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Victoria Sponge Tea Cake might possibly be the quintessential tea cake in Britain, and is certainly considered a classic teatime dessert. A light and tender yellow sponge cake sandwiched between homemade raspberry jam and buttercream frosting.
Most Victory Sponge recipes tend to be quite simple with a light layer of raspberry or strawberry jam and whipping cream. My first attempt at this cake was just that. It was very simple and tasty. But it reminded me too much of strawberry shortcake. And I already have a recipe for that dessert. See my Strawberry Shortcake Recipe Here.
A Cake for a Queen
I made this cake in honor of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022. It is said that she enjoyed this sandwich sponge cake with her tea, although her absolute favorite was a Chocolate Biscuit Cake. I served both of these cakes, along with a Battenburg Tea Cake for a Platinum Jubilee Tea Party as a way to celebrate with Her Majesty, The Queen on this occasion.
The English often refer to this cake as a Victoria Sponge Sandwich, which is sliced into thin sandwich pieces. The cake was named after Queen Victoria, who apparently liked it with her afternoon tea. I find all of this history most interesting, and I hope you do, too!
With a bit more research, I happened upon a sponge recipe by Mary Berry that used buttercream instead of whipped cream for the filling. And Mary Berry is very British, so if she can do it, then it must be okay. I have tweaked her recipe to suite my tastes in the ingredients below.
Instructions For Making This Recipe
Preheat oven to 350°F. Gather the ingredients needed for this recipe so you have everything close at hand on the counter or table. Line two 8-inch round cake pans with waxed paper, and coat with a floured baking spray, such as Ever Bake Spray.
Be sure to set out the butter and eggs in advance to bring them to room temperature. This may take between 20 to 60 minutes, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
Prepare the Sponge Cake
In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients–the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and extra-fine baker’s sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add in the large eggs, along with the whole milk, and almond extract, beating well after each addition.
Gently fold the flour mixture into the creamed butter, just until all the flour has been mixed in. Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake pans.
Carefully smooth the batter to the edges, being careful not to touch the pan with your spatula. Bake in center of preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cake is set in center and the edges are golden and pulling away from the pan.
To test for doneness, lightly touch the center of the cake. If it’s done, it will spring back when touched. You may also test with a toothpick in the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, the cake is done. If not, it needs a few more minutes.
Allow the cakes to rest for 10 minutes, and then carefully turn them out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Raspberry Jam
While the cake bakes, go ahead and prepare the homemade raspberry jam. Using a medium saucepan, combine the fresh or frozen raspberries, granulated sugar, the zest of one lemon (about 1 tablespoon), and 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium low heat, stirring often.
If using fresh raspberries, you will need to mash the berries in the saucepan. This wasn’t necessary when using frozen berries.
Once the mixture is boiling, raise the heat to medium to keep a rolling boil. Allow the sauce to cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and pour into a glass container to cool. This will make more than enough to spread on your cake, so you’ll have some to enjoy with scones.
Prepare the Buttercream Frosting
Once the cake has completely cooled, it’s time to prepare the buttercream frosting. Using a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar. Add in the whole milk, vanilla extract, and if desired, the Fiori di Sicilia. Mix the buttercream frosting until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
Fiori di Sicilia will impart citrus, vanilla, and floral notes to your recipe. If you don’t have Fiori di Sicilia, you may simply omit it from the recipe, or substitute 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract. Please not that it does not take much of the Fiori di Sicilia to flavor a recipe, so use sparingly. One bottle will last a long time. See my recipes that use this flavoring HERE.
Spoon frosting into a piping bag, fitted with a medium round tip.
Assemble the Victoria Sponge Cake
To assemble the cake, gather the cake rounds, raspberry jam, and buttercream frosting on a table or counter with plenty of room to work. Place the least pretty cake top-side down on a flat serving plate.
Generously spoon the raspberry jam over the cake to 1/2″ from the edges. I used about 2/3 of the homemade jam and had extra for making another cake or to use with biscuits or scones.
Pipe the buttercream frosting over the jam with dots until the jam is covered.
Alternately, you may use a larger tip for larger dots on the cake, or simply spread the buttercream frosting over the jam with a knife. It all depends on the look you are going for.
Carefully, center the remaining sponge cake on top of the buttercream frosting. Finish by dusting powdered sugar or non-melting sugar on the very top. If you are using powdered sugar, I would save this step until you are ready to serve the cake.
I happened to have some non-melting sugar (from King Arthur Baking) in my cupboard, which I like to use on some desserts. It is also nice to use on pound cake, eclairs, lemon bars, or even brownies.
Serve the Sponge Cake
To serve, carefully slice through the Victoria Sponge Cake in small wedges, cleaning the knife between each cut.
Since this cake has buttercream frosting, it may be stored under a cake dome at room temperature for up to 4 days. Refrigerating the sponge cake will cause the cake to dry out, so I do not recommend that unless your kitchen is overly warm.
You may opt to freeze the cake, either before assembling, or after decorating as quarters or slices, covering it well in plastic wrap and then in a freezer bag. You may freeze for up to 3 months. To serve after freezing, be sure to bring the cake to room temperature before removing from the freezer bag to retain as much moisture as possible.
This sponge cake recipe will serve 10-12 people.
If you need a fast and simple version of this recipe, you may use store bought strawberry or raspberry jam and whipping cream instead of the homemade jam and buttercream frosting. This type of cake is best served the day you make it, or refrigerated.
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Victoria Sponge Tea Cake
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Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (sifted)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup extra-fine baking sugar
- 4 large eggs (room temperature)
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Homemade Raspberry Jam
- 7 oz fresh or frozen raspberries
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Buttercream Frosting
- 1/2 cup butter (room temperature)
- 1 cup powdered sugar (sifted)
- 1-2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon Fiori di Sicilia flavoring
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two 8-inch round cake pans with waxed paper, and coat sides and bottoms with a floured baking spray. (Be sure to set out the butter and eggs in advance to bring them to room temperature.)
Prepare the Sponge Cake
- In a medium bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using a large mixing bowl, cream the softened butter and extra-fine baker’s sugar until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Gradually add in the large eggs, along with the whole milk, and almond extract, beating well after each addition.
- Gently fold the flour mixture into the creamed butter, just until all the flour has been mixed in. Divide the batter equally between the two prepared cake pans.
- Carefully smooth the batter to the edges, being careful not to touch the pan with your spatula. Bake in center of preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until cake is set in center and the edges are pulling away from the pan.
- (To test for doneness, the cake will spring back when touched in the center. Or test with a toothpick.)
- Allow the cakes to rest for 10 minutes, and then carefully turn them out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the Raspberry Jam
- Using a medium saucepan, combine the fresh or frozen raspberries, granulated sugar, the zest of one lemon (about 1 tablespoon), and 1 tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil over medium low heat, stirring often.
- (If using fresh raspberries, you will need to mash the berries in the saucepan. This isn't necessary when using frozen berries.)
- Once the mixture is boiling, raise the heat just to medium to keep a rolling boil. Allow the sauce to cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and pour into a glass container to cool.
Prepare the Buttercream Frosting
- Using a large mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter and powdered sugar. Add in the whole milk, vanilla extract, and if desired, the Fiori di Sicilia. Mix on medium high speed, the buttercream frosting until smooth and creamy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Spoon frosting into a piping bag, fitted with a medium round tip.
Assemble the Victoria Sponge Cake
- To assemble the cake, gather the cake rounds, raspberry jam, and buttercream frosting on a table or counter with plenty of room to work. Place the least pretty cake top-side down on a flat serving plate.
- Generously spoon the raspberry jam over the first cake to about 1/2″ from the edges. Then pipe the buttercream frosting over the jam with dots until the jam is covered.
- Carefully, center the remaining sponge cake on top of the buttercream frosting. Finish by dusting powdered sugar or non-melting sugar on the very top. (If you are using powdered sugar, save this step until you are ready to serve the cake.)
- To serve, carefully slice through the Victoria Sponge Cake in small wedges, cleaning the knife between each cut.
- Store covered at room temperature for up to 4 days. (Refrigerating the sponge cake will cause the cake to dry out.) Serves 10-12.
I hope you will enjoy this cake as much as we do!