The Victoria Sandwich consists of two sponge cake layers sandwiched together with raspberry jam and cream, then dusted on top with confectioners’ sugar.
This teatime treat became popular in England and Ireland during the reign of Queen Victoria, whose name this cake now bears. Originally caster sugar was sprinkled on top, but I prefer to use finer confectioner’s sugar.
Being a quintessential English cake you may ask why I am sharing this recipe on my Irish blog. Much of Ireland’s favorite cakes and recipes were first created in England, but cooked throughout Ireland in the days of regal homes and land holding gentry.
Remember Irish girls were the back bone of the work force in many grand English and Irish homes in days gone by. They cooked and baked with finesse in these busy kitchens, and when they visited their Irish relatives they brought these wonderful recipes home with them.
No surprise, based on this cake’s name, that it is said to have been Queen Victoria’s favorite cake, and has now become a baking classic.
However, this cake did not start off as an afternoon tea treat for English ladies and gentlemen. It was in fact invented for nursery tea time.
Afternoon tea cakes at the turn of the 19th century usually contained fruits and seeds. This, more easy to chew sponge, cake was created for safety reasons for little ones to enjoy. Less chance of choking on a plain old sponge.
Perhaps Queen Victoria first tasted this delight in the palace nursery – she did have a big family after all. Then, once the queen herself started enjoying this butter sponge, it became a classic Victorian era afternoon treat.
And remember this is a perfect party cake – full of spongy goodness. This recipe is my family’s go-to cake for birthday celebrations.
Traditionally it is served sandwiched with jam and fresh whipped cream, but buttercream frosting is a perfect pairing, opening up many possibilities for decorating.
This versatile cake also makes a super-simple, yet tasty wedding cake.
Ingredients for a Victoria Sponge Sandwich:
Today, I’m going to share my basic traditional Victoria Sandwich Sponge recipe. Previously I shared my recipe for an Irish Sponge Cake, which is a butter free and slightly lighter sponge cake, made with just eggs, sugar and flour.
Ingredients for a traditional Victoria Sandwich are also simple and wholesome – eggs, flour, sugar, and butter. When I baked with my mother as a child we would always decide our ingredient ratio like this….
8:8:4:8
or
6:6:3:6
Depending on the size of the sandwich trays, that translated to 8 oz of butter, 8 oz of sugar, 4 eggs and 8 oz of flour, for a 7- or 8-inch round baking tray. For baking trays of 6 inch diameter or less, our recipe called for 6 oz butter, 6 oz of sugar, 3 eggs and 6 oz of flour.
I still remember the ratios to this very day, but my challenge in America is to convert this ratio to cups. Then, to confuse me even more, Ireland switched to the metric system and my straightforward 8:8:4:8 got turned upside down with all those grams and kilograms.
But fear not, I’ve worked out my measurements for baking success in America and I’ve included both an American and European printable recipe at the bottom of this post.
In days gone by cooks would actually weigh the eggs they used. Since eggs were available straight from the chicken coop or hen house, they came in many sizes. The 8:8:4:8 ratio would call for 4 ounces of eggs, which might be 3 or 4 depending on how big the eggs were. In today’s modern grocery stores our eggs are pretty uniform in size so there’s no need to weigh them.
Now, for American bakers I highly recommend using cake flour for a Victoria sandwich. It’s a far finer flour with less protein content than regular all-purpose flour. Cake flour is the answer for light and airy sponge cakes.
Update February 2020 – Readers who have used all-purpose flour have reported poor outcomes in the comment section. So I am adding a new recommendation to only use unbleached cake flour.
Do NOT use American all-purpose flour.
Unbleached cake flour is recommended.
And so without further ado, here’s what you need for a Victoria sponge cake. You’ll find exact amounts in the printable recipe, where you can choose between US and Metric measurements.
- butter
- sugar
- eggs
- unbleached cake flour
- baking powder
- pinch of salt
- whole milk
- heavy whipping cream
- confectioners’ sugar
- raspberry jam
Directions for Baking a Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake:
First things first, you’ll need to turn on the oven so that it’ll be nice and hot when you’re ready to pop your cakes in to bake. Preheat the oven to 375° F or 190° C.
And always prepare your baking tins or pans before getting started. For any cake that needs to rise in the oven no time can be wasted between the time the wet ingredients meet the dry. So always have those pans ready and waiting.
My recipe calls for two 8-inch round baking pans. Grease the bottom and sides with butter, and then cut out a parchment paper circle to cover the bottom of the pans. I even add a little more butter on top of the parchment paper to ensure they easily lift of the baked cake surface.
If you don’t have any parchment paper, then dust the buttered pan with a little flour.
Next, prepare the dry ingredients. Sift the cake flour, baking powder and pinch of salt together.
In Ireland I use regular self rising flour, but in America I add baking powder to cake flour since I have never found self-rising cake flour in any f the states where I have lived.
Remember sifting the flour adds extra air and lightness to the finished sponge.
Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
The butter will turn a much lighter shade of pale as you beat it and whip some air into it. Do not rush this step. It takes quite a bit of beating to achieve a light, fluffy texture.
When I was a school girl in Dublin learning home economics, we had no electric mixers in the classroom. We had to beat the butter and sugar together using a wooden spoon. Can’t you just hear me telling my kids about how tough it was in the “old days.”
Every time my teacher peered into my mixing bowl I would say a little prayer the butter was creamed enough. A shake of the head meant that butter needed a lot more beating and arm muscle aches were definitely in store.
Add the eggs one at a time with a spoonful of flour.
Mix on low speed to avoid curdling the eggs.
Next, add half of the flour with a tablespoon of milk and fold into the butter mixture with a spatula.
Repeat with the remainder of the flour.
Be very gentle with the batter as you fold in the flour.
Divide the batter between the two baking pans and smooth the surface with a spatula or the back of the spoon.
I always shape a little hollow in the center of the sponges, to prevent them from rising in a peak in the middle of the cake. Victoria sandwiches always have a flat upper surface.
Bake in the pre-heated oven for 18 to 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.
Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the baking trays.
Next, turn the sponge cakes out onto wire racks to cool completely.
When at room temperature place one half of the sponge, top-side-down, onto a serving plate.
Spread the raspberry jam over the surface.
Whip the heavy cream with two tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar (or less if you don’t like sweet cream.) Spread the cream over the jam.
Place the second sponge layer on top of the cream. Dust the top with sifted confectioners’ sugar.
And voilà , there you have it, a deliciously light and luscious, jam and cream sponge sandwich cake.
Enjoy with your favorite cup of afternoon tea, a cup of joe, or as my kids like it, with a class of cold milk.
The printable recipes follow…
Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake Printable Recipe:
Here’s the printable recipe. Remember cake flour is the best for this cake, if you want an authentically Irish or English texture to your light and airy sponge cake.
Just after the ingredient list you can tab between US or Metric measurements.
Victoria Sponge Sandwich Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter 2 sticks
- 1⅛ cups sugar
- 4 eggs
- 2 cups cake flour unbleached
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
- ¼ cup raspberry jam
Instructions
- Prepare two 8 inch round baking pans by greasing the surface with butter and lining the bottoms with parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
- Add one egg at a time with a spoon of flour to the butter mixture and mix together on a low speed.
- Add half of the remaining flour with half the milk and gently mix the batter with a spatula. Repeat with the remainder of the flour.
- Divide the batter equally between the prepared baking pans. Smooth the top of the batter with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in the pre-heated oven until the cakes are risen and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and set the baking trays to cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. When slightly cooled turn each sponge out onto the wire rack to cool completely. Remove the parchment paper liners from the lower surface of the sponges.
- Whip the heavy cream with two tablespoons of confectioner's sugar until thickened.
- When the sponge cakes are cooled completely place one cake half on a cake dish. Spread the upper surface with raspberry jam.
- Cover the jam with the whipped cream and place the other cake half on top.
- Dust the top with the remainder of the confectioner's sugar.
Nutrition Information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin and freshness of ingredients used.
Happy baking everyone.
Slán agus beannacht,
(Goodbye and blessings)
Irish American Mom
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tried making this twice, but each time did not bake properly and sank – do not usually have any problems with baking and have had success with other recipes from this site….frustrating – tried it with self-rising flour and then with just flour and baking powder with no success….
Hi Ren – I’m so sorry to hear your sponge cakes were a flop. That is so disappointing. If you are in America, did you use cake flour? This recipe does not work well with all-purpose flour and I highly recommend finer cake flour to help the sponges rise. The butter and sugar also need to be creamed for quite a while so that the butter turns a very pale color. It takes anywhere from 5 to 8 minutes depending upon the power of your mixer. Thanks for stopping back to let us know of your difficulties with this recipe. I’m happy to hear you had success with some of my other recipes.
Best wishes, and happy baking.
Mairéad
My also did not rise! Never have had a problem with this. Actually made two batches and bought new baking powder….nothing. Very flat and disappointing. I’d say this is not really a “true” American recipe if the flour that’s commonly sold here can’t really be used. I know that you recommend cake flour, but I think if all purpose flour absolutely won’t work, the recipe should say so.
Hi Susan – So sorry that this cake was not a success. I will make the edit you recommend since American all-purpose flour does not work. Thank you so much for leaving your feedback.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
mmm…thank you, Mairead*!
God bless you!
Welcome to Yum Goggle! We are following you on all your social media and hope you will follow us back. We will try our best to tag you each time we promote your posts. Kelli at YG!
Thanks so much for publishing my recipe. I’ll be sure to follow you on social media.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Hi, Mairead, I am actually baking this now, but I have a question: I am actually weighing the ingredients, but 2 1/4 cups of cake flour is more than the 237 gr of egg and butter that I’m using…should I still add that much or should I stick to 237 gr??? I’m in the US, by the way!
Thank you!!
Hi Susana – Your cake is probably baked by now. Sorry I was not right by my computer when you posted your comment. You should be fine using 2 and 1/4 cups of cake flour, once your eggs were not more than 50 grams lighter than the flour. If they were you could hold back on a little flour. Maybe use 2 cups instead. I no longer weigh out all the ingredients and just use cups for measurements, so hopefully your cake is a success.
Best wishes,
Mairéad
Hi Mairead, I want to make this for friend’s upcoming birthday. Recipe doesn’t say whether the butter should be salted or unsalted? I’m in U. S.
Many thanks,
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth – Growing up in Ireland we only had salted butter, so I always use the salted variety for this cake. If you can get your hands on some Kerrygold butter the flavor of the cake will be better. The fat content is higher in Irish butter. I know it is quite a bit more expensive, but I find it’s well worth it for baking. Trader Joes and Walmart stock Kerrygold near me.
All the best and happy baking,
Mairéad
Hi Mairead
I’ve agonised, for years, about which flour to use when using a UK/Irish recipe that calls for plain flour. All of the advice I’ve found for Canadians, is that all-purpose flour is the appropriate substitute for plain flour. In sponge cakes, the result has been mediocre for me, so I’m glad to see that you’ve confirmed what I’ve long suspected about using cake flour. I’ll now give that a try.
I’m about to make Delia Smith’s Creole Christmas Cake. I’ve made it several times and is it, indeed, lovely. Of course, I’ve made it with all-purpose flour in the past, but I’m wondering if it would be even better if I used cake flour instead. If you have an opinion on this, I’d love to hear it as you’re obviously a much more experienced baker than I.
I’m looking forward to making your Victoria sponge with plain flour. Perhaps, at last, it will be a true taste of home.
Thank you so much.
Hi Vivienne – I use cake flour for all my Irish cake recipes when baking in America. I find it is the closest to plain Irish flour. Another suggestion is to use White Lily flour if you can find it in your grocery store. It is made with soft Tennessee winter wheat and is closer to Irish flour than regular American all-purpose flour. Southern cooks recommend White Lily for making biscuits and I find it works well for soda breads and buttermilk scones.
I recommend giving your Christmas cake a try with cake flour.
All the best, and thanks for checking out my recipes and ramblings.
Mairéad
Hi Mairéad, I can’t wait to try this, it looks so delicious. I wondering, however, if there is an error in the sugar measurement in the U.S. version? 1 cup of sugar is 7-8 oz. Your recipe calls for 2 cups sugar but that seems to be twice as much as it should be, if the butter, sugar and flour should all be about 8 oz.? Thank you so much for the recipes!
Sarah
Hi Sarah – Well thank you so much for pointing out that error. It looks like I have a definite typo there. It should be only one cup of sugar. It should read 1 and 1/8 cup of sugar and 2 cups of cake flour. Instead I wrote 2 cups of sugar and 2 and 1/4 cups of flour. I desperately need an editor. I get bamboozled by the time I finish creating a recipe. I’ll make the change in the recipe and thanks for your sharp eye.
All the best,
Mairéad
So glad I could help! I love your website!
🙂 🙂 🙂
Just make the sponge sandwich. Didn’t have 8″ round pan so, had to use 9″. Seems like they turned out ok, just a little skinner. Any helpful tips?
Hi Elizabeth – They should be fine – they may be a little drier than usually because of the extra surface exposed to the oven air, but that’s nothing that jam and lashings of cream won’t sort. Enjoy.
All the best,
Mairéad
Hi Mairéad, this recipe worked great! Please see my blog post for pictures! https://feijoarecipes.wordpress.com/2018/02/19/victoria-sponge-cake-with-feijoa-jam/
Cheers!
I’m delighted to hear this cake was such a success. Your photos look mouth-wateringly delicious.
Happy Baking,
Mairéad
I’m staying with a friend in Texas and made this cake for her birthday using your recipe. Thanks so much, it turned out great!
Hi Sue – Thanks so much for stopping by to let us know that this recipe was a success for you. So glad you got to celebrate your friend’s birthday with her.
All the best,
Mairéad
Since I didn’t really use my rounds very often, I purged them. I ended up using my square glass pans. Bake took a bit longer (maybe 8 minutes more) but they did just fine. Thank you so much for being American friendly. This is really a cute little cake.
Hi Jennifer- I’m delighted to learn that your cake layers turned out well using square glass pans. Thanks for letting us know they took a little longer to bake. This is the recipe I use for birthday cakes but I decorate it with buttercream frosting and chocolate candies.
Happy baking,
Mairéad
I followed the recipe exactly and both layers failed. Huge disappointment for a Father’s Day dessert. I used cake flour, etc. I will camoflauge with berries on top. Sad, will try a different recipe next time.
Oh Nancy. I am so sorry to hear this cake was a disaster for you. Thank you for leaving your comment to let other readers know this recipe was not successful for you. It works for me every time, but I watched my mother bake this cake all through my childhood. I instinctively know the consistencies required. I need to re-examine my instructions to see if there are any other tips and tricks that might help.
I hope you and your family had a lovely Father’s Day, despite the celebration cake that flopped.
All the best,
Mairéad
i bake your victoria sandwich cake it was a little dry what did i do wrong
Hi Kathy – Sorry to hear your sponge was dry. There are a few factors that could cause this. Firstly, your eggs may have been a little too small and this may have changed the balance between wet and dry ingredients. Be sure to measure the flour exactly too. If I feel my final unbaked batter mixture is too thick and does not drop off a spoon, I add a small splash of milk to the batter.
When creaming the butter and sugar make sure you do so for more than a minute or two. The butter and sugar must be very creamy and light to add air to the sponge mixture. It turns a very pale shade of yellow when ready for the eggs to be added.
The other potential issues revolve around the oven temperature and baking time. I recommend using an oven thermometer to check your oven isn’t too hot, if you find your cakes are dry. Also, your cake layers may have been in the oven for a minute or two too long. The layers should still feel spongy when pressed when taking them out of the oven at the end of baking. I usually set my timer for a few minutes short of the recommended cooking time. Air humidity on different days can affect how long your cake takes to bake. I find if I set my timer before the expected baking time is up, I can test and see how the cake is doing, and best judge the exact remaining amount of time required.
I hope this helps, and thanks for letting us know about your dry sponge issue.
All the best,
Mairéad
This turned out so wonderfully! I used King Arthur cake flour and beat the egg whites separately and folded them in. This was, light, airy, flavorful and just delicious. Thank you for this rendition!
Hi Heather – I’m so happy to learn that this cake turned out well for you. Beating the egg whites separately is a great idea to add extra air into the mixture for an even lighter sponge. This is a tricky enough recipe and I do believe the key to success is cake flour. American all-purpose flour is just too high in protein to yield a light sponge.
Thanks for stopping by to give this recipe your two thumbs up.
All the best,
Mairéad
In the US we have two types of cake flour: bleached (Swan’s Down, Softasilk) and unbleached (King Arthur). Unbleached flour (King Arthur) is what we need for these cakes, because bleaching changes the way the starches function. Bleached cake flour makes amazing high ratio cakes with loads of sugar, fat and liquid, but fails in lean cakes like the Victoria Sponge. Bob’s Red Mill Pastry flour is another option (unbleached, lower protein, finely milled).
I was going insane trying to figure out what was going wrong until I consulted Bakewise and some other books that go into the science of baking.
Hi Nancy – I really appreciate you taking the time to point out the differences between bleached and unbleached cake flour. I use King Arthur brand and did not realize it was unbleached. Your tips explain why some bakers have failed with this recipe. I’ll add the word unbleached in the ingredient list for the cake flour in this recipe.
Thanks again.
Mairéad
Love this sponge. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Cindy – Thanks for checking out this recipe and rating it. I’m delighted you like this Victoria sponge sandwich recipe.
All the best,
Mairéad