Victoria Sandwich Sponge Cake

The technique used in making this classic English Victoria Sponge Cake results in a tender and perfect crumb, moist and super yummy cake! I dare you to eat just one slice. Always perfect with a cup of tea!

Just over two weeks ago, we came back from England after our annual family holiday. In case you’re wondering, we visit England almost every year because my hubby, Mark, is English so going there is a must! But not only that, he’s actually the unico hijo – the only child so he misses his mom a lot and vice versa so we make it a point to see her at least once a year. She doesn’t get much chance to see her grandkids face to face so we try our best to ensure this yearly vacation takes place for a nice and sweet reunion. And always, it’s a wonderful time for us – seeing loved ones and friends and enjoying so much good food!

When I say food, I don’t mean just fish and chips – though, honestly, for me  – that’s a good enough reason to fly to the UK every year! We are huge fish and chips family as you can imagine. But of course, aside from the delicious savory food we enjoy and routinely eat when we are England, we make sure we indulge in the most scrumptious desserts! My mouth is watering just thinking about the yummiest desserts we crave when we’re there – trifles,  mousses, shortbread galore and countless cookies and bars and naturally, cake!

When it comes to cake, for me nothing beats this classic Victoria Sponge Cake or also known as Victoria Sandwich, named in honor of Queen Victoria. This traditional British cake is made up of two layers of buttery, tender and tasty sponge cake filled in the middle with raspberry jam with whipped cream so, visually, it does look like a sandwich though in the form of a cake. While it’s traditional to use whipped cream, I have tried using creme fraiche or sweetened sour cream and to be honest, I prefer that because it adds a very subtle sweet-tangy taste to the cake which perfectly contrasts with the richness of the cake and sweetness of the jam. You can use either and they would both be delicious!

This cake is often served with tea but I won’t tell if you have it with coffee as that works too, at least for me. And certainly, have it as a light dessert after a heavy meal as that’s perfect for this yummy cake, too. This cake is so popular that you won’t miss it – it’s literally everywhere in the UK and I have yet to find a sample I didn’t love! The Brits have totally perfected this fabulous sponge!!!

When you fancy a cup of tea, make sure you pair it with this perfectly tender and scrumptious cake!

Victoria Sandwich Sponge Cake

The technique used in making this classic English Victoria Sponge Cake results in a tender and perfect crumb, moist and super yummy cake! I dare you to eat just one slice. Always perfect with a cup of tea!

4.96 from 22 votes

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine English, Great Britain

Servings 8

Equipment

• Oven
• 2 (7 or 8-inch) cake pans, buttered and floured
• Electric Mixer

Ingredients

 

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For the Cake

• 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups self-rising flour, sifted with the salt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp half and half or whole milk

For the Cream Filling (2 Types) and Topping

• 6 tbsp red raspberry jam, or to taste
• 3/4 cup creme fraiche or sweetened sour cream, sweeten the sour cream with 3-5 tablespoons confectioners sugar, or to taste
• 1 cup heavy or double cream, freshly whipped and sweetened with 2-3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar, or to taste
• confectioner's sugar, for topping

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350 F. In the bowl of an electric mixer, place the softened butter and beat until smooth and creamy. Slowly add the sugar and continue to beat for 4 minutes or until the mixture is fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times as needed.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times to mix everything perfectly. Pour the vanilla extract and quickly beat to stir it in.
• Slowly fold in the sifted flour, adding a tablespoon of milk each time a portion is added. Fold the flour in very gently so as not to knock down the air beaten in earlier. Just mix until no more streaks of flour appear. Batter would be pretty thick and elastic.
• Evenly divide the batter into 2 prepared (7-8 inch) cake pans. Bake in the preheated over for 25-30 minutes or until the top springs back when gently pressed with a finger. Leave in the tins for 10 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
• Once the cakes are completely cooled, take one of the cakes and place in a cake stand or serving plate and then top with the jam. Spread the raspberry jam evenly all over.
• For the cream filling, you can use either creme fraiche (or sweetened sour cream) or freshly whipped heavy cream sweetened with icing sugar. Beat the heavy cream until stiff and thick, slowly adding the sugar as you mix it. Spread the cream filling evenly on top of the jam. Serve the cake immediately with tea or coffee.

Notes

Add the jam and cream filling to the cake only when you're ready to serve it so they don't make the cake mushy. If making the cake ahead, make sure to serve the cake at room temperature first to allow the cake to soften so the crumbs are perfectly tender, moist and for perfect slicing. You can also simply microwave a slice for 15 seconds or so to warm it up quickly and soften it and it would have the same exact taste and texture like it's freshly baked.

Keyword Classic Sponge Cake, English Sponge Cake, Victoria Sandwich, Victoria Sponge Cake

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Last updated on May 7th, 2020 at 06:45 pm