Dr Mobeus
Victoria Sponge
The Victoria sponge is the cake against which all British home baking is measured, the one that gets brought out for birthdays, fates and afternoon tea. Named after the Queen who was famously partial to a slice with her afternoon tea, it is nothing more than equal weights of butter, sugar, flour and eggs, whipped and baked in two tins.
Made with value-range ingredients it costs about £2.30 for a whole cake, which is 23p a slice, and that includes the jam and buttercream middle. A single slice in a shop now costs the same as this entire cake made twice.
The all-in-one method is the cheat that makes it approachable: everything goes in the bowl together and the electric whisk does the work. There is no creaming, no folding and no separating eggs. The two things that matter are equal tins and not opening the oven door early. Get those right and the rest is generous buttercream and a thick layer of raspberry jam.
Victoria Sponge
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan. Grease two 20cm sandwich tins and line the bases with baking paper.
- Put the baking spread, caster sugar, self-raising flour, baking powder, eggs, vanilla and milk in a large bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 2-3 minutes until pale, fluffy and smooth. Scrape down the bowl halfway so no pockets of flour remain.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and smooth the tops. A quick few taps of each tin on the worktop settles the batter.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes until golden, springy to a gentle press and shrinking slightly from the sides of the tins. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- For the filling, beat the softened butter until pale and creamy, then sift in the icing sugar and beat again until light and fluffy.
- Spread the buttercream over one cooled sponge, spoon the jam over the buttercream and spread gently, then sandwich the second sponge on top. Dust the top with icing sugar just before serving.
Tips and Variations
Baking spread whips easier and makes a lighter sponge, which is why it is listed first, but soft butter works too. The sponges must be completely cold before filling or the buttercream will melt. Weigh the batter by putting one bowl on the scale and dividing to be sure of two equal layers. A knife test is unreliable in a sponge, so trust the press and spring instead, and wrap any leftovers airtight to keep it fresh for 2 days.
