Traditional Victoria Sponge Cake recipe made for a Royal

Buckingham Palace's Pastry Chefs share their recipe for a delicious Victoria Sponge Cake.

According to Buckingham Palace, the Victoria Sponge was named after Queen Victoria, who regularly ate a slice of sponge cake with her tea, each afternoon! 

Ingredients

For the sponge:

-3 eggs
-150g caster sugar
-150g unsalted butter
-150g sieved self-raising flour
-1/2 tsp of vanilla essence
-Jam (strawberry or raspberry)

For the buttercream:

-150g softened unsalted butter
-220g sieved icing sugar
-1/3 vanilla pod or vanilla essence

Method

For the sponge:

-Preheat the oven to 180C (375F, gas mark 4)
-Grease and line two 8-inch cake tins (if you only own one tin, you can bake the sponge and slice in half)
-Cream the caster sugar, vanilla essence and softened unsalted butter until light and fluffy
-In a separate bowl whisk the eggs
-Gradually add the beaten eggs, a little at a time, to avoid the mixture curdling
-Sieve the flour and fold into the mixture
-Divide the cake mix between the two cake tins and smooth
-Place on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the cake appears golden brown
-Insert a skewer and ensure it comes out clean
-Remove the sponges from their tins and leave to cool

For the buttercream:

-Cream the softened butter with the sieved icing sugar and seeds from the vanilla pod (or vanilla essence)

Assembling the cake:

-Ensure that both sponges are completely cold before spreading a layer of jam onto the surface of one sponge
-Spread a thick layer of buttercream on top of the jam (if you prefer this can be done first)
-Gently place the second sponge on top and gently press down
-Sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with a pot of fresh English tea!

Source: https://www.royal.uk/royal-victoria-sponge-cake-recipe