I rarely venture out from my boxed cake mixes when baking and instead prefer to focus on decorating rather than baking a cake from scratch. This time I decided to switch things up. For the first time, I decided to bake a cake from scratch.
My next decision was of course, what type of cake to make? A few weeks ago, a cake appeared on my Instagram feed. It looked amazing and nothing like anything I had ever done before. It was a Victoria Sponge Cake that featured a buttercream frosting topped with strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. I had found my next project.
When searching for a recipe, I discovered that they mostly come from England and are measured in grams rather than cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons. I eventually found one I liked that had both measurements. I found it from http://www.errenskitchen.com/victoria-sponge/2/ . I adapted this recipe a bit to make it my own and that can be found below.
Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
- 1 Cup Softened Butter
- 4 Eggs
- 1 Cup Flour
- 2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 3 Tablespoons Milk
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 350℉
- Place all of the ingredients in a mixer or food processor and blend until everything is mixed and smooth.
- Split the batter between 2 well greased 9 inch round tins. Place them in the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Tops should be golden brown.
- Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then flip the pans upside down over a cooling rack or plate, removing the cakes from the pans to finish cooling completely.
I also made my own buttercream frosting. This frosting is very easy to make and my recipe can be found down below.
Buttercream Frosting
Ingredients:
- 3 ½ Cups Powdered Sugar
- ½ Cup Butter, Softened
- 2 Teaspoons Vanilla
- 2 ½ Tablespoons Milk
Instructions:
- In a medium bowl, mix powdered sugar and butter with an electric mixer on low speed.
- Mix in vanilla and 1 tablespoon of the milk.
- Gradually beat in just enough remaining milk to make the frosting smooth and spreadable. If the frosting is too thick, beat in more milk.
After baking my two 9” rounds, I found them very difficult to get out of the pans. One cake completely broke coming out and the other came out of the pan but not as cleanly as I would have liked. I placed the decent cake on a plate and put it in the freezer. I then decided to make more batter for two more cakes. After baking these two 9” rounds, I let them cool for 10 minutes after taking them out of the oven and then immediately used a knife to loosen the sides and flipped the cakes over on top of two plates. This worked soooo much better and the cakes came out a bit cleaner.
Because I now had three decent cake rounds, I decided to make a three layer cake instead of the classic two layer. I had the chance to get a bit more creative with my layers since I had an extra one than what I was originally planning on.
For my first layer, I decided to spread a layer of strawberry jam to add more flavor to the cake. I then topped the jam with some of my buttercream frosting. I then added the next cake on top.
The next layer I decided to switch things up. I first put a layer of strawberry jam and then buttercream but then added some sliced strawberries. The next 9” round went on top.
For the top of the cake, I put a layer of buttercream frosting and then decorated it with fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
And there you have it, my finished Victoria Sponge Cake with fresh berries!
