Victoria Sponge

This is my best version of a Victoria sponge recipe; I think there are at least a couple of similar versions in here, but this one is better.

Preheat oven to 180C fan/200C.

• 3 eggs, room temperature, weighed in the shell (I assume 200g)
• 200g unsalted butter, soft (20-25C); same weight as the eggs
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g self raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 30g / 2 tbsp milk

The eggs, butter, sugar and flour should all be the same weight. Use a hand whisk to mix the flour and baking powder.

Take 2 x 8" (20cm) cake tins, grease, line the bottoms with greaseproof paper. Dust lightly with flour or caster sugar, and tip out any loose dustings.

Using an electric hand whisk, beat the butter until it is almost white and fluffy. Then beat in the sugar for at least a couple of minutes.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat in a spoonful of the flour before the last egg, to prevent it from curdling. Then beat in the vanilla, and add the flour in two batches. It is best to finish with a spoon or spatula rather than an electric whisk.

Finally, mix in the milk, and divide evenly between the two cake tins.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes to bake, and rotate after 5-10 minutes. Most oven shelves aren’t exactly level, so try to make it come out even.

The sponges are done when they are consistently golden on top, they start to come away from the edges, you can no longer hear a bubbling sound when you put your ear close to their surfaces, and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow them to cool for ten minutes, then run a knife around the edges to make sure that they are loose, and turn out. Leave to fully cool, at least 30 minutes.

You aren’t finished! The sponge needs to be filled. You will need some combination of:

• raspberry jam
• strawberry jam
• lemon curd
• buttercream

You can use any one of the jams alone, or with buttercream. There are many other possibilities, but the above are the most traditional. If you’re going in for a Women’s Institute competition, stick to raspberry or strawberry jam (the rules will tell you which).

You will need about 4 tablespoons (100g?) of the jam. Add a tablespoon of water in a saucepan and heat to mix and loosen the jam (or use not-quite-set homemade jam). Place the least neat of the two sponges (ideally the flattest) on a plate or cake round, with the smoothest surface up. When the jam is cool, spread over the sponge, right to the edge, then put the second round on top, with the upper surface on top. Dust with caster sugar or icing sugar.

Buttercream

• 100g softened unsalted butter
• small pinch of salt
• 100g icing sugar
• 30 ml milk (2 tbsps)
• 0.5 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Beat the butter with the salt until pale and fluffy. Beat in the icing sugar, mix in the milk, and continue to beat for a couple of minutes. Optionally beat in the vanilla.

Spread over the bottom layer of sponge after applying the jam.

I’m going to add that I don’t much care for buttercream. This is a simple version; there are more complex versions based on meringue which are more pleasant.