Victoria Sponge – Celebration Cake!
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A delicious classic bake – a Victoria sponge. Soft & light cakes, strawberry jam, vanilla buttercream & fresh strawberries!
Victoria sponge
Strawberry season isn’t quiiiite here yet, but I bought a packet anyway and they were surprisingly tasty! This led me to think I should 100% do something with them, but definitely not overdo them. So… I thought I would bake a classic! Funnily enough it is one of the simplest and yet most delicious classic cakes around!
When I was younger I used to think that this type of cake was boring – why would I want it if it’s not chocolate? But oh how naive was I. This cake is SO GOOD and one of the best cakes in the world. However, sometimes the simplest of things can be the most difficult to get absolutely perfect!
Layers
I find that with a Victoria sponge, it’s all about getting everything perfectly in proportion. Such as, if you’re making a two layered cake, everything should be 300g (i.e. the sugar, flour, butter and eggs) and same for if you were doing a larger cake – everything should be 400g! It makes it far simpler and generally provides a foolproof cake. This recipe is for a three layer, 8 inch cake – so for a smaller cake (two layers), simply reduce the cake ingredients to 300g, split the mixture into two tins, and bake for 20 minutes!
Eggs
I weigh out my eggs when making a cake like this so I have no doubts it’s going to work, and once you know your oven well enough you will know when is the perfect time to take the cake out of the oven and when it might need a tiny while longer in the oven!
Cream or buttercream?
This cake is traditionally served with fresh fruit and whipped cream, or jam and buttercream – its entirely up to you! Personally, when i’m making it last a bit longer, I use buttercream so that it stays fresh for longer – whereas the cream may go a bit icky, especially on a hot day!
Assemble
I tend to pipe my buttercream around the edge of each layer, then a bit more in the middle with my jam sitting on the top, it tends to not slide around this way! It also stops jam sliding down the sides so you keep the nice clean edges of the 3 layers of sponge. I use strawberry jam in this recipe however if you would prefer raspberry then why not?! Enjoy!
Victoria sponge - Celebration Cake!
Ingredients
Cake
- 400 g unsalted butter (softened)
- 400 g caster sugar
- 400 g eggs (roughly 8 eggs)
- 400 g self raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 tbsp whole milk
Decoration
- 150 g unsalted butter
- 450 g icing sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 175 g strawberry jam
- fresh strawberries
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 190ºC/170ºC fan and line three 20cm/8inch cake tins.
- In a large bowl, beat together the unsalted butter and caster sugar until combined.
- Then, add your eggs, whole milk, self raising flour and baking powder, and beat until combined again - but be careful to not over beat.
- Divide the mixture equally between the three tins and smooth it over.
- Bake for 25 minutes until the cake is golden and springs back (a skewer should also come out clean).
- Turn the sponges out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool fully.
Vanilla Buttercream
- Beat the unsalted butter with an electric mixer until it's smooth and loose.
- Then, gradually beat in the icing sugar & vanilla extract.
- If the icing is too stiff, add 1 tbsp whole milk at a time to get your desired thickness!
Decoration
- Spread or pipe the buttercream onto the top of one of the sponges, then spoon on half of your jam.
- Place the second sponge on top and repeat the process - finish with the third sponge, and any left over buttercream on top!
- Add some fresh strawberries, perhaps a sprinkle of icing sugar and serve!
Notes
- When decorating the cake, I like to pipe a small amount of the buttercream around the edge of the sponges, then put a little more in the middle with the jam on top - this stops it falling out all over the place, but this is simply my choice! 🙂
- This cake will last in an airtight container for 3 days, or you can freeze it for up to 3 months!
- I use this piping bag
- I use this Medium 2D Closed Star Piping Tip
- I use these 8" Cake Tin
ENJOY!
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J x
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Hi,
My suggestion would be to beat the butter alone for a little while until it gets creamy and changes colour to a pale yellow or almost white before adding the sugar . If using baking powder? I always place a ban Marie in the oven!
My sponges never ever fail to be light and beautiful crumb.
Also, check your oven temperature with an electric thermometer to ensure an accurate bake.
If the sponge has come away from the edges of the pan? It’s a good way to tell the sponge is done 👍
Just a small tip!🙏🫶 Good luck 🫶
Hi Jane, I’ve just received my 3 Pme 8″ tins 4″ deep as per what your link clicks into…is this correct as the pans are very deep in comparison to your cake layers?
Many thanks, worried I’ve now got the wrong tins .. 😬
I made this a few months ago and found it very easy to follow.
Explaining about weighing the eggs and matching the rest of the ingredients to that was a revelation, I think that’s probably why I’ve had mixed results with cakes in the past.
I only did a 2 layer cake as this was the first time I’d made a cake in years.
Absolutely delicious and I’ll be making it again soon with 3 layers.
Do you weigh your eggs in the shells or out the shells ?
You weigh in the shells! x
Can I make this gluten free by changing the flour or do I need to add an extra egg so it’s not dry?
Hi Jane, I use your recipes for all my special cakes, thanks for sharing them! In most of your recipes you say eggs in numbers, not weight, but for this one (and I think for the white chocolate drip cake?!) you say to weigh them. I tend to weigh mine all the time because I can see the considerable difference between egg weights, I’m just wondering if I should try not weighing them and doing it in a 6 or 8 egg ratio (I do this for cupcakes). Which method would you recommend for large cakes as I seem to get such varied results but don’t know if this is down to my oven or eggs! Thanks so much x
Hi Jane,
Would I be able to add chocolate chips to the sponges? How many grams would you recommend please?
Thanks so much
Hi Jane, how thick is the cake batter? I only have loose bottom baking tins so was wondering if these tins are ok to use? Will the batter drip down to the bottom of the tin and out of the tin?
It won’t seep through the edges of the tin as it’s quite thick as long as your tin isn’t deformed in any way with leaky spots!! x
Hi
I’m worried when doing the alters that when I pipe the buttercream the layer ontop will squash it
Hi Jane, this looks like a lovely recipe. I just wanted to ask about the ingredients for the buttercream. You say 450 icing sugar to 150g butter. I was thinking of just doubling the amount of sugar to butter for a classic butter cream. Would that work or should I use 450g sugar as you suggest?
Hi Jane, love your cakes and bakes and books! Am looking to bake this as a semi baked. Do you think this would work please? Also can you help with how much I would need to increase the buttercream ingredients by for this? I am using 3 x 8 inch tins xx
Hey! Yes this would work. I would double the buttercream, but then you can freeze any leftover you may have! x
Hi there, I love your recipes they are my go to! Can I use Stork in this instead of the unsalted butter?? Thanks
Hiya! Baking spreads work well for cake sponges, but no frostings! x
Hi Jane,
I’m planning on using this recipe to make a novelty cake for my cousin’s little boys 1st birthday but adapting it to be dairy free.
Do you need to add the milk in this recipe?
Also how much buttercream would you suggest to cover the cake before adding the fondant?
Thank you 🙂
No, you don’t need to add the milk – sometimes people do to just thin the mix ever so slightly. And I usually double it to cover the sides and top as well x
Hi, could I make this with fresh whipped cream instead of butter cream?
I’m worried about then sliding as I stake them
Thank you x
Hi Amy, I made this recipe with fresh cream in April.
I added a small amount of gelatine into the cream before whipping (about 1/4 teaspoon melted into some cream in the microwave) and it worked out great!
Hi Jane! I hope I’m not repeating a question but could I freeze the cakes then taken them out on the day and defrost slightly before filling and covering the outside in Swiss meringue buttercream? I just don’t want them to dry out but usually find freezing keeps cakes moist, wasn’t sure with the Victoria sponge though! Thanks so much
Hi Jane I’m wanting to do a 8”x4”deep cake and cut it in half can you point me to the recipe you use for this tin size please x
Have a look at all of my drip cake recipes x