Vanilla Victoria Sponge and a giveaway

I love baking with vanilla. It's such a versatile flavour and absolutely delicious on it's own. Since I discovered how easy it is to make your own vanilla extract, I've not bought any but I do regularly buy vanilla pods and vanilla bean paste for baking. Taylor & Colledge have a great range of vanilla bean products including organic vanilla bean pods, vanilla bean dusting sugar, vanilla bean extract, vanilla bean paste and vanilla bean grinder. I was particularly intrigued by the vanilla bean grinder as I've never seen one before. I shortlisted a few recipes to showcase the vanilla flavour and in end decided on a classic Victoria Sponge. 

I filled it with vanilla cream and fresh strawberries and added vanilla to the sponge mix as well. The vanilla flavour was delicious and you can definitely smell the vanilla in the cake as there was quite a lot of it! The vanilla bean grinder was really easy to use - similar to a salt/pepper grinder. I loved the flecks of vanilla on the cream and it added to the vanilla flavour too. 

I have 3 sets of their full range of vanilla bean products to giveaway to 3 lucky readers. Entry is via the rafflecopter widget below. 

The prize consists of one of each of the following for 3 readers.

• Taylor & Colledge Organic vanilla bean pods 
• Taylor & Colledge Vanilla bean dusting sugar 
• Taylor & Colledge Vanilla bean extract 
• Taylor & Colledge Vanilla bean paste
• Taylor & Colledge Vanilla bean grinder

Terms and Conditions

• This giveaway is open to all readers over 18 with a postal address in the UK.
• Closing date is 7th July 2014 at 12 midnight GMT.
• The winner will be chosen at random via Rafflecopter and will be contacted by email. 
• I am running this competition on behalf of Taylor & Colledge who will be sending out the prize directly. By entering you are giving me permission to pass your email address on to Taylor & Colledge so they can contact you for delivery of the prize. 
• All entries will be checked and verified. 

 My selection of vanilla bean products for review - organic vanilla bean pods, vanilla bean dusting sugar, vanilla bean extract, vanilla bean grinder and vanilla bean paste 

 adding vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract to the cake batter 

 I used the vanilla bean grinder to grind some vanilla beans into the whipped cream 

 I also added more ground vanilla on top of the cream before adding the strawberries 

 

 finally a dusting of vanilla bean icing sugar to finish 

For the cake
Weigh 4 eggs in their shells and then measure out the same weight in butter, sugar and self raising flour.
My eggs weighed 265g so I used:

4 eggs (weight 265g in their shells)
265g butter
265g caster sugar
265g self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the filling
300mls double cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a few twists of the vanilla bean grinder
Fresh strawberries - washed, hulled and sliced

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
• Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well between each addition.
• Mix in the flour.
• Stir in the vanilla bean paste and vanilla extract.
• Divide the mixture evenly between 2 sandwich tins.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes until golden brown and springy to touch. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
• Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
• Whip the cream until it's set and add in the vanilla extract. 
• Using the vanilla bean grinder, sprinkle some ground vanilla over the cream. 
• Sandwich the cakes with the vanilla cream and a layer of strawberries. 
• Dust the top of the cake with vanilla bean icing sugar.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was sent a selection of products from Taylor & Colledge for review purposes. A positive review was not required and all opinions expressed are my own.