The Victoria Sponge is a classic British tea-time cake that is said to have been a favorite of Queen Victoria. I have seen a version of the Victoria Sponge Cake that has two layers of sponge cake that sandwich fresh whipped cream and jam, and another that uses fresh fruits instead of jam. Some recipes use raspberries and others use strawberries. Any way you make this cake, it should turn out deliciously! I love strawberries so I decided to make my Victoria Sponge Cake with both strawberry jam and fresh strawberries.
The interesting part about this recipe is how to measure some of the ingredients. The amounts of sugar, butter, and flour are all dependent on the weight of the eggs. The weight of each of those 3 ingredients should be the same as the combined weight of the eggs in their shells. Some recipes use 4 eggs and others use 3; it depends on how thick you like your cake layers.
The butter is creamed with the sugar first and then the eggs are added one at a time. When the batter is smooth, the dry ingredients are folded in, followed by the milk and vanilla extract to loosen the batter a bit. This cake batter comes together very quickly. The step that may take the most time is trying to get the batter divided equally into two prepared pans.
I found that these cakes baked perfectly after sitting in the oven for 20 minutes at 140 degrees F with the convection fan on. The tops of the cakes became light golden and the insides were perfectly baked.
While the cakes cooled, it was time to prepare the filling. The filling of the cake is just strawberry jam, whipped cream, and fresh strawberries.
The first filling layer is strawberry jam/preserves. I added a generous layer of the jam because this really helps give a nice strawberry flavor to the cake; the bottom cake layer really soaks some of it up.
The second filling layer is fresh whipped cream. It’s important not to use too much of this. The first time I made this, a good amount of whipped cream oozed out of the cake. The second time I made this cake, I left a good 1-inch space from the edge of the cake, which worked out a lot better.
The strawberries should have been washed, dried, and cut lengthwise, and plopped onto the whipped cream. I added a little bit more whipped cream on top of the strawberries, just so the top cake layer would have something to stick to.
The Victoria Sponge Cake is great because it’s not too sweet, and it isn’t very heavy. This recipe comes together easily, which gives this recipe bonus points in my book!
The photo below is one of my first Victoria Sponge Cake. The whipped cream oozed out and the strawberries flowed out on top of the whipped cream. The final cake sort of looked like a strawberry cake monster.
Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe
Cake Ingredients:
- 3 Large Free-Range Eggs, room temperature
- weight of 3 Large Range Eggs (in their shells):
- Granulated Sugar
- Unsalted Butter, softened
- Self-Raising Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1-2 Tbsp Whole Milk
Topping/Filling Ingredients:
- 300 ml Heavy Whipping Cream
- 3 tsp Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3-4 Tbsp Strawberry Jam/Preserves
- 1 punnet of Fresh Strawberries
Cake Instructions:
- Prepare two 8-inch round cake pans by greasing the sides and base with butter and dusting them with flour, then add a round piece of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to ensure the cake will release from the pan. Pre-heat the oven to 340 degrees F, convection.
- Sift the dry ingredients together (self-raising flour + baking powder + salt)
- Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer on medium to medium-high speed for about 5 minutes (scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl when needed) or until the butter becomes light and fluffy.
- With the stand mixer on medium speed, add the eggs in one at a time, waiting at least 45 seconds between each addition.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg mixture until just combined.
- Add the milk and vanilla extract, which should loosen up the batter a little.
- Pour the batter into the two prepared cake tins equally, smooth the tops out with a pallet knife, and bake them on the middle rack for 20-25 minutes.
- The cakes will be done when you insert a toothpick in the center of the cakes and it comes out clean. Cool the cakes completely for about 20 minutes on a wire rack before unmolding from the pans.
Topping/Filling Instructions:
- Whisk the Heavy Whipping Cream with the sugar and vanilla extract in a stand mixer on medium to medium-high speed until soft peaks.
- Wash and cut the strawberries
- Cut about 8 or 9 strawberries in half, lengthwise.
Assembly:
- Select and reserve the nicer of the 2 cakes for the top layer.
- On the bottom layer, spread a generous amount of strawberry jam/preserves around, leaving a 1-inch space from the edge of the cake.
- Place a blob of whipped cream and spread a thick layer on top of the strawberry jam/preserves. The whipped cream will spread when the top layer of cake is added.
- Arrange the strawberry halves on top of the whipped cream, and add a little more whipped cream on top of the strawberries, so the top layer will adhere to the filling.
- Place the top layer over the filling.
- Optional: place more fresh strawberries on top of the cake and lightly dust the cake with confectioner’s sugar.
Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe modified from recipe by Cupcake Jemma.
