For our anniversary in isolation I wanted to make something special for my husband, and seeing as he isn’t the world’s biggest chocolate fan(!!) meant I needed something different that we’d both like. When living in England I came to know the Victoria sponge cake as a country favorite, served in tea rooms and at garden parties. A traditional dense cake layered with buttercream and jam (served best with a cup o’tea).
I changed my lovely British recipe to American measuring units for ease and it came out a treat! Only took 15 minutes to prepare for baking with my toddler baker buddy and after cooling we whipped up some of my simple and delicious three ingredient buttercream, spread it on with some tart raspberry jam, sprinkled the top with confectionary (powder icing) sugar and it was ready for (celebrating) serving for our anniversary dessert!
Sponge cake ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups butter softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 large free range eggs
Buttercream ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter softened
- 3/4 cup confectionary sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Sponge cake recipe –
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Whisk eggs in a separate bowl
- Add all ingredients in a big bowl then add in whisked eggs
- Using an electric mixer beat ingredients together until batter is smooth with a sheen (this is from the eggs)
- Line two 9″ round cake tins with parchment paper and pour batter in and smooth down to even out
- Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are golden on top
- Remove from oven and let rest on cooling rack for 10 minutes (you can test the cakes by putting a toothpick or thin skewer in the center, if it comes out clean your cakes are fully baked, #winning)
- Carefully turn out upside down onto cooling rack peeling paper away and leave to fully cool before spreading on buttercream and jam
Buttercream recipe –
- whip together softened butter, sifted confectionary sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy white in color
Once cakes are cool spread raspberry jam on the cake then dollop and spread buttercream evenly across the jam. Place other cake on top and sift confectionary sugar onto the surface. Enjoy lovelies!
