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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Hi Jane I’m wanting to do this for my sisters 17th birthday, I’m wanting to fully cover in buttercream aswell as the inside, how much would I increase the buttercream by? Thankyou x
I would say to double it x
Thanks so much for this information and instructions. Lovely.i am about to bake my cake now.
Hi Jane, I have used this + many of your recipes a lot they are always delicious. However, I am wondering if this would fit into a 9×13 rectangle tray? Or if you could advise me with how to change the quantities it to fit it?
Thank you.
Kathryn 🙂
I would use the ingredients as they are! x
Great, thank you for the reply! X
Hi Jane,
Would i need to make any changes if using a 9” cake pan? Thanks
I usually say if you want the same amount of layers, you need about 1/3 more of the recipe (and the baking time will increase) x
Hi Jane
would I be able to make this a chocolate cake by swapping some of the flour for cocoa powder if so how much would I need swap please
Yep, swap out 60-75g worth for flour!
Apologies I found One my post which you have kindly answered.
Please allow a few days for answers as I can receive hundreds every day, and it takes time.
Why are my questions not being oh published?
Help!! My sponge seems fine when I take out of oven but then starts to get oily to the touch. Especially the bottom when I peel away the parchment paper. Stork was not too soft in fact I used straight out of fridge because this happened before and I though it could be that the stork was too soft . Eggs were room temp . Don’t know why it keeps happening. I did use the creaming method which I have drone in past and it’s been fine .
It may be that they just needed a bit more baking, or, it’s just a tiny bit greasy which can happen!
Hi Jane! Making this cake for my mums 60th birthday at the weekend (can’t wait!). Do you use unsalted, or salted butter for both the cake and the buttercream, please/does stork work? Would the cakes keep fresh enough if I make them tomorrow, and then make the buttercream and assemble the cake the day after? Thanks so much! x
For cake sponges you can use an unsalted block butter or a baking spread, but for buttercream you should only use block butter – spreads aren’t good for buttercreams! And yes they would! x
Hello and thank you for the Victoria sponge recipe , I’m new to baking but I have to ask what’s the difference between the Victoria Sponge and a regular vanilla cake , it’s rare , here in the US that you will find someone make a Victoria sponge cake.
Thank you
It depends on your opinion basically – a Victoria sponge is the same as basic vanilla cake, but it’s just the filling that usually changes it! Classically it’s a cake made of eggs/sugar/butter/flour filled with just jam, or whipped cream and fruit, or buttercream!
Hi Jane love your recipes I’m going to make the triple sponge cake using 3 tins. Will I bake them all at the same time on separate shelves. Thanks a mill
It depends on the oven type – I have a fan so put two on one shelf, and one underneath and they are fine, but I believe other ovens can bake quite differently on different shelves x
Hi.
I can’t seem to get the butter icing right. It seems to split and go really soft. HELP haha
What exact type of butter do you use, and how do you mix it?