Victoria Sandwich
I’ve recently returned from a trip to the United Kingdom. I love a food mission when I’m travelling and the particular task I chose on this trip was to investigate the Victoria Sandwich.
Every day there were morning teas to be had, lunches and afternoon teas. So I tried to sample a Victoria Sandwich once a day! And I have to admit I had some pretty good ones.
So when I returned home to Sydney, I knew I had to perfect my recipe. I usually make a Victoria Sandwich or sponge with a filling of whipped cream and strawberries and strawberry jam. Most of the Victoria Sandwiches I tried had buttercream and strawberry jam as the filling, probably because of their keeping qualities.
Here’s my recipe for Victoria Sandwich using a traditional sponge with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam fillings.
For the sponge
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
4 free range eggs at room temperature
225g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
For the filling
Vanilla Buttercream:
125g very soft butter
250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Strawberry jam, to taste
Icing sugar, to dust
To make the sponge, preheat the oven to 180° C /160° C fan. Grease 2 18cm or 7in cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and castor sugar until creamy. In another bowl beat the eggs together. Sift the flour and baking powder.
Add the egg mixture a couple of tablespoons at a time, alternating with a tablespoon of the flour mixture. This is to help stop the mixture from curdling. Mix until all the eggs are incorporated.
Stir the rest of the flour into the mixture by hand, being careful not to overmix.
Divide the mixture evenly between the 2 tins. You can weigh the mixture if you want to make sure you have equal amounts, but it’s not really necessary.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cakes are golden brown and spring back when pressed lightly on top. It’s best to check after 20 minutes and leave for the extra 5 minutes if necessary.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 5 minutes, then turn out the cakes carefully onto a wire rack.
While the cakes are cooling, make the buttercream by beating the soft butter and icing sugar and vanilla extract together using an electric mixer, until the mixture is super soft and creamy.
Take one of the sponges and place it upside down on a serving plate. Spread liberally with strawberry jam to taste. Now pipe or spoon the buttercream over the jam, making sure that the buttercream around the edge of the sponge is neat! That’s the part that will be on display!
Place the second sponge, right side up, on top of the filling. Dust the top with icing sugar. Serve with a large pot of good quality leaf tea.