Victoria Sandwich Cake – Raspberry jam and fresh whipped cream are sandwiched between two vanilla sponge cakes and dusted with powdered sugar. A British classic dessert perfect for dessert or afternoon tea.

Once again, The Great British Bake Show has inspired me to make something I’ve never even heard of. Apparently, the Victoria sandwich is a cake that is a tradition in Britain and all British bakers have their go-to recipe for it.

How is it possible that I hadn’t even heard of it until watching an episode of GBBS?! Perhaps because it’s called a sandwich? I’m serious. They call is a Victoria sandwich. I added the “cake” to the end so that you all wouldn’t get confused like I was.

Traditionally, the Victoria sandwich is a sandwich cake made from two buttery sponge cakes with raspberry jam and buttercream in the center. I’ve played around with traditional recipes and decided that I prefer a little variation to the classic.

As such, today, I present to you my version of a Victoria Sandwich Cake!

Making the sponge cakes

The base of the Victoria sandwich is the cake. It consists of two layers of buttery sponge cake. Traditionally, it does NOT have any vanilla extract in it for flavoring but I think it’s needed just to add a little extra umph. Additioanlly, there is also milk added to the cake to lighten it a bit. Other than those two additions, the rest of the ingredients in my version stay true to the classic.

Before pouring the prepared batter into the baking pans, I made sure to grease them perfectly. Nonstick spray by itself doesn’t always work for these large cakes (trust me – I’ve had many cakes stick to the pans when just using nonstick spray). Therefore, it’s important to line the bottom of the cake pans with parchment paper. This will help the cakes come out without any issues.

Assembling the cake

Once the cake is baked and cooled, it’s time to assemble with the filling. The filling traditionally consists of buttercream and raspberry jam. However, I like using whipped cream instead of the buttercream. Buttercream is so heavy that it makes the cake too rich, in my opinion. The whipped cream is a light addition that compliments the dense cake and sweet jam.

Since the cake is not frosted on the outside, I am a little more deliberate in the assembly process to make the cake look great. As such, I pipe the whipped cream along the edge to make look all fancy. Also, it helps keep the jam from sliding out of the cake.

To finish off the cake, the top layer is gently place on top and then finished with powdered sugar. I also added a few raspberries for garnish, but that’s totally optional.

Tips & Tricks

1. In order for the texture in this cake to be just right, you MUST beat the sugar and butter until fluffy. It really does take about 4 minutes so set a timer and walk away so you don’t get bored watching it.
2. I’ve learned my lesson when it comes to layer cakes so don’t make my same mistakes – always line cake pans with parchment paper to make them easier to release from the pan.
3. Do not assemble the cake before it has cooled. Otherwise, the jam and whipped cream will thin out and run down the sides, creating a huge mess.
4. Because the cake is not frosted on the outside, it cake dry out if left out for a while. As such, make sure to wrap it tightly when not serving it to keep in the moisture.

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