Victoria Sponge Cake |Cooking With Amanda

Victoria sponge cake is England's most popular cake. Soft sponge cake is sandwiched with whipped cream and strawberry jam. A simple yet delicious cake that is popularly served at afternoon tea.

Now, I don't claim to be a baker. For some reason baking and I don't get along. Case in point, the recipe testing of this cake.

When I told my mum that I was taking this on, she said "Oh I could never get it right, they were always so flat". Great! So not only am I genetically predisposed to fail at baking, but now I have the thought in my head that it's going to fail.

When I took on this recipe, I knew what I was getting into because coming up with a baked recipe is much different than, let's say a soup or stew because you can't add a little of this, or a little of that and taste as you go.

SIX times it took to get this recipe right. It's not that they didn't taste good (I did eat them). You see, when I eat a sponge cake I want two layers of tall spongy cake, and I just wasn't getting that.

Mine kept turning out too thin and flat (just like Mum's). Long story short, the solution was more eggs and more baking powder. Here's a little recipe testing insight and probably not what any baker wants to hear. I based the egg increase on how many eggs I had left and it just happened to be seven. Lucky seven for me!

So the moral of this story is, anyone can bake if you have the right recipe and follow it to the letter. This cake is so worth it, especially with a nice, hot cup of tea.

The cake stores beautifully in an airtight container for two to three days at room temperature. I would not recommend refrigeration because it can make the cake dense, and does not taste it's best when it is cold.

This cake is also known as a Victoria sandwich, named after Queen Victoria who enjoyed a slice with her afternoon tea.

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Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Cakes:

7 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
8 ounces unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing tins
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

For the Filling:

8 ounces heavy whipping cream
10 ounces strawberry jam

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in the center of the oven.
Use the extra butter to grease 2 8-inch cake tins. Line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
Beat the eggs and sugar for 2 minutes until light in color and doubled in volume. Set aside.
Add the butter to the eggs while beating, and then add the vanilla.
Sift the flour and baking powder into the batter and beat on low, just in until well mixed and there are no lumps. Do not overbeat.
Divide the batter evenly between the 2 cake pans and smooth the tops. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown and the cake should spring back when pressed lightly. When a toothpick inserted in the center it should come out clean.
Turn off the oven, open the door slightly and allow to cool in the oven for 15 minutes to cool down slowly and prevent deflating.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 10 more minutes.
After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edge and turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
While the cakes are cooling, prepare the filling.
Whip the cream until stiff.
Turn both cakes with the flat tops facing you. Spread the cream on one side and jam on the other.
Sandwich the 2 cakes together and dust lightly with powdered sugar.