£100 in 1947 has the same "purchasing power" as £3,680.34 in 2017.
In Britain, the end of the war did not mean the end of rationing. This happened gradually between 1948 and 1954. After the war, the amount of produce available to buy actually fell. Bread was rationed in 1946 and potatoes in 1947, neither having been restricted during the war itself.
Mary Berry's perfect Victoria sandwich
The traditional Victoria sandwich is a baking classic and a tasty tea-time treat.
225g/8oz baking spread, margarine or soft butter at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins~To serve
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease and line 2 x 20cm/8in sandwich tins. Use a piece of baking paper to rub a little baking spread or butter around the inside of the tins until the sides and base are lightly coated then line the bottom of the tins with a circle of baking paper.
- Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, flour, baking powder and baking spread. Mix everything together until well combined with an electric hand mixer (you can also use a wooden spoon) but be careful not to over mix. Put a damp cloth under your bowl when you’re mixing to stop it moving around. The finished mixture should fall off a spoon easily.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the tins: this doesn’t need to be exact, but you can weigh the filled tins if you want to check. Use a spatula to remove all of the mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.
- Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Check the cakes after 20 minutes.
- The cakes are done when they’re golden-brown and coming away from the edge of the tins. Press them gently to check – they should be springy to the touch. Remove them from the oven and set aside to cool in their tins for five minutes. Then run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tin and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.
- To take your cakes out of the tins without leaving a wire rack mark on the top, put the clean tea towel over the tin, put your hand onto the tea towel and turn the tin upside-down. The cake should come out onto your hand and the tea towel – then you can turn it from your hand onto the wire rack. Set aside to cool completely.
- To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam. If you want to, you can spread over whipped cream too. Top with the second cake, top-side up. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.
