I recently purchased some lovely Duck Eggs from our local farm shop Smiths , and I had to make a sponge as due to their high protein content, duck eggs make cakes rise high and stay that way, while their high fat content gives baked goods a richer taste and colour.

I had also brought some Banana and Apple Jam from Humbers Homemade and decided that this sponge would be a great way off showing off this lovely produce.

Now the way that I cook my sponge cakes could not be easier, all you need to do is weigh the eggs still in there shells, and whatever the weight, you measure the same amount of butter,caster sugar and self raising flour, it really could not be simpler.

So the ingredients are as follows:

Duck Eggs

Self Raising Flour

Caster Sugar

Softened Butter

1 tsp Baking Powder

2 tsp Vanilla Extract

10fl oz double cream

3 table spoons icing sugar (or just add to taste)

1 Jar of Banana & Apple Jam (or a jam of your choice)

Method

• · Pre-heat oven to 350ºF/180ºC (140º for fan oven) or Gas Mark 4
• · Cream your butter and sugar together until light and creamy.
• · Break in 1 egg at a time, and whisk until all eggs have been added.
• · Sift in the flour and baking powder.
• · Add 1 tsp of the vanilla extract and whisk together until mixture is smooth.
• · Pour into a nice deep baking tin, and cook for roughly 40 minutes, please check after 35 mins, it should be nice and springy and a lovely golden colour.
• · Once cooked take out the oven and cool, remove from the tin and cut into half and sandwich with the jam.
• · Now add the cream to a mixing bowl and add the icing sugar and 1tsp of vanill extract and whisk until the cream has stiffened to the soft peak stage. You can add the sugar a little bit at a time if you wish to avoid a cloud of icing sugar taking over your kitchen.
• · Spoon the cream over the top of your cake, sit bake and admire, and enjoy.