What Type Of Butter Should I Use For The Birthday Custard Sponge?

Our answer

Nigella's Birthday Custard Sponge (from FEAST) is a classic Victoria-type sponge cake that uses custard powder, which helps to flavour and colour the cake. It also gives the sponge a slightly more tender texture thanks to the cornflour (cornstarch) in the custard powder.

The sponge itself can be made with either salted or unsalted butter. For preference we would use unsalted butter and you can add a pinch of salt to the ingredients if you like. For the frosting we would use unsalted butter as salted butter can sometimes be a bit too salty for a vanilla-flavoured buttercream. For baking generally we prefer to use unsalted butter and add salt to taste, as this gives the cook better control over the flavour of the cake or cookie.