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There is nothing quite like indulging in something sweet outdoors beneath glorious sunshine, and spring is the perfect occasion to whip up a homemade treat that complements any picnic beautifully. Victoria sponge cake is a quintessentially British classic, and is a great choice for such an occasion.

You don't need to be a seasoned baker to produce a decent cake, but Rachael Matthews, founder of Tea with Mum, has cautioned that a Victoria sponge is frequently spoiled when people reach for the wrong ingredients. It is surprisingly easy to simply grab whatever is already in the cupboard, but using stale eggs or self-raising flour in a sponge will leave it dense and lacking in flavour. Rachael said: "If your eggs are older than about one week, your cake will be flat....self-raising flour will not give you the rise you need and the crumb will not be as nice."

The longer eggs sit in your kitchen, the more they begin to degrade, gradually becoming runnier, losing moisture, and becoming less efficient at trapping air.

Capturing air within a sponge cake is absolutely essential to achieving a light, fluffy texture, and using eggs that are a week old will yield a heavy cake with a slightly stale taste.

While self-raising flour may seem like the obvious option for a cake, it is actually too dense for a sponge, and the mixture can become compressed, preventing it from cooking properly in the oven. To ensure the most scrumptious cake possible, buy fresh eggs and replace self-raising flour with cornflour, as this will produce a softer, fluffier consistency.

Rachael said: "A little cornflour (AKA cornstarch) helps make the cake crumb softer. It also expands to about six times its volume when baking, which helps your cake rise."

For the cake:

• 225g of butter
• 225 of caster sugar
• Four large eggs
• Two teaspoons of vanilla paste
• 200g of plain flour
• 25g of cornflour
• Three teaspoons of baking powder
• Four tablespoons of milk

For the filling:

• 200g of double cream
• Two tablespoons of icing sugar
• One teaspoon of vanilla essence
• Three tablespoons of raspberry jam
• 125g of fresh raspberries

To make the cake:

Start by preheating the oven to 170°C (fan oven), then grease the bases of two cake tins and line them with baking paper.

Mix the caster sugar and butter in a large bowl, beating for about four minutes until pale yellow and creamy. Either a wooden spoon or an electric mixer can be utilised.

Next, add the eggs one at a time into the butter mixture, blending until just combined after each addition. Stir in the vanilla until incorporated. Be careful not to overmix the batter, as this is the easiest way to ruin a cake and create a dense texture.

Using a sieve, sift the plain flour, cornflour, and baking powder into the butter mixture, then gently fold in with a silicone spatula. Gradually add milk, one tablespoon at a time, until the batter reaches a consistency that drops readily from a spoon.

Divide the cake batter equally between the two tins and smooth the surfaces flat. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until both cakes are a golden brown.

To make the filling and decorations:

Once the cakes are ready to come out of the oven, allow them to rest in their tins for five minutes before carefully inverting them and removing the baking paper. Ensure the cakes are thoroughly cooled before commencing the decoration.

Pour the double cream into a small bowl and sift one tablespoon of icing sugar over it through a sieve. Add the vanilla extract and gently combine the ingredients.

Select one cake for the base and, should it have risen unevenly, trim a little from the top to achieve a flat surface. Spread a generous layer of raspberry jam across the top.

Spoon the cream mixture over the jam, then carefully place the second cake on top, with the domed side facing upwards.

Finally, dust the surface with icing sugar, arrange the raspberries on top, and your delightful homemade cake is ready to be served.