I firmly believe that every baker should have a foolproof Victoria sandwich in their repertoire. It’s the cake equivalent of a little black dress — timeless, elegant, and appropriate for almost any occasion. My version uses the all-in-one method, which I know some purists might raise an eyebrow at, but honestly, the results are consistently excellent and it saves a good ten minutes of creaming.
The real star here, though, is the homemade raspberry jam. Shop-bought is perfectly fine if you’re short on time, but there’s something rather special about a sandwich filled with jam you’ve made yourself.
Ingredients
For the sponge
- 225g caster sugar
- 225g unsalted butter, softened
- 4 large eggs
- 225g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For the quick raspberry jam
- 300g fresh or frozen raspberries
- 200g jam sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
For the filling
- 300ml double cream, whipped
- Icing sugar for dusting
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan). Grease and line two 20cm round sandwich tins.
- Put the sugar, butter, eggs, flour, baking powder, milk and vanilla into a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for about 2 minutes until smooth, pale, and fluffy. The batter should drop easily from a spoon.
- Divide equally between the two tins and smooth the tops. Bake for 22–25 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. A skewer should come out clean.
- Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out onto wire racks. Leave to cool completely.
- For the jam, put the raspberries, jam sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a rolling boil and boil hard for 4 minutes. Test for set on a cold saucer — it should wrinkle when you push it with your finger. Let cool completely.
- To assemble, place one sponge on a serving plate. Spread generously with the cooled jam, then top with the whipped cream. Place the second sponge on top and dust with icing sugar.
A word on eggs: always use room temperature eggs for sponge cakes. Cold eggs can cause the batter to curdle, which won’t ruin the cake but will make the crumb slightly less fine. If you’ve forgotten to take them out of the fridge, pop them in a bowl of warm water for ten minutes.
