Remember I told you how the Queen got herself coronation chicken sandwiches? Well, what else did she get? Victoria sponge cake! Its simple and elegant and an iconic cake to grace an afternoon tea table. Why else would she get a cake named after her? Little did she know she was literally building a tea time tradition!

So what is a Victoria sponge cake? In layman's terms, it is a cake sandwich. Two layers of light and fluffy sponge cake sandwiching strawberry jam (and in modern versions, also buttercream), dusted with confectioners' sugar on top! The last strawberry season went by in a flash and I missed the chance to make so many strawberry themed desserts! This year, I was determined to dedicate at least one box to Victoria sponge cake, and here we are!

I personally feel like this has been a project worthy of being recorded in a scrapbook, mainly because I stayed true to the time: I made this on a holiday afternoon, accompanied by some afternoon glow, reinforcing the experience! And I have to say this, I’m stunned by my own photography here!

Victoria Sponge Cake

Sponge cake:

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 4 eggs
• 3 tbsp. milk

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line two 8 inch cake pans with butter and parchment paper. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and vanilla and beat at a high speed until the mixture is light and aerated. Add the eggs, one at a time until, beating well. Add a spoon of flour after each addition to avoid curdling. Add the remaining flour and mix until just combined. Divide the batter evenly in the prepared cake pans and bake for about 25 minutes until golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool.

Strawberry jam:

• 8-10 large strawberries
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• Lemon juice (optional)

Rinse and clean the strawberries. Remove the leaves and chop each strawberry into rough quarters. Add the chopped strawberries and about 1/4 cup of sugar in a heavy bottomed pan. Cook the strawberries on a very low heat, stirring occasionally for about 25 minutes, until most of the strawberries have broken down and turned soft. Add more sugar or lemon juice, depending on how sweet your strawberries are. Turn of the heat and mash the remaining strawberry pieces with a masher. Cool the jam completely.

Buttercream:

• 90g unsalted butter, softened
• 170g granulated sugar
• 3-4 tbsp. milk

In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy. Add the sugar in parts, beating well after each addition. Add the milk if the mixture is too dry. Once combined, beat the buttercream until it is aerated.

Bring it all together:

• Fresh strawberries
• Caster sugar, for dusting

Remove both sponges from the cake pans and peel of the parchment paper. On a large plate, place one sponge and evenly spread all the buttercream using an off-set spatula. Spread the strawberry jam on top of the buttercream, followed by the second sponge cake to sandwich the jam and cream. Evenly dust a thin layer of caster sugar. Clean and chop the strawberries into halves, and arrange in a circle on top of the cake. Now all that’s left to do is cut yourself a slice!