Not good for the waistline

...I have always enjoyed baking, and one of the highlights of my dinner parties is the very large, beautifully decorated cake I bring in for dessert. It looks amazing, but is not as difficult to create as it may seem. Here is my simple recipe for a sponge cake and some easy decoration ideas The sponge recipe is made simple by using ratios of sugar, margarine, and flour to each egg. It uses 2oz each of flour, sugar and margarine for each egg used. The size of mix you make is in proportion to the size of cake you want to make. The 3 egg mix below will make a 2 layer sponge. If you want a larger cake, increase the values in proportion, e.g. for a 3 layered cake a 4 or 5 egg mix would be appropriate, or a 4 egg mix would make a square cake in a 20 by 20cm tin. Ingredients: For the cake: 6oz Margarine 6oz Sugar 3 medium Eggs... Read review

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Advantages: Delicious and simple
Disadvantages: Can leave the kitchen a bit messy

...Whenever I feel like baking I always just want to bake a plain and simple sponge cake, either a Victoria sandwich (like my mum always makes) or some mini sponge cakes. However I always forget some part of the recipe and so I search on the internet but all I find are thousands and thousands of recipes for weird cakes I have none of the ingredients for. And I can never find a simple sponge cake recipe. So for all you people like me here it is in plain, simple English Ingredients: 4oz (100grammes) of Butter or Margarine 4oz (100grammmes) of castor sugar 2 large eggs 4oz (100grammmes) self-raising flour (alternatively for a chocolate sponge use 3oz of self-raising flour and 1oz of coco powder) You will also need: Measuring scales A mixing bowl, wooden spoon and metal spoon. Another bowl and whisk. Either two 6-7inch... Read review

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Advantages: The sponge is quite nice
Disadvantages: Topping tasted of nothing & there was no mention of calories

...on a vanilla flavoured sponge. They all look nice and sweet because the icing looks really thick and sweet but when you took in it's a different story. Each cake is wrapped individually so they are convenient for lunch boxes and good for me because if you eat one you don't have to worry about eating the rest in case they go dry or hard. THE SMELL I think the main appeal to a nice cake is the glorious smell, which makes your mouth water as soon as you let one pass your nose. Most cakes don't even need to get near to your nose to caress your drool glands you can smell them a mile away. These cakes didn't even come close to that! There was no smell coming off them what so ever which was a big warning sign for me. An orange or lemon flavoured cake usually smells quite strongly. The scent is were my story of disappointment began. THE BIG... Read review

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Advantages: Very Tasty
Disadvantages: Lots Of Sugar And calories

...a rough picture of what I am trying to describe. The ends of the slab are exposed and the inside of the cake is made up of four different coloured pieces of sponge, each colour is square in shape and held together with apricot jam. There are two yellow and two pink squares arranged in a chequered pattern like a chessboard. The battenburg cake is packed in a clear cellophane wrapper so you can see the cake through the wrapper. The cake itself sits on piece of white cardboard to give it extra rigidity. This cardboard has a picture of the Battenburg cake on it along with the Lyons Company logo and crest which states that Lyons have been baking cakes since 1908. The History of the Battenburg Cake The origins of the Battenburg cake begin in Germany in the latter half of the 19th Century and the cake takes its name from the Battenburg Royal... Read review

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Advantages: Contains fairly-traded ingredients
Disadvantages: slightly dearer than average

...OF CAKE ANYONE? I try to look out for Fairtrade products and switched to CafeDirect years ago but this cake was new to me and I was keen to sample it as soon as possible. The cake is a lovely dark chocolate sponge with top that glistens in a gooey sort of way. It comes packed in a half carton which is wrapped in clear film so you can see what you’re getting. The carton shows a picture of cake slices and carries the Fairtrade logo. The packaging itself is in a rather un-appertising maroon. You’ll need a knife for this cake - it’s an oblong measuring roughly 7 inches by 4 inches. (The number of slices you get from this is entirely up to you!). Oddly enough there is nothing on the packaging giving the weight of the product. On the carton it states that this is “ a moist chocolate cake with chocolate flavour fudge sauce... Read review

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Advantages: Yumptious Cake
Disadvantages: Not one

...Now it is fair to say I like a nice cake, indeed there is yet to be a cake invented that I did not like, and top of my list has to be the delectable and eye catching Battenberg, pink and yellow sponge squares glued together with apricot jam to produce a chequerboard effect and encased in marzipan, pure heaven in cake form. Before we get to the fabled taste test I feel a little history lesson is called for, after all a cake does not end up looking like the Battenberg for no reason. Popular belief has it that the four quarters of sponge honour the four Battenberg princes, Louis, Alexander, Henry and Francis and the cake was first made to mark the occasion of Prince Louis marriage to Princess Victoria of Hesse-Darmstadt. During the war with Germany the family decided it should anglicize its name in the face of anti-German feeling... Read review

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Advantages: very yummy!
Disadvantages: none

...A decent Victoria Sponge is a baking staple. I've got the preparation down to about 12 minutes so it really is something that you can make in a hurry. This recipe makes a 30 x 25 cm cake, which is pretty big. I usually make up this amount of mixture as half of it is enough to make a small sponge and you can use the extra to make fairy cakes, Once cooked this cake can be frozen and then defrosted when needed. I use all organic ingredients when I make this cake, which of course does make it a little more expensive to produce. It is still nowhere near the cost of buying a decent birthday cake from the supermarket. I estimate that to make a cake of this size would cost about £4, using organic ingredients from Tesco. - INGREDIENTS - 350g of melted butter [melting the butter makes mixing an awful lot easier] 350g caster sugar 6... Read review

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