The Ultimate Victoria Sponge

The Ultimate Victoria Sponge

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The Victoria Sponge is a very British affair. You imagine a garden party on a summers day; Pimm’s in one hand, cake fork in the other ready to devour a generous slice of this delight! Its one of those classic bakes that everyone has in their repertoire, but is surprisingly tricky to get exactly right.

For me, this is one of the very few cakes where I favour the all-in-one method. Put simply you chuck all ingredients in the bowl, give it a mix and its in the oven before you’ve finished your tea! The perfect Sunday bake really.

The filling of a Victoria Sponge is a a highly contested matter. Some people will not deter from the traditional cream and jam – though I’ve been known to put buttercream in myself and its gone down a treat! Up until about this time last year I wouldn’t touch cream, so I’m not adverse to the non-traditional route. However, for this post I decided to stick with tradition to make the Ultimate Victoria Sponge.

The Victoria Sponge was named after Queen Victoria who used to have a slice with her afternoon tea, and for that I thank her. She was also one of the instigator’s of afternoon tea with all the trimmings, so I think we’d have got on brilliantly!

On with the recipe, adapted from How to Bake by Paul Hollywood.

victoria-sponge

The Ultimate Victoria Sponge

Aimee Field
Light, Buttery and Moist. This is the ultimate Victoria Sponge recipe.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Course Cakes
Cuisine British
Servings 12 Slices

Ingredients
  

Sponge

  • 230 g plain flour
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • pinch of salt
  • 230 g caster sugar
  • 230 g unsalted butter room temperature
  • 4 medium eggs

Filling

  • 300 ml double cream
  • 185 g raspberry jam
  • Icing sugar for dusting

Instructions
 

  • For the cake: Heat your oven to 180C/160C Fan. Line the base of two 20cm cake tins with baking paper and lightly butter the sides. Pour the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, softened butter and eggs into a bowl and whisk on a low-speed with an electric mixer. Mix until all the ingredients are evenly combined, but be careful not to overmix!
  • Divide the mixture evenly between the two cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and slightly shrunk from the sides of the tin. Leave the sponges to cool slightly in the tins for about 5 minutes, then transfer from the tins onto a wire rack to cool.
  • For the filling: Whip the double cream until it holds soft peaks.
  • For assembly: Lay one of the sponges onto a serving plate and spread with the jam. Then pipe circles of the cream around the edge of the cake, filling in the middle with the remaining cream - be generous with your circles!
  • Finally, place the other layer of sponge on top (upside down so the flattest side is on the top) and dust with icing sugar to serve.
Keyword buttercream, jam, victoria

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