Crafting the perfect Victoria sponge cake at home can be quite the challenge, with two crucial elements to get just right.
To start with, the aim is to create vanilla-flavoured sponges that are airy and tender without falling apart, while the icing must strike a delicate balance of being luxuriously creamy and sweet but not too sugary.
Every baker has their take on this quintessentially British dessert, yet Matt Webster, culinarily savvy as a food and flavour maestro for Seasoned Pioneers, shares a recipe that promises a perfect cake.
He explained that skipping unnecessary ingredients and techniques is the best way forward, adding that all you need is to follow one “key” step.
Matt revealed that a “light and fluffy sponge cake” is achieved by first ensuring that all of the ingredients are at room temperature before baking.
According to the flavour expert, cold ingredients will lead to a dense and heavy cake. As for the flavour of the classic cake, he added: “If you want to minimise the sweetness of the sugar and bring out the creaminess of the buttercream, just add a small pinch of salt.”
Victoria sponge recipe
Ingredients
- 200g unsalted butter, softened
- 200g caster sugar
- Four large eggs
- One vanilla pod
- 200g self-raising flour
- One teaspoon of baking powder
- Two tablespoons milk
- Strawberries (to garnish)
For the filling
- Four tablespoons of raspberry or strawberry jam
- 100g butter
- 200g icing sugar
Method
Set the oven to 180C and prepare two round cake tins by greasing them and lining with baking paper.
Now whisk the butter with caster sugar in a bowl until the mix is light in colour and fluffy in texture. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.
Sift in the self-raising flour and baking powder then gently fold it in to the liquid mixture (don’t overmix).
Finally, stir in the milk and the contents of a sliced-open vanilla pod until the batter is uniformly smooth.
Split the cake mixture equally between the two tins and level the tops with a spatula. Bake in the hot oven for 20-25 minutes.
To make the buttercream, whip together the 100g of butter and 200g of icing sugar until it’s light and fluffy.
When the cakes are fully cooled, slather the jam over the bottom layer, followed by the buttercream. Stack the second sponge cake on top and garnish it with a dusting of icing sugar and some strawberries.
