Filled and Iced Cakes

I used to think that filled cakes were really not for eating as a pudding, that there really was something too nursery-teatime about them, but I am beginning to change my mind. For one thing, I never do tea, or not really. But after a summer lunch, a Victoria sponge filled with cream, fruit and maybe a little good jam, does work. It’s a reminder that, when the ingredients are good and the cake tenderly fresh, this is one of the dreamiest combinations in the world. And I say that as someone without a particularly sweet tooth. But then, these cakes don’t have to be cloyingly sweet.