BEST SPONGE RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
• Stir butter, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a bowl; add vanilla extract and mix well. Stir eggs, 1 at a time, into butter mixture until smooth.
• Sift flour, cocoa powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Stir flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, into butter mixture until batter is smooth, adding more buttermilk if needed to thin out batter. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes.

Steps:

• 1. You can't go wrong with an old-fashioned crumble. Everyone loves it, and it's lovely and easy!
  2. Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
  3. Sift the flour into a bowl and add the sugar, salt and ginger.
  4. Cut the cold butter into chunks and rub it into the flour mix with your hands until you get a mixture that looks a bit like fine breadcrumbs. This is the crumble topping.
  5. To make the filling, boil the water and sugar together, then carefully drop in the pear chunks and simmer gently for a couple of minutes.
  6. Add the chopped ginger and the lime zest and juice to the pan and stir. Spoon the mixture into one large ovenproof dish or four small ones.
  7. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the top of the fruit, piling it high in the middle of the dish and leaving space at the edge for the caramel to bubble up.
  8. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the pears are cooked and bubbling and the crumble is golden on top. Serve with custard or a dollop of crème fraîche with lime zest grated over, if you like.
  9. Tip: This crumble will work well with apples instead, if you prefer.