I made this quintessential English cake for my birthday last year…it’s the bomb and from now on “The Birthday Cake.” It’s not difficult to make and just plain awesome! This version of Victoria Sponge comes from Mary Berry.
For the Cake:
8 oz. butter, room temperature
8 oz. berry sugar (Rogers make it) also known as extra fine sugar/caster sugar
4 medium eggs (6 oz. of eggs), beaten to combine
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
8 oz. self-rising flour (Brody’s)
Homogenized milk to loosen the batter, (approx. 4 Tbsp.)
1 batch of Microwave Lemon Curd (see below)
8 oz. whipping cream/heavy cream
1 ½ – 2 cups assorted berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
Icing sugar for dusting the finished cake
Make the Sponge:
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Butter and line two 7 or 8” round cake tins with baking parchment rounds on the bottom of the pans or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
Cream the butter and sugar together using a stand or hand-held mixer until the mixture is pale and fluffy; beat in the eggs, a little at a time, then mix in the vanilla. Fold in the flour with a spatula, adding a little milk if necessary to create a batter with a soft dropping consistency. Divide the mixture between the cake tins and gently spread out with an off-set spatula.
Place in the oven & bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
Remove cakes from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes, then turn them out, upside down onto a cookie rack; remove the baking parchment, then flip over carefully onto another rack. The best way to do this is to place the rack over the bottom of the cake and flip onto the rack. Cool cakes to room temperature before filling. I made the cakes ahead, wrapped them well and frozen them, then thawed them out completely before filling.
Filling and Assembling Cake:
This should be done not long before you plan to serve the cake. You can fold together the whipped cream and lemon curd an hour before and keep chilled until ready to assemble the cake. Whip the whipping cream until stiff, fold in approximately 2/3rd of the lemon curd. Place one layer of the cake on a cake stand or plate, top with the whipping cream-lemon curd mixture, then top with the berries; place the 2nd cake layer on top. Using a sieve dust the top of the cake with icing sugar, serve.
Helpful link to lemon curd click here.
