Rebel With a Cream-Filled Cause: Upgrading the Classic Victoria Sponge for Nut’s Big 5-0!

30 May 2024 91 5

Rebel With a Cream-Filled Cause: Upgrading the Classic Victoria Sponge for Nut’s Big 5-0!

For Nut’s 50th, let’s bake him a Victoria sponge with a royal touch – a light, delicious treat with optional whipped cream filling to satisfy any cravings!

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Written by Angela

As it’s Nut’s 50th birthday, I thought it would be nice to bake him a cake, and I know he’s partial to a lovely slice of Victoria’s sponge cake! Which is a real classic tasty treat!

Victoria sponge or sandwich cake is named after Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a slice of it with her afternoon tea, so it has a royal stamp of approval!

There is some contention regarding the filling; Victoria sponge purists, like ‘The Women’s Institute’, say that the filling should be just raspberry jam, but I’m a bit of a rebel. I also like a layer of whipped cream, so I will include the cream in this recipe, and if you don’t want to add it, just leave it out!

The ingredients that you will need are.

4 fresh eggs
8oz caster sugar
8oz self-raising flour
2 tsps baking powder
8oz of butter slightly softened at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins
And a teaspoon of vanilla extract

For the filling

Half a jar of raspberry jam
7 fluid ounces or 200mls of double cream
and, to decorate, half a tablespoon of icing sugar to sift over the top
And if you wish, some fresh strawberries sliced in half

And this is what you do!

First preheat the oven to 180 degrees Centigrade and grease and line two 8inch sandwich tins.

Then, break the eggs into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar, flour, baking powder, and butter.

Mix well until combined with an electric hand mixer or wooden spoon, being careful not to over-mix the batter.

When ready the finished mixture should fall off the spoon easily.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.

Using a spatula, remove all of the mixture from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.

Bake the cakes in your oven in the middle for 25 minutes, but check them after 20 minutes, just in case.

When the cakes are done they should be risen, golden-brown and coming away slightly from the edge of the tins.

Press them gently with your finger in the middle to check them; they should be springy to the touch.

Set aside to cool in their tins for 5 minutes. Then, run a palette or rounded butter knife around the inside edge of the tins and carefully turn the cakes out onto a cooling rack.

To take the cakes out of the tins without leaving a wire rack mark on the top, put a clean tea towel over the tin, put your hand onto the tea towel, and turn the tin upside-down.

The cakes should come out onto your hand and the tea towel – then you can turn them from your hand onto the wire rack to set aside to cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling, pour your double cream into a bowl and whisk until it forms soft peaks, but don’t over-whip, or it will become like butter.