There is nothing better than eating something sweet outside when the sun is out, and spring is the perfect time to make something home-baked that will go perfectly with any picnic. Victoria sponge cake is a classic British dessert that is filled with jam, and so easy to make that you just need a little time on a lazy afternoon to bake it.

You do not need to be an experienced baker to make a cake, but Rachael Matthews, the founder of Tea with Mum has warned that a Victorian sponge is often ruined because people use the wrong ingredients. It is really common to just use whatever ingredients you have in the kitchen, but you cannot use old eggs or self-rising flour on a sponge cake as it will make it flat and flavourless. Rachael said: "If your eggs are older than about one week, your cake will be flat....self-raising flour will not give you the rise you need and the crumb will not be as nice."

Eggs begin to break down the longer you have them stored in your kitchen, which means they begin to thin out, lose moisture and cannot hold air very well.

Trapping air inside a sponge cake is the key to making it light, and using eggs that are a week old will result in a flat cake that will have a slightly stale taste.

Self-raising flour may seem obvious to use in a cake, but it is actually too heavy for a sponge and will make the mixture compact, which means it will not bake properly in the oven.

If you want to ensure you have the tastiest cake possible then buy fresh eggs and use cornflour instead of self-raising flour as it will make the cake have a fuffier texture.

Rachael said: "A little cornflour (AKA cornstarch) helps make the cake crumb softer. It also expands to about six times its volume when baking, which helps your cake rise.

How to make a proper Victorian sponge cake:
You will need:

For the cake:

• 225g of butter


• 225 of caster sugar


• Four large eggs


• Two teaspoons of vanilla paste


• 200g of plain flour


• 25g of cornflour


• Three teaspoons of baking powder


• Four tablespoons of milk

For the filling:

• 200g of double cream


• Two tablespoons of icing sugar


• One teaspoon of vanilla essence


• Three tablespoons of raspberry jam


• 125g of fresh raspberries

Method:

To make the cake:

To begin, preheat the oven to 170 °C (fan oven), grease the bottoms of two cake tins and then line with baking paper.

Place the caster sugar and butter in a large bowl, then mix together for about four minutes until you have a pale yellow, creamy texture. It is fine to use either a wooden spoon or a mixer if you have one.

Next, add the eggs one at a time to the butter mixture, mixing until just incorporated after each addition. Stir in the vanilla until combined. Be careful not to overmix, as this is the easiest way to ruin a cake and result in a dense texture.

Use a mesh to sift the plain flour, cornflour, and baking powder into the butter mixture, then fold it in with a silicone spatula. Next, add a tablespoon of milk at a time until the batter softens enough to drop easily from a spoon.

Divide the cake batter between the two cake tins and smooth the tops. Then, simply place in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until you have two golden cakes.

To make the filling and decorations:

Once the cakes are ready to take out of the oven, leave them in the cake tins for five minutes before carefully removing them and peeling off the baking paper. Do not start decorating the cake until it is completely cool.

Place the double cream in a small bowl and use a sieve to sift one tablespoon of icing sugar over it. Add the vanilla extract, then stir to combine.

Pick one cake for the cake, and if it's dome-shaped, cut a little off the top to leave a flat surface. Then, spread a generous amount of raspberry jam on top of the cake.

Add the creamy icing mixture to the top of the jam, then place the second cake on top, dome-side up.

Dust the top with icing sugar, decorate with raspberries, and your delicious homemade cake is ready to eat.