Comments on: Budget vs Premium – Victoria Sponge | A baking review by She Who Bakes

By: Britt Whyatt

Britt Whyatt — Sun, 07 Oct 2018 11:57:00 +0000

Either is fine. 🙂

By: Zainab Ali Mudassir

Zainab Ali Mudassir — Sat, 06 Oct 2018 21:29:00 +0000

Hello, I was having a look at the Vanilla bean paste and if I’m not wrong there seems to be two variations…. Madagascan bourbon (shown in the photo but much more expensive) and just vanilla bean paste which I’ve found at the price you’ve listed above both from the same company… so am confused which one I should get ?

Thanks in advance xox

By: Britt Whyatt

Britt Whyatt — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:51:00 +0000

That’s how much the cake cost to make exactly. It made for an easier comparison. I have listed how much the full size products were too. Hope that helps.

By: Scrobbel

Scrobbel — Tue, 30 Jan 2018 19:26:00 +0000

I really don’t like it when people say this recipe cost £x.xx to make, only counting the price of the exact amounts used. It’s not like you can walk into Tesco and take 200g of flour out of a packet.

By: Bea Francis-MacRae

Bea Francis-MacRae — Mon, 16 May 2016 09:43:00 +0000

Great post, and fantastic to see real proof that using good quality pays off!
I’ve always used the best quality ingredients I can get, I use Nielson Massey too and agree that it gives a much better real vanilla flavour than cheap imitations.
I would also never buy caged (or barn) eggs. Having owned chickens myself I see no reason why they should be kept in anything other than free range comditions, in fact it angers me greatly that large shops like tesco still sell caged eggs! One of the reasons I haven’t stepped foot in one of their stores in over a year now.
Anyway thank you for this insightful post, and all the hard work, great photos and effort you put into your fantastic posts!
I’m off to bake a Victoria sponge!!
Bea x

By: Kavita

Kavita — Sun, 15 May 2016 17:36:00 +0000

Really interesting test. I know you went by what your Tesco had available but a couple of comments…
You noticed a difference between the cheap vanilla extract and the Nielson Massey (which I also love). That difference is even more pronounced if you compare with the even cheaper vanilla flavourings that are still on the market, and even worse than cheap extracts.
Secondly, the caster sugar was the only one you could buy there but can I recommend trying Billington’s unrefined caster sugar at some point, I love both the colour it adds and the fact is not been refined just to make it white.
🙂

By: Dawne's Kitchen

Dawne's Kitchen — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 10:51:00 +0000

Brilliant post.
I was like you and thought that the Premium products were for people that had more money than sense and you could get a lovely cake with mid range products (which you can).
However I tried one using top range products and was shocked at how light and fluffy and basically, next level my cake became. I’ve not gone back! I use McDougals Premium Sponge flour and it’s so fine! and the light crumb you get using it is amazing.
Totally agree with you on the eggs! I just can’t buy caged, can’t even do barn eggs. Those poor chickens!