Skip to main content
Our website uses cookies. If you continue to use this website then we will assume you consent to the use of cookies for this purpose. Find out how to manage cookies
Print

Waitrose

Zoomer icon

Victoria Sponge

Back

 
 

Victoria Sponge

This is one of the simplest of cakes, writes Nikki Duffy. Light but buttery, it needs nothing more than a filling of jam and a sprinkling of sugar to make it perfect for serving with tea or coffee. But it's also an easy matter to dress it up into a glorious dessert, or decorate it for a special occasion.

Preparation time:
15 minutes
Cooking time:
20 minutes, plus cooling
Total time:
35 minutes, plus cooling 35 minutes
Serves:
 8

Ingredients

  • 220g butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 220g caster sugar, plus extra for dredging
  • 4 medium eggs, lightly beaten
  • 220g self-raising flour
  • A little milk (optional)
  • 4 tbsp strawberry jam

Method

  1. Preheat your oven to 180°C, gas mark 4 (the temperature at which most cakes are baked). Use a little butter to grease two 20cm-diameter sponge tins.
  2. A victoria sponge is made by the creaming method; that is, the fat and sugar are creamed or beaten together until light and fluffy before other ingredients are added. It's important to beat the butter and sugar well, as this incorporates lots of air which makes the cake light. Begin with very soft butter, add the sugar and beat with an electric whisk for 2 minutes, until fluffy and pale. You can use a wooden spoon, but it takes some elbow grease.
  3. Now add the eggs. Beat them lightly first to break them up. Add a quarter of the egg, plus a spoonful of flour and beat until completely incorporated. Adding the egg gradually along with a little flour should stop the mixture curdling, or forming tiny lumps, which can make the cake heavy. Add the remaining egg in the same way.
  4. Add the remaining flour and fold in with a large metal spoon. Self-raising flour is used because it contains raising agents to give the sponge extra lift. Add a little milk if necessary to achieve dropping consistency - this means a scoop of the mixture will slowly fall off a spoon when held sideways, rather than running off easily, or sticking completely.
  5. Divide the mixture between the two greased cake tins, smoothing the tops. Put in the oven - preferably on the same shelf - and bake for 20 minutes. The cakes should look well-risen and golden brown, and should have pulled away slightly from the sides of their tins. To make sure the cakes are done, push a metal or wooden skewer into the middle of one. It should come out clean, or with only a few dry crumbs attached. If there's sticky-looking cake mix on it, bake for 5 minutes more, then repeat the test.
  6. After 10 minutes cooling in the tin, turn the cakes out on to a wire rack (if you turn them out when hot, they may break up). Put the smoothest-looking cake right side up (this will be the top of the finished cake) and the other upside down, so its domed top flattens slightly. Leave to cool completely.
  7. For a classic victoria sponge, just spread jam over the base sponge, put the second one on top, and dredge with caster sugar.

Kitchen tools

2 x 20cm diameter cake tins
Electric whisk

Comments and images

Average user rating 4 stars out of 5

Add your comment and share your thoughts and pictures with others.

Mummyhalls

Mummyhalls 14 June 2009 12:35

YUMMMM this recipe is great, very easy to make and a delicious taste, my youngest son will be 2 years old in a week and half and i plan to make this for his birthday cake, i made a trial run of this cake and decorated it as i've never decorated a cake before so wanted to try before i made my babie's birthday cake and it was a big hit, deffinatly reccomend this recipe :)

JLH22

JLH22 12 May 2009 22:08

Excellent recipe that I use all the time. Sometimes I reduce the quantities and just use 3 eggs and this still works really well. Much clearer instructions than Delia’s website!

miss_jester

miss_jester 23 December 2008 17:09

This is such a great recipe. I'm a complete beginner, but I made this for a party and when I first cut into it I was so proud that it looked like a proper cake, and then as if by magic it tasted fantastic too! Horay!

Add comment/image

Delete comment

Are you sure you want to delete this comment?

Cancel Delete comment

4 stars out of 5

Average user rating Based on 490 ratings

Thank you for rating this recipe. If you'd like to comment further on this recipe you can do so in the Customer comment & images section on the bottom of the page.

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5

Click to rate this recipe


This recipe was first published on Waitrose.com in September 2005