Bite-sized bakes

Creating joy is all about enjoying little luxuries, and these sweet mini morsels can be shared or secretly savoured alone

- RECIPES & PHOTOGRAPHY TILLY PAMMENT

Strawberry & rhubarb jam Victoria sponges
MAKES 6
Cake
Unsalted butter, to grease
A little plain flour, to dust
200ml thick cream
165g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 eggs
150g self-raising flour
½ tsp fine sea salt
To fill
200ml pouring cream
100g Greek-style yoghurt
1 tbsp icing sugar mixture, plus extra to dust
1 tsp rosewater
160g strawberry & rhubarb jam (see right)

1 Preheat oven to 160°C fan-forced and grease a 6-hole large muffin tin (with 180ml capacity holes) well with softened butter. I have a tin with straight-sided cups, which looks lovely, but a regular large muffin tin works just as well. Dust the tin with a little plain flour, tapping out any excess.

2 Make the cake batter by placing the cream, caster sugar and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and using a hand whisk to combine. Do not overmix or the cream will become too stiff. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add the self-raising flour and salt to the bowl, and whisk briefly to form a smooth batter.

3 Divide the batter evenly between the prepared tins, smoothing the tops with a spatula and tapping the tins gently on the bench to remove any air bubbles. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cakes have risen and are cooked through. Allow the cakes to cool in their tins for 10 minutes before carefully turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

4 When ready to assemble the cakes, make the filling by whipping the cream, yoghurt, icing sugar and rosewater to soft peaks. Split the cakes in half, and top the bottom halves with a generous scoop of the cream mixture. Use the back of a spoon to create a little nest in the cream, then place a spoonful of jam on top. Gently sandwich the tops of the cakes on and dust liberally with icing sugar. TIP These cakes are best served soon after assembling.