Victoria Sandwich

The Baking Bug

Yesterday morning I was biten by the baking bug.  I woke up feeling a sudden urge to bake.  My eggs were close to expiring so it was the perfect excuse to just bake and take a break from my work.  I was feeling a little sad and had a nasty dream, but smiled from the moment I picked the butter, to the moment I tasted my light jammy sponge.  Life felt good, the evening ended with laughter and a seal of approval from a certain critic. 

The Victoria Sandwich

I never realised the Victoria cake could be made so many different ways.  I had to be given help to construct it, I was unsure how to layer it.  In the supermarkets they use cream, but I followed the recipe I had which used icing sugar.  I also wanted to practise making butter icing.  Overall it tasted delicious and for the first Victoria Sponge I have ever made I think my grandmother would have been proud, it is also the first layer cake I made too. :)

This recipe was adapted from 'The Best Of Sainsbury's Vegetarian Cooking' (Reed International Books Limited, 1992)

Ingredients:

You will need double these ingredients to make two cakes in order to layer it.  Or you could just use the ingredients below and split the mixture into to 18cm cake tins.

125g butter, 125g castor sugar, 2 eggs, 125g self - raising flour, 1 tsp baking powder.

Method:

1. Mix the butter with the sugar until smooth and creamy.
2. Add the eggs and mix well.
3. Preheat oven to 160 degrees C/ Gas Mark 3.
4. Add the flour to the cake mix and combine until everything is smooth.
( An electric mixer may be used.)
5. Put the mixture in the cake tin.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the cakes are springy and browned.
7. Cool before decorating.

Buttercream Icing

Ingredients:

75g soft butter, 175g sifted icing sugar, 1 - 2 tbsp warm water.

Method:

Beat the ingredients together until well mixed and smooth.

Saffy's Top Tips

1. Though I used crystallised fruit the citrus taste went really well with the cake, including the icing sugar.  

2. Make sure you do add butter to the icing, try not to use just water. 

3. Make sure the butter is soft before you mix it in with the sugar.

4. You can top the cake with jam as well, but though it may be tempting there is no need to over do it. 
1 layer of evenly spread jam is more than enough, especially if you are using icing.

4. If you are not decorating with whipped cream then serve the cake with cream to feel an extra comfort.