You can’t beat a classic! The Victoria Sandwich Cake is a firm favourite for so many. And it’s really not hard to make. Wow your friends and family with this easy peasy version!
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What’s your favourite cake?
What’s your favourite cake? Chocolate? Coffee and walnut? Lemon drizzle? For many it’s got to be the Victoria Sandwich Cake (AKA Victoria Sponge). And I have to admit, it’s definitely in my top 5. Its simple-but-delicious combination of vanilla sponge, jam and buttercream is hard to beat!
An easy cake to make!
A Victoria Sandwich Cake is such an easy cake to make. (So easy in fact that my kids have been making them since they were very small!) All you need to do is beat together butter and sugar. Then mix in eggs, vanilla and flour. Split the mixture between 2 round cake tins and pop them in the oven for 25 minutes. Then, once cool, decorate and serve!
An easy cake to decorate!
One of the reasons I love the Victoria Sandwich Cake so much is because it’s such an easy cake to decorate. All you need to do is top one of the cakes with jam, then buttercream. Then pop the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar. (US – confectioner’s sugar.)
(You can, of course, get a little bit fancy with it, if you want, playing around with piping the buttercream and using a stencil on top for a pretty lace effect, but there’s no need. You know me – I much prefer the simple, minimal equipment version!)
A great cake to make with kids!
This is a great recipe to make with children. My kids absolutely love helping me make cakes and have been helping me make Victoria Sandwich Cakes since they were tiny.
The best jam for Victoria Sandwich Cake
Really the best jam for a Victoria Sandwich Cake is the jam you like the best! My favourite is raspberry jam, but strawberry jam is also a popular choice for sandwiching together the two halves. But you can absolutely make this with any jam you like… blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry… (I might draw the line at marmalade, though!)
How to store Victoria Sandwich Cake
To keep it fresh, store Victoria Sandwich Cake in an airtight cake tin or – even better – under a glass dome on a cake stand.
(Please note – some people use fresh cream instead of buttercream. If you use fresh cream, you will need to store your Victoria Sponge in the fridge. This is why I much prefer the buttercream version – we never have enough room in the fridge for a whole cake!)
How long will Victoria Sandwich Cake keep?
A Victoria Sandwich Cake, made with buttercream, will keep for up to a week, if kept in an airtight container. (Though it will taste at its best best in the first 2-3 days.)
A Victoria Sandwich Cake, made with fresh cream, will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge.
Can you freeze Victoria Sandwich Cake?
Surprisingly, cake freezes really well! However, you should freeze the sponge cakes BEFORE decorating them. Once completely cold, wrap the 2 sponge cakes first in a double layer of baking paper and then in a double layer of foil. Properly wrapped, the cake should keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I do not recommend freezing a decorated Victoria Sandwich Cake!
If you like this recipe…
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Easy Peasy Victoria Sandwich Cake
Ingredients
Cake:
- 225 g butter or margarine softened (see Note 1)
- 225 g caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 225 g self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Filling:
- 4 tablespoons raspberry jam (or whatever jam you prefer)
- 100 g butter or margarine softened (see Note 1)
- 200 g icing (confectioners) sugar sieved (this is really important or you will end up with lumpy icing!)
- More icing sugar for dusting
Instructions
Making the cake:
- Pre heat your oven to 180C / 160C fan / gas mark 4 / 350F. Grease 2 x 7inch (18cm) round cake tins with butter or margarine. Put a circle of baking paper on the bottom of each tin and grease the baking paper. (There is no need to fully line the tins.)
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy looking. (See Note 2.)
- Add one egg and beat until combined. Repeat with the other eggs, adding them in one at a time.
- Add in half the flour and fold it in gently.
- Stir in the baking powder and vanilla extract.
- Add in the remaining flour and fold in gently.
- Put half the mixture in each cake tin and spread the mixture evenly over the base of each tin. Level the surface with a spoon or spatula.
- Put the cake tins in the oven and cook for 25-30 minutes. When they are ready, the cakes should be golden brown on top and pulling away slightly at the sides. To be sure they are done, push a skewer (or a teaspoon handle if you don’t have a skewer) into the cake. If it comes out clean the cake is done. If it comes out covered in mixture pop the cake back in the oven for a few more minutes and check again.
- Leave the cakes to completely cool before decorating.
Decorating the cake:
- Make up the buttercream by mixing the softened butter and sieved icing sugar together – you can do this by hand or with an electric beater. I always do it by hand – it’s not very much effort if you are only doing a small quantity.
- When the cakes are cool assess which one is flattest. Trim this one down so it is completely flat (yes I know that means you lose a bit of one of your cakes but…well you’ve got to taste a bit to check it’s ok, right?)
- Spread the jam all over the flat cake top and then top with the buttercream. Put the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar. I just use a sieve to do this, but you can use an icing sugar dredger if you have one.
Notes
- I much prefer the taste of a cake made with butter, but the problem with butter is that, if it has been in the fridge, it is rock solid! However, I learnt a very simple trick from the amazing Mary Berry… Fill a bowl with lukewarm water (the temperature of a very little baby’s bathwater). Chop the butter into 1cm cubes. Drop the cubes into the water and leave them for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, tip the water out. (I use my hand to stop the little butter cubes coming out with the water.) And voila! You should now have perfectly soft butter.
- You can absolutely make this cake with an electric mixer, simply put all the cake ingredients in a large bowl and mix with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until it looks like cake batter. However, I prefer to do things the old fashioned way (with a spoon and arm power!) and have given you my traditional method above.
- Suitable for freezing (undecorated cakes only.)
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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Disclosure
This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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