Eggless Sponge Cake: War time classic recipe, is as useful today

My recent Blitz Edition commemorative newspaper has proved an interesting read, in so many ways. It includes a couple of recipes, which are useful for the present day, for a variety of reasons. They show how to make a great dish, with few ingredients. This is useful for days when money is tight.

They also tend to make dishes that are less rich. This is due to the lack of ingredients on sale during the Second World war. This makes the recipes quite healthy.

Even if you are watching your weight you may find the need to make a sweet dish, dessert or cake, so this eggless sponge cake recipe could be just the thing for you.

• 6 ounce of Self Raising Flour plus 1 level teaspoon of baking powder.

OR

• 6 ounce of Plain Flour with 3 level teaspoons of baking powder.

Note: Either flour works well, but you must take care to adjust the amount of baking powder used, to ensure your cake rises well.

• 21/2 ounce of Margarine
• 2 ounce of Sugar
• 1 level tablespoon of golden syrup
• 1/4 pint of milk or milk and water
• Favourite Jam for the filling

For best results, sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl.

In a large mixing bowl place the margarine, sugar and golden syrup. Cream these together until soft and light. The mixture should be pale in colour.

Add a little flour and then a little liquid. A little at a time, will help keep the mixture smooth.

Continue until you have used all the flour and liquid, and the mixture is smooth.

Divide this mixture between two 7 inch, lightly greased, baking tins.

Place just above the centre of moderately hot oven. Check your oven's baking guidelines for exact baking times and oven temperatures.

Turn both the cooked cakes onto a wire to cool.

When cooled, sandwich the cakes together with jam.

Of course, if you are making this eggless cake these days, there will be no restrictions on the ingredients. This means that you can add fruit and, or, cream for the filling. Instead of margarine you may want to use a low fat margarine substitute. If you do make sure it is one that is suitable for baking and cooking.

If you stick with this traditional World War Two recipe though you will find it is a tasty sweet treat which is not too sweet nor sickly. So many modern cakes are overindulgent.

An Eggless Sponge Cake is vegetarian and suitable for those with an egg allergy.