I’ve started making this sponge whenever I have a new book out because a) I love cake and any excuse to have it is a good excuse and b) I find it fun to have my book in cake form.
I upload a photo of the book to a company that makes specialist icing. It doesn’t cost a great deal and they send it to me very quickly. It doesn’t have a great deal of flavour, so it’s nice to stick it to the sponge with a thin layer of icing made with icing sugar and water.
The company I use only has the one size, so make sure you have a baking tin to match the size. My mum brought me one with moving sides from Lakeland years ago and it’s very versatile, although I forget how to put it together every, single time.
Although there aren’t many ingredients, this is a big cake and so the quantities are large.
Ingredients
- 350g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
- 350g soft brown sugar (you can use caster sugar like a normal sponge but I’ve found this gives it an almost caramel flavour.)
- 6 eggs (beaten)
- 350g self-raising flour
- 1 tablespoon of vanilla essence
Serves 8 hungry readers
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160˚C / 320˚F / Gas mark 3.
- Put the butter and the sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk together until creamy.
- Slowly add the eggs and the vanilla essence, whisking after every addition.
- Sieve in the flour and stir gently until completely combined.
- Spoon into the tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Because of the shape and size, this may take a little longer. Test with a skewer and if it comes away clean, then it’s done.
- Allow it to cool completely, then cut the cake so it is flat on both sides. Don’t cut the ends off until you have added the topping because you will need to trim it to size after that.