Victoria Sandwich Recipe, Victoria sponge / Sponge cake:: Sponge cake is a light cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar, sometimes leavened with baking powder. Sponge cakes, leavened with beaten eggs, originated during the Renaissance, possibly in Spain.
Table of Contents
Victoria Sandwich Recipe
Preparation:
Preparation time:
about 30 minutes
Cooking time:
about 25 minutes
Makes: 12 slices
Ingredients:
4 large free-range eggs
225g/8oz caster sugar, plus a little extra for the finished cake
225g/8oz self-raising flour
2 level tsp baking powder
225g/8oz baking spread or soft butter at room temperature, plus a little extra to grease the tins
Good-quality strawberry or raspberry jam
Whipped cream (optional)
Equipment:
Scales
2 x 20cm or 8in round tins
Baking parchment or greaseproof paper
Large mixing bowl
Electric hand mixer or wooden spoon
Damp cloth
Spatula
Palette knife or flat knife
Clean tea towel
Cooling rack
Method
Stage one
1. Weigh out the ingredients.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fans assisted)/350F/Gas 4.
3. Grease and line the sandwich tins – use a piece of baking parchment or greaseproof paper to rub a little baking
spread or butter around the inside of the tins until the sides and base are lightly coated. Line the bottom of the tins with a circle of baking parchment or greaseproof paper (draw around the base of the tin onto the parchment and cut out a circle to fit).
4. Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, flour, baking powder, and baking spread. Make sure the teaspoons of baking powder are level, not heaped, as too much baking powder can make the cake sink.
5. Mix everything until well combined. The easiest way to do this is with an electric hand mixer, but you can
use a wooden spoon. Put a damp cloth under your bowl when you’re mixing to stop it from moving around. Be careful
not to over-mix.
6. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins – this doesn’tneed to be exact, but you can weigh the filled tins if you
want to check. Use the spatula to remove all of the mixtures from the bowl and gently smooth the surface of the cakes.
7. Place the tins on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for about 25 minutes. Don’t be tempted to open the door while they’re cooking, but after 20 minutes looking through the door to check them.
Stage two
8. The cakes are done when they’re pale golden brown and coming away from the edge of the tins. Press them lightly
with a finger to check – they should spring back. Remove them from the oven and set them aside to cool in their tins for 5 to 10 minutes.
Then run a palette or flat knife around the edge of the tin and carefully tip the cakes out onto the cooling rack. To take your cakes out of the tin without leaving a wire rack mark, put a clean tea towel over the tin, put your hand onto the tea towel and tip the tin upside down. The cake should come out onto your hand and the tea towel – then you can turn it from your hand onto the wire rack.
9. Set aside to cool completely.
Stage three
10. To assemble the cake, place one cake upside down onto a plate and spread it with plenty of jam. If you want to, you can add whipped cream too.
11. Top with the second cake, top side up. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.
Raising Agents
Baking powder bicarbonate of soda is a chemical-raising agent (as opposed to yeast, which is a fungus). They give sponges, scones, muffins, and some biscuits their light texture.
Active raising agents give off bubbles of carbon dioxide, which help the batter or dough rise. Once they reach a certain temperature in the oven they stop working and the batter or dough sets. It’s important not to open the oven door too early during cake baking – the batter needs to set around the air bubbles first or the cake will collapse.
The bicarbonate of soda is alkaline and needs an acid to get it working. Yogurt, buttermilk, and cream of tartar are commonly used to do this.
Baking powder is a ready mix of bicarbonate of soda and an acid. It’s inactive as long as it’s dry and starts working when it comes into contact with liquids.
Once opened, raising agents have a limited shelf life. To test if they’re still active, add a teaspoon of raising agent to a small bowl of water – if it doesn’t bubble and fizz, throw it away.
Milk
Milk and cream are added to slacken the consistency, give a lighter result, and add protein and fat. Milk is also used in bread to add richness and a slight sweetness, but it should be scalded (almost boiled) and cooled beforehand to prevent the bread from having a heavy crumb.
Full-fat cow’s milk is normally used in recipes, but semi-skimmed will work, although the result will be less creamy. Avoid using skimmed milk as it’s too watery for baking. Part or all of the milk can be replaced with cream for a richer result –this works particularly well in scones.
Goat’s milk, sheep’s milk, and non-dairy alternatives such as soy or rice milk can be substituted in most recipes, but check the labels some brands may be unsuitable for baking.
Whipped cream is used as a filling or topping. Always use double or whipping cream as these have a higher fat content. Single cream won’twhip. When whipping cream, stop as soon as soft peaks form – if you whip for too long, the cream will turn to butter.
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