Post London: Victoria Sponge Cake

As I continue my London withdraw, I am trying to make all the British recipes I didn’t get to try in the tiny, overcrowded kitchen at my house in Notting Hill. Now that I am back stateside I have a lot more time to bake up everything I missed out on. During my time in England, Victoria Sponge has become one of my favourites. As I have said before, my London “diet” consisted of a crazy amount of walking and at least one piece of cake a day. When you live in England, this isn’t something new as tea time often includes a sweet. Victoria Sponge cake is by far one of the most classic examples of a teatime treat. It’s often overshadowed by fancier and showier puddings (that means desserts) but it remains my favorite.

Victoria Sponge cake is light yet decadent and perfect for an afternoon snack, a party, or just as dessert. It is best described as a sandwich cake with strawberry jam and whipped cream in the middle, some versions even use delicious lemon curd in place of jam. A lot of the by the slice versions I had in London used a white icing and strawberry jam to sandwich the two layers of this sponge cake. But if you want a really good Victoria Sponge, do yourself a favor and make homemade whipped cream. Whenever I make a “cheater” cake out of a box, I always make the icing like that this cake deserves a real whipped cream. I also add amaretto liqueur to my whipped cream which made all the difference!

As for the jam layer, I used a simple strawberry jam, but if you are feeling fancy try fresh strawberry slices, lemon curd (if you are joining us from the UK,) or perhaps another type of your favourite jam.

 My favourite is strawberry, so you can see why I like this cake so much!

Either way I hope you try this traditional teatime treat.

Victoria Sponge Cake: 8-10 servings
(Adapted from Eating for England)

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
 (Save the butter wrappers to butter the pan)
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted (you may need a bit extra)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt


For the filling:
strawberry jam
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp. Disaronno or Amaretto liqueur
2 tbsp. fine sugar 


To serve:
powdered sugar, for dusting

Directions:


Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush two 8 inch cake tins with the butter wrappers. Line the bottom of the two cake tins with a circle of parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, and vanilla, until pale and creamy, using an electric whisk or a wooden spoon. Beat well to ensure you get lots of air into the mixture.

Beat in the eggs one at a time. You want to avoid the mixture curdling, so that it stays airy. If it does curdle, add a tbsp of flour.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients using a large metal spoon (this will cut into the mixture better than a wooden spoon). Be careful not to over-mix it. Pour the mixture equally between the two cake tins and level.

Place in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the cakes are well-risen, spring back when pressed gently with a finger and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then remove from the tin and peel off the paper. Place onto a wire rack and let cool completely, about an hour.

While cakes are cooling, whip heavy whipping cream with fine sugar and amaretto with electric beaters until soft peaks form.

Once cakes are cooled, sandwich the cakes together with the jam and whipped cream. Dust with powdered sugar and serve.

Enjoy with a cup of earl gray tea and relax!


Love,

The College Cuisiner


p.s. You still have one week to enter my British Natural foods giveaway!