Have you ever heard of a Victorian Sponge Cake? This is a classic British dessert or afternoon tea treat. It first became popular after baking powder was invented, which caused cakes to rise more than what had been traditionally seen, making them more sponge like. It is said that Queen Victoria would enjoy a slice with her afternoon tea, hence the name. This cake is so popular in England that special awards are given at the "Women's Institute," based on texture and type of jam filling. So apparently it is a popular classic.
Opening up Mary Berry's Baking Bible to page 40 I found the recipe. She calls this the "Large All in One Victoria Sandwich." I was, quite honestly, so excited to make this. I have always wanted to make a Victoria Sandwich cake, even before I started watching the Great British Baking Show :). I just never thought I'd be able to do it. I'm not sure why; I always had a fascination with European baking but also always considered the recipes too complicated and intricate for little old me.
Anyway, Page 40...
There aren't many ingredients for this delicious dessert. While baking it I was quite nervous it wouldn't be very good. All that it needs is butter, sugar, eggs, flour and baking powder. So simple. The butter needs to be softened in order to mix/cream well with the other ingredients. Combine all those to make the cake batter, divide into two 8 inch cake tins and bake for 25 (ish) minutes. I'll be honest, I usually forget to let my butter soften; this time I did not, but I got antsy and started mixing before it was quite softened enough. I ended up having some small chunks of butter in the batter.
I greased my cake tins, put parchment paper on the bottoms, and put extra grease on the sides to make sure the cake wouldn't stick. The lumps of butter in the batter didn't affect the cakes at all. The consistency of the cakes turned out perfect really. I did my best to make sure the batter was evenly divided; it was thick batter so I used a spatula to smooth them out.
I baked them for exactly 25 minutes. The recipe says that when lightly pressed the tops of the cakes should "spring back." I had heard this once before and used this technique instead of the toothpick. It worked well! The cakes were baked through, spongy and not overdone or dry. I let the cakes cool for about 5-10 minutes in the tins and then turned them out on a cooling rack. I put parchment paper on the cooling rack before turning them out to avoid getting the wire rack design on the tops of the cakes.
Once the cakes were cooled, I spread some homemade strawberry jam on top. I didn't make the jam; It was compliments of my good friend Kelly Monahan. She makes great jam.
The recipe called for 4 tablespoons of jam, but it needed a little more :D, so I used 6 tablespoons. It was perfect. The jam soaks just a touch into the cake, keeping it moist and flavorful. Mary Berry's recipe didn't call for whipped cream or buttercream, but I know many do. The whipped cream would go on top one cake with the jam and then you would sandwich the cakes together. I just spread the jam on one cake and then put the other cake on top and sprinkled the top with sugar! Cut and enjoy.
We had our friends Alex and Kelly (homemade jam Kelly) over to taste test. It was only right since Kelly made the jam. Everyone agreed that it was delicious. Not overly sweet or heavy. Andy called it fluffy and liked the jam and sugared top the best. It stores well at room temperature in an airtight container. Thoughtful Mary added the ingredients for smaller cakes so you wouldn't have to do the math adjustments yourself. She also has recipes in the book for coffee or chocolate Victoria Sandwich cake. Ultimately, this is a simple dessert to whip up when unexpected guests come or when you'd like an easy treat!
https://www.angesdesucre.com/blogs/anges-de-sucre/the-history-of-the-victoria-sponge
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