As a pastry chef I was used to making Victoria sponges on a daily basis – however, it wasn’t until I entered a competition run by the WI while filming a series for the BBC about ten years ago that I realised how difficult it really was. It turned out I’d used the wrong jam, it had the wrong texture and the wrong sugar on top, and I’d filled it with cream – all of which got me disqualified. Rather than a rosette for first, second or third, I got a full A4 list of all my mistakes. Having said that, I like cream in it, I like the wrong jam and I like the wrong sugar on top, and so, although you can’t call this a classic Victoria sponge, it tastes pretty good.