• Preheat the oven to 180°C / 360°F (regular oven) or 160˚C / 320˚F (fan-forced oven).

Prepare the dry ingredient mixture:

• Sift the dry ingredients together in a small bowl: cornflour / cornstarch, all purpose flour, ground ginger, cinnamon, cocoa powder, bicarb soda and cream of tartar. Tip: Sift the mixture 2-3 times for an ultra light cake finish!
  ½ cup cornstarch / cornflour, 2 tbsp plain flour / all purpose flour, 2 tsp ground ginger, 2 tsp cinnamon, 1 ½ tsp cocoa powder, ½ tsp bicarb soda, ½ tsp cream of tartar

Prepare the sponge cake:

• Beat egg whites in a large mixing bowl on high for around 1 minute until eggs turn white and foamy.
  4 eggs
• Gradually pour in your caster sugar and continue beating on medium for another 2-4 minutes, until the sugar has completely dissolved and stiff peaks form.
  ¾ cup caster sugar / superfine sugar
• Now add the egg yolks and slowly beat on the lowest setting until incorporated.
  4 eggs
• Using a metal spoon, lightly fold in the dry ingredient mixture into the beaten eggs until just blended. Tip: Gently scrape the edges and bottom of the bowl to make sure all the spices are incorporated.
• Warm the golden syrup in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to loosen, then pour over the batter and lightly fold through. Be quick here, as it will harden again if left to sit for too long after warming.
  1 tbsp golden syrup
• Line the bottom of two 20 cm / 8 in baking tins (springform is best) with baking paper, and grease the sides (with oil or butter). Now evenly divide the cake batter into each tin. It should fill the tins to around a third / halfway up and will double in size in the oven!
• Bake for 20-25 minutes. Tip: The cakes should rise to a dome shape and turn light brown. At around the 20 minute mark or a few minutes past, it will start to slightly pull back / slightly deflate, this is the point you should take it out. Don't pierce it to test!
• Prepare a baking rack layered with 2-3 tea towels to stop the pattern pressing into the cakes. Turn out both cakes out onto the towels within 5 minutes of removing from the oven. Very carefully peel off the bottom baking paper and allow them to sit upside down for around 30 minutes until cool.

Whip the cream:

• Pour the thickened cream / heavy cream into a medium mixing bowl and add the icing sugar and vanilla essence. Beat on high for 3-5 minutes until the cream is starting to stiffen.
  300 g thickened cream / heavy cream, 2 tbsp icing sugar / powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla essence

Assembling the cake:

• Place one cake, bottom side up, on a plate or cake stand. Top with a generous layer of whipped cream. Gently place the second cake, bottom side down, on top and garnish as desired with a sprinkling of icing sugar, fruit etc.