Victoria Sandwich Cake
Victoria Sandwich Cake or Victoria Sponge Cake is an English classic. My Victoria Sandwich Cake was inspired by those countless episodes of Great British Bake Off with Mary Berry, Paul Hollywood and the lovely bakers. Fresh raspberries, whipped cream and a light sponge make this a delicious tea-time treat.
This is my favourite time of the year. No, not because it is autumn or Halloween/Christmas/insert any holiday here. It is because the Great British Bake Off, my favourite ray of sunshine, is on telly! And next week, it is already finals! I think Bake Off is exactly what we need at a challenging time like this. The humour, the comradery, the kindness, the perfect theme song. Don’t even get me started on the cakes! Good mood and tons of baking inspiration always guaranteed.
To celebrate, what else to bake than the notorious (and even royal!) Victoria Sandwich Cake. This was actually one of the first things I made for this blog way back in spring. However, before Bake Off, this cake was a completely foreign concept to me albeit being an English classic. But what an effect GBBO has had! To the extent that my two wonderful Estonian friends have recently featured this cake on their blog or Youtube channel. Check out Helena’s hilarious Great British Bake Off challenge version and you will laugh your socks off. You just need to see her final cake! Or watch Susann bake her marvellous mini version of this cake. She also has plenty of tips I wish I had seen before!
My Victoria Sandwich Cake is inspired by a British patisserie in Paris who shared their recipe during lockdown. The classic version of the cake is solely covered with powdered sugar but I took the more decorative approach. My version is topped with vegan meringue kisses, fresh raspberries, strawberries and more whipped cream. I also balance out some of the sweetness with lemon curd in between the layers. Check out the recipe below!
Victoria Sandwich Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- 250 grams butter (room temperature)
- 250 grams sugar
- 4 eggs (so that it amounts to 250g)
- 250 grams self-raising flour
- 1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
- 1 tsp orange zest (optional)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
Toppings
- 250 ml double cream or whipped cream
- 300 grams raspberry jam
- 2 tbsp lemon curd (optional)
- 2 handfuls fresh raspberries (optional)
- fresh strawberries, meringue kisses and powdered sugar for decoration (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 175°C. Grease a 22 cm cake tin, so the parchment paper would stick, and line with parchment. You can also use two tins and divide the batter between the two, but keep in mind that the baking time will then be shorter.
- In a big bowl, whisk your soft butter with an electric whisk until it is light and fluffy.
- Add the sugar to the butter and whisk until very light pale. Take your time with this step as it can take several minutes to get the right structure.
- Add the eggs one at a time to the butter-sugar fluff, so the batter would not split. Continue whisking until everything is incorporated.
- Next, you can add the lemon and orange peel and vanilla extract to the batter, if you wish. I think it gives the sponge a nice extra taste. Mix until combined.
- Carefully start folding in the flour into your batter. Do it slowly and in two or more steps, in order to not overmix the airy batter.
- The batter should end up looking something like this.
- Spread the batter evenly into your prepared cake tin and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes.
- The cake is done when it is golden, springs back when touched and a skewer comes out clean. Leave it to cool in the tin.
- When you are waiting for the cake to finish its cool down, it is a good time to whip up your whipped cream. I usually do not sweeten it too much as the cake is already pretty sweet. So do it according to your preference. You can also add some vanilla to the whipped cream if you feel like it.
- Once the sponge has completely cooled, turn it out of the tin and cut into two equal layers.
- Now, the assembly! My strategy was to first spread the lemon curd over the bottom layer. Then, I slathered on a rich amount of raspberry jam on top of the lemon curd and sprinkled on half of the fresh raspberries. On top of all that, I spread half of the previously whipped cream.
- Then, put the other layer of cake on top and decorate with the rest of the whipped cream, fresh raspberries, strawberries, meringue kisses and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. The cake is best eaten fresh but it will stay for a day in the fridge. Enjoy!
