A Simple Sponge with Homemade Berry Jam - An Heirloom Recipe Series

A Cake Fit for a 99th Birthday - Extra Food Chat with Kath

Welcome to another edition of Extra Food Chat with Kath!

This week I am sharing another version of a sponge cake recipe I found amongst my Grandma’s handwritten recipes. Simple sponge cakes like this one are great to have in your baking repertoire. I love using homemade jams to fill such cakes, and I’ve included the recipe I use for berry jam below. However any bought berry jam will also be excellent.

The idea for the cake first popped into my mind when an elderly relative of ours was due to celebrate her 99th birthday. For her 98th birthday I made a simple lemon cake, and we took it with a flask of tea with some proper plates and cutlery, plus some flowers (we always took flowers) to the nursing home. She enjoyed the cake, I actually hadn’t seen her eat that much in a long time! And we left some of it with her to enjoy later.

For her 99th birthday, Mum and I discussed making a sponge cake that we could assemble at the nursing home. While sponge cakes are relatively simple, a double layer one looks spectacular and wouldn’t have been something our relative would have eaten for a long time.

When my Mum discussed cake options with our relative, she said she didn’t want one, she just wanted us to come and visit. By 99 years old, I think our relative craved company more than anything. She liked feeling a little special and having some attention on her, which I think having visitors did. We bought her an orchid for her 99th birthday, and she was so thrilled with it. Flowers were always something that brought her much joy, and while we always brought something from the garden with us when we visited, this time it was nice to leave something that would last a bit longer.

She loved the orchid so much, she told me, next year for her 100th birthday she would like two more of them!

Unfortunately our relative would not live to see her 100th birthday, as she died almost two months after her 99th birthday last month. While there is some relief that she is now at peace, I always find it surprising how sad I feel when someone who is older dies. It’s not like it’s a shock, I think I will feel more prepared, but it’s sad regardless I think.

I now wish I had of made a cake for her 99th birthday anyway, since it would be her last. I know she didn’t want one, and we did bring her a couple of friands my Mum always made for her, but still, it would have been a nice thing to do.

So I’m making one now, in her memory, and served using the cake stand she gave me years ago. Next time, if there is an opportunity for cake, I won’t skip it.

Baking Beyond the Paywall: The edited and tested recipe for this Sponge Cake with Homemade Berry Jam is below for paid subscribers.

Paid subscribers to Extra Food Chat with Kath support my work and keep the ovens on at Kulinary HQ. Paid subscribers receive posts like these in full every time, and can also comment on this post, and ask me questions about the recipe (or anything else really!). The entire recipe archive is also available to paid subscribers - check out what’s been shared so far with paid subscribers here.