Victoria Sandwich Sponge Cake- Mary Berry's British Baking Show Recipe!!

Yesterday was my dear mother-in-law's birthday, and I wanted to make her something special. I had been longing to make this cake ever since I saw the contestants create it on the show Great British Bake Off. (If you have not watched this show, do it now!) I found the very recipe by Mary Berry, a judge of the show and one of my cooking icons. Be warned- there are various sites with variations of her recipe, some even calling for store-bought jam- gasp!! The one I used is HERE on BBC Food, along with other great recipes by her. Now you can print it, kiss it repeatedly, clutch it to your bosom while dancing about the room. At least, that was my reaction, yours may be a bit more reserved.

Sponge cakes are not the norm here in America, in fact, I had never tasted one until I baked it. I have made several recipes with a sponge base and never been highly pleased with them. For one thing they were bland with a crumby texture (literally and figuratively) and the tended toward dryness. If you know me at all you know my motto is- DON"T OVER-BAKE! Dry baked goods are horrid. So, imagine how excited, yet filled with trepidation, I was to try Ms. Mary's recipe. But I jumped in. You are going to have the recipe all for yourself. I am just going to show you what I did and how things looked as I went. I was so unsure, but it all worked magnificently!

 Firstly, I did not have self-rising flour, nor do I have any intention of buying any. I simply made my own. The recipe to make one cup of "self-rising flour" is- 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 baking soda, then fill the cup the rest of the way with regular all-purpose flour. All done!

She just had you line the bottom of the pan, but when I got to thinking how you would see the sides, and they should be pretty, I lined the sides with parchment as well. I'm not sure if I've posted how to do this yet...If not, I will, because I use this trick all the time. Pans lined, I practiced mise en place, basically French for everything in its place, so that I would be ready. I always grate my butter so that it softens evenly and much more quickly. With it sitting and warming, I turned to making the jam so it could be setting up while I baked the cakes.

 The beautiful raspberries go in the pan. I couldn't believe that this few would make enough jam, but that Ms. Mary is a wonder! Then you crush the little dears, which kind of breaks my heart.

 Add the sugar, a larger amount than I would have thought, but I am used to making jam with pectin.

 Once it has come to a boil that dissolves the sugar, you raise the heat and boil for 4 minutes. That's it.

 I poured the jam into a shallow pie plate and mixed the five ingredients for the batter. She says to be careful not to over-mix. I stopped when everything was well combined but I could still see the small lumps of butter. I was worried this wasn't right, but the batter cooked up perfectly.

 How gorgeous is this sponge? I was so pleased! I did not have 8 inch pans and had to use 9 inch. So my cake layers are slightly thinner. I have a fan oven and so I used her suggestion to lower the oven temp. I baked at approximately 335-340 degrees and for only 18 minutes because of how thin mine were. And she said not to open the door, but I had to! Halfway through I have to rotate my pans for even baking. Luckily, nothing bad happened.

 I let the layers cool while I made a birthday cake for one of my son's friends. Then I was ready to make the buttercream and layer my cake. Something I love about this recipe is that you use all of everything. I hate having half a cup of frosting leftover and trying to decide what to do with it rather than waste it. For this recipe you need a piping bag and a large smooth tip. If you don't splurge on anything, this is the thing to get. I use mine all the time. I pipe the filling into my deviled eggs; I pipe dough for eclairs and such; I pipe cake batter when making filled cakes. It is such a handy item I hope you'll think about getting bags and at least one tip.

The jam had me nervous. It was kind of like a dead critter, I had the uncontrollable urge to poke it every time I went by, just to see if it was setting up. But maybe you don't have those compunctions about dead things. Anyway, I was worried it wouldn't be firm enough to stay in the cake once the pressure of the second layer was on top. But when I turned it to the side it stayed in one full piece. Success!

 I spread most of the jam on the cake. You can see the small bit that I left. I was concerned about spillover. Then I attempted to pipe loops around the edge. We have discussed my ineptness with piping, but I still give it a good effort. Some of my loops are actually quite nice. Others will stay to the back of the cake...Then what to do with all the extra that goes in the middle? I was worried that if I tried to do more loopies that I would run out and some cake would not have any. So I went random and just squirted wiggles all over. Hey, I knew it would be hidden.

 Then I looked at the forlorn little bit of left-over jam. The jam was my favorite part about the cake, so I decided to dollop the rest on the middle and just pray things didn't explode. But I think the holes in the squiggles actually let it be trapped. None leaked out, even the next day.

 Here is the cake assembled. Big happy sigh.

 Mary Berry said to sprinkle the top with caster sugar. I have never seen this available here. Caster sugar is simply plain white sugar that is ground very fine. You can actually whiz sugar in the food processor to make a substitution. But I decided on powdered sugar and using a very old-fashioned trick. I have some terrible old plastic doilies, the kind you might see at the Dollar Store. While completely hideous for anything else, these are amazing as stencils on top of cakes and pies. And they are easily rinsed and dried to be used another time. Just center it-

 Dust gently with powered sugar, and carefully lift the doily straight up by it's edges so you don't mar the design.

 How beautiful is that?! On any other dessert I always say- Don't dust with powdered sugar until the moment before you serve it. Why? Because the moisture in our normal cakes makes the sugar go damp and eventually meld with the top in a sort of frosted glaze look that isn't pretty. However, sponge cakes have very little moisture and so the design on this stayed until that night, and was still great this morning!

 Just a couple more pictures ;)

 Seriously, this cake makes me happier than anything I have made in a long time.

It's like when someone has a baby and they want to show the pictures to anyone who will stand still. I'd walk down the street clutching the picture of this cake and thrust it at people, beaming, and brag, "This is my new darling. I made it myself. And I ate it." Which sounds awkward in the context of babies, but there you have it.

 BUT HOW DOES IT TASTE? I know, Dear Reader, that is the only truly important part, isn't it. For all it's loveliness, if it had tasted like the other sponges I have made you would not be seeing it here. I don't give you recipes that I won't make again and again.

 When I ate it the night of her birthday we had just come home from the Mexican restaurant. When eating Mexican, I order something with all good intentions of eating it. But instead I eat so much salsa and cheese dip that I get the sweats and the shakes and they have to send out to the farmer to grow more corn just to keep up with the chips I am consuming like a human vacuum. I am not a chip eater; they don't tempt me in the least. But my moma will even sit in wonder to watch me consume them with dip. Needless to say, I was stuffed to the gills and slightly bilious when we cut into the cake. I eyed my bit with trepidation and groaning. I could tell that the actual cake was good. No, scratch that, the sponge was amazing! It was flavorsome, the crumb was light and tender, and there was no dryness at all. Bless you, Mary Berry! The jam and the frosting both tasted lovely (I had pre-tasted them a bit). But my mouth couldn't enjoy it on a sick stomach. Darn you gluttonous belly...

 Fast froward though the night to this morning, and I present you my breakfast. You see the design is still intact even after having clingwrap pulled over it for the night.

 And here is the first bite. Dear Reader, there is a reason why this is a British classic. It is so good. Moist without being heavy, the juice of the jam had soaked through the bottom layer with red deliciousness. The only thing I would do differently in the future is I would not use all the frosting. I would do my wiggles and then leave open areas. For me it was the barest touch too sweet. But a small thing, and an easy fix for something gorgeous and delicious! And this cake has shown it has staying power, in taste, the layers keeping nicely together, even the powdered sugar remaining. I see this dear Lady of cakes making her appearance at many special occasions to come...Just look at that glistening seedy patch of jam!

Have you ever baked a sponge cake or genoise? What were your thoughts? This sponge recipe will replace all others in recipes that I want to try. I do hope you make this, Dear Reader, you will have no regrets!