Light and very easy

Strawberry sponge cake is an old favourite of mine. This cake can be served as a pudding and today it is also a birthday cake.

Strawberries and a light sponge baked in a large shallow tin make a good base for a dessert, with the right proportion of cake, fruit and cream, without becoming too heavy and cakey.

Sponge cakes are very easy and quick to make and once you have mastered them there are many variations.

To make a smaller cake for afternoon tea, I halve the recipe and use a 20-centimetre cake tin. You could make the caramel icing (below) for this sponge, rather than the strawberry filling.

For today's lunch, I'm serving the strawberry sponge cake with homemade vanilla ice-cream. Here at the farm, we always seem to have a surplus of eggs, so it gives me the chance to make ice-cream using whole eggs, as well as cream.

My grandchildren say it is the best ice-cream ever, and I don't feel so guilty giving it to them as it has protein and fresh cream. They also love it when I add pureed strawberries to the mix. You don't need an ice-cream maker for this.

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Sponge cake

170g plain flour

½ tsp cinnamon (optional)

6 eggs

225g caster sugar

grated rind of 1 lemon

To finish

300g thickened cream

½ tsp vanilla essence

40g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

250g strawberries, hulled and quartered

Butter a springform 25-centimetre cake tin. Line the bottom and sides with baking paper, then butter the paper.

I like to have a crust on my sponge with the contrast of a crisp outside and the soft interior. To do this, place a tablespoon of caster sugar in the cake tin and roll the tin so the sugar covers the buttered paper, then shake out excess sugar over the sink. Repeat with a tablespoon of plain flour.

Preheat the oven to 175C. Whisk the flour and cinnamon (if using) together. Break the eggs into a large bowl. Add the sugar. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and whisk with an electric hand whisk until the eggs are mousse-like.

If you don't have an electric hand whisk and want to whisk the eggs in a stand mixer, you can heat the eggs in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until they are just warm, then remove from the heat and whisk in the stand mixer until they are cold and the whisk leaves a ribbon texture in the eggs. Fold in flour (and cinnamon) and the grated lemon rind. Turn into the prepared tin. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Whip the cream, add the vanilla and icing sugar and fold in the quartered strawberries.

Split the cake through the middle and fill the centre with the strawberry and cream mixture.

Vanilla ice-cream

3 eggs

170g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

300ml thickened cream

Whisk the whole eggs together in a bowl, adding the sugar gradually, and beat until pale and mousse-like. In a separate bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the vanilla and fold the cream into the egg mixture. Place in container with lid and freeze.

Strawberry puree

250g strawberries

sugar, to taste

Wash and hull the strawberries and place in a saucepan, adding a little sugar to taste. Cover the saucepan with a lid and steam the berries until just soft. They should make some juice. Cool and puree (or mash) the strawberries and fold the puree into the ice-cream mixture.

>> Robbie Howard is co-owner of Lynwood Preserves.