Indulge in a slice of royalty with the classic Victoria sponge cake, a favorite of Queen Victoria herself. This delightful layer cake is served at afternoon tea and celebrations across the United States. It features a luscious filling of strawberry jam and vanilla whipped cream. For an extra touch of elegance, you can dust the top with powdered sugar.
Victoria Sponge Cake Ingredients
These are the ingredients you’ll need to make this classic Victoria sponge cake recipe:
For the cake: baking spray, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cornstarch, kosher salt, granulated sugar, butter or margarine, eggs, vanilla extract, whole milk, and strawberry or raspberry preserves.
For the whipped cream: heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract.
To garnish: Powdered sugar and fresh strawberries.
How to Make Victoria Sponge Cake
You’ll find the full, step-by-step recipe below —- but here’s a brief overview of what you can expect when you make homemade Victoria sponge cake:
Sift the dry ingredients together in one bowl and set aside.
Beat the butter and sugar with a mixer, then beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Mix in the flour mixture on low speed, alternating with the milk.
Bake in the prepared cake pans until a toothpick comes out clean.
Spread the preserves on the top of one cooled cake layer.
Make the whipped cream, then spread over the preserves.
Top with the remaining layer, duster with powdered sugar, and top with berries.
Test Kitchen Tips
The reason for cooling the cakes parchment side down is so that the tops of your cakes don’t stick or retrain markings from the cooling rack. This provides for the most attractive presentation.
Avoid over-mixing for the most tender of cakes. Beat the batter just until the ingredients are combined (even folding in the last bits of dry ingredients by hand if needed). Doing so by hand is gentler than using an appliance.
The purpose of tapping the pans once the batter is divided is somewhat two-fold. It helps spread the batter evenly as well as gets rid of any large bubbles that are trapped in the batter during dividing and spreading. Not releasing these can lead to less attractive bubbles or spaces in the sides of the cake. When spreading, take care to really get your batter into the corners and sides of the pan for the best presentation once baked.
Oven temperature is one of the most common culprits when it comes to variations in baking. Make sure yours is properly calibrated for best results. The easiest way to gauge is by using an inexpensive oven thermometer.
Ingredients
baking spray
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour (such as Gold Medal)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon cornstarch
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup unsalted butter or margarine, softened
2 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup whole milk, room temperature
½ cup strawberry or raspberry preserves
Vanilla Whipped Cream
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, plus more for dusting
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
fresh strawberries, for garnish (Optional)
Directions
Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Grease two 8-inch round cake pans with baking spray; line bottoms with parchment paper. Lightly spray parchment paper with baking spray.
Sift flour, cornstarch, and baking powder into a medium bowl; whisk in salt and set aside.
Beat sugar and butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. (The mixture should be noticeably lighter in color.)
Beat in eggs, one at a time, on medium speed, allowing each egg to blend into butter mixture before adding the next, 1 to 2 minutes total. Beat in 2 teaspoons vanilla. With mixer on medium-low speed, add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with milk, beating until just combined after each addition.
Evenly divide batter between prepared pans and spread into an even layer using a small offset spatula. Firmly tap pans on a kitchen towel-lined counter several times to help get rid of any large bubbles in the batter.
Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 22 minutes. Cool cakes in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn the cakes out onto a wire rack. Let stand, parchment side down, on wire racks until cooled completely, about 1 hour.
Remove and discard parchment paper. Place 1 cake layer on a serving plate. Stir preserves in a small bowl until mostly smooth; spread in an even layer over cake.
To make vanilla whipped cream: Whisk heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract by hand in a large bowl until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
Dollop over jam, then spread into an even layer.
Top with remaining cake layer. Dust with powdered sugar and garnish with strawberries (if using).
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