The Buckingham Palace Pastry Chefs are ‘delighted’ to share another traditional royal recipe: The Victoria Sponge.

The Victoria Sponge was named after Queen Victoria who regularly ate a slice with her tea every afternoon.

Ingredients

Sponge:

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

Buttercream:

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

Method

Sponge:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (375°F, 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

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!

Don’t forget to share your #royalbakes on the Royal Family’s social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram!

Instruction Video