Here’s how you can make a classic Victoria Sponge, Great British Bake Off style!
The Big Book of Amazing Cakes is one of my favorite cookbooks in my baking collection. I’ve tried a variety of recipes there, from Lemon Squares, to Parkin, to creamy, creamy cheesecake. This Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake is a classic signature recipe from the Great British Baking Show, and for good reason. It’s a delicious mouthful of buttercream, jam, and sponge, without being overly sweet. It’s also quite easy to make, so making this cake is addicting! With such a classic recipe, it’s also easy to put your take on it. Try adding apricot jam, or a different flavor of buttercream. Or maybe make mini cakes!
Classic Victoria Sponge
Equipment
- Two 8-inch cake pans or springform pans
- Parchment Paper
- piping bag (optional)
Ingredients
Sponge
- ¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1¾ cups self-rising flour
- ½ cup homemade or storebought strawberry jam
- optional: fresh strawberries to garnish
- optional: confectioners' sugar to garnish
Buttercream
- 7 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1⅔ cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Heat your oven to 350°F and grease and cover pans with parchment paper.
- Using a stand mixer, beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla for 5-6 minutes, until pale and creamy. Then add the eggs until well-combined.
- In another bowl, mix the flour and baking powder. Then, fold it into the stand mixer bowl and mix on low until incorporated.
- Divide the mix into two pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden and springy and a skewer comes out clean. Cool them in their pans for 5 minutes, and then turn them onto a wire rack carefully to cool completely.
- For the buttercream, beat room temp butter, confectioners' sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until fluffy.
- Then, spread the jam evenly on one of the cake halves. Fill a piping bag with buttercream, and snip a ½-inch hole into the bag. Pipe the buttercream in little blobs around the cake, or just spread it on with a spatula.
- Carefully place the second sponge on top and press together. Dust with confectioners' sugar and garnish with fresh strawberries.
Notes
Helpful Tips
The Amazing Cakes book is from the UK, so as usual, there are some UK-isms. I explored this in my Mary Berry Apple Cake recipe, but in case you don’t have self-rising flour, here’s how to easily make it at home.
To make self-rising flour, just combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour with a quarter teaspoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. It’s easy! I like to make two cups at a time and store it in a large porcelain jar for later.
As with other recipes in my Amazing Cakes book, it writes instructions for using a stand mixer. Many of these recipes aren’t that complicated, and I believe this sponge cake could easily be made with a hand mixer. I don’t really recommend doing it by hand, especially since hand mixers are fairly affordable. To adjust the recipe for the hand mixer, be prepared to mix for a few minutes longer, and keep an eye on the mixture to make sure it’s the right consistency.
By the way, here’s another tip from my amazing baker friend, Matt! To make a decorative design with your confectioner’s sugar, simply cut a snowflake shape out of parchment paper. Then sprinkle on your sugar, remove the paper, and voila! Bakery & afternoon tea ready cakes.
What do you think? I can’t wait to make more Victoria Sponge cakes! For more recipes like this, see the Amazing Cakes book, or my other dessert recipes!
Note, this blog post contains an affiliate link from Amazon. I get a small commission if items are purchased through the link at no cost to the buyer.
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