Nigella Lawson’s Victoria Sponge
A classic bake that is easy and impressive, this Victoria sponge by Nigella Lawson uses fresh raspberries in its filling alongside jam and cream.
Introduction
I repeat this recipe from How to Eat because I feel this chapter would be incomplete without it. And since I do so many cakes which are basically just a variant of this, it didn’t seem right to refer only obscurely to the ur-recipe. Traditionally, jam rather than fruit is used, but unless I’ve got some very good jam (and the one I do like using is the hands-free raspberry jam on p346 of How To Be A Domestic Goddess), I think adding just a few berries makes a crucial difference. I generally use raspberries with a little raspberry jam, and sometimes strawberries with their matching preserve. My other favourite (and my first choice for sponge drops, p43 of How To Be A Domestic Goddess) is blackberries and blackberry jam, though ever since I found boysenberry jam regularly at the supermarket I often use that, again with either of those berries. Although I’ve listed 200g flour and 25g cornflour because I feel this makes for a lighter, more tender sponge, of course it’s perfectly all right to replace these with the customary 225g flour.
Ingredients
| 225g | unsalted butter, very soft |
| 225g | caster sugar |
| 1 tsp | vanilla extract |
| 4 large | eggs |
| 200g | self-raising flour |
| 25g | cornflour |
| 1 tsp | baking powder (if using processor method) |
| 3-4 tbsp | milk |
| For the filling | |
|---|---|
| 2-4 tbsp | raspberry or other jam, depending on berries |
| 1 punnet | raspberries or berries of choice |
| 125ml (or simply a 142ml tub) | double cream |
| For the topping | |
| 1-2 tbsp | caster sugar |
Essential kit
You will need: 2 x 21cm sandwich tins (about 5cm deep), buttered.
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. If the tins are loose-bottomed, you don’t need to line them, otherwise do.
I always make this basic sponge cake in the food processor, which involves putting in all the ingredients except the milk and processing till you’ve got a smooth batter. Then pulse, pouring the milk gradually through the funnel till your cake mixture’s a soft, dropping consistency. Because I’m clumsy, I habitually make a too-runny mix, but it doesn’t seem to matter. Likewise, if your ingredients are too cold you may end up with a batter that looks curdled: this doesn’t seem to make any difference in the baking either (though it might get in the way of impressive rising).
If you want to make this the traditional way, cream the butter and sugar, add the vanilla and then the eggs, one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour between each. Fold in the rest of the flour and the cornflour, adding no baking powder, and when all’s
incorporated, add a little milk as you need.
Pour and scrape the batter into the tins and bake for about 25 minutes, until the cakes are beginning to come away at the edges, are springy to the touch on top and a cake-tester comes out clean. Leave the cakes in their tins on a wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely.
When you’re ready to eat the cake, put one layer on a plate, right-way up, spread with jam and scatter the fruit on top. Whip the cream till it’s thickened but still soft and spread over the jammy fruit. Sit the other cake on top, and sprinkle over a tablespoon or so of caster sugar.
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