Beautiful fall, lovely Victoria sponge

As Jill has rightly commented, it has been 5 weeks since my last post, and there is really no good excuse for that, is there? Yes, I have a job–finally–but it is temporary, and a bit rocky, and it looks like I need to check out the job market sooner that I thought I would have to, and….well, I am never creative when I am feeling overwhelmed or depressed.

Fortunately I have been saving up some photos to share with you, and I have been occasionally mindful of my British cooking project, so we’ll play catch-up for a couple of weeks.

Fall came late and has lingered here, and I am loving it. The air is mild and soft, the leaves are only now stopping their downward drift, and the green and grey of a Pacific Northwest winter is revealing itself, full of lichens and crocus buds and blooming heathers. Can I say once more that I love living on Vancouver Island? It is my favorite place in the world to be. One reason is the frequent ocean views. Here is a view from our road, just down from the house (this view is not from our house but we drive along it every day which is very nice):

Another reason is the frequent access to British foods, weather cold enough to make you want them, but mild enough that you can be thankful you don’t live anywhere else in Canada (like Edmonton– no more Edmonton winters for me– it’s only now that it’s starting to sink in, now that my diplomas have arrived).

Another hesitation for me in posting is that so much of British food is indeed what I make on a regular basis, and often it’s very simple things. So simple, in fact, that I feel a bit embarrassed about it. I mean, do you really want to see the jam tarts I made, which is nothing but little circles of pastry cooked with a dot of  jam in the middle? Or the corned beef hash which looks disgusting (not at all suitable for a photo on the web), all mashed potato and corned beef with cheese and fried onions, but tastes great with some HP sauce?

Well, I have to get over it, or we will never get started, so I present you with something very British, and very simple. Here’s a picture of a Victoria sponge I made. I won’t include a recipe for sponge cake because you probably have your own favorite. To make it a Victoria sponge, all you do is take two round layers, fill it with jam and whipped cream, and if you are feeling fancy, sift some icing sugar over the top.

It makes for a very satisfying cake. Much better than storebought icing, and I think better than a lot of homemade icings too. But then I am not a big icing fan. I used some of my homemade blackberry jam in this cake. If only I hadn’t overbaked the sponge to total dryness, it would have been delightful to eat.