Cake Week + A Victoria Sandwich Cake Recipe

The Great British Baking Show, Episode 1: a new batch of sweet bakers and one of my favorite classic British bakes.

The Great British Baking Show is back on Netflix (or Channel 4 across the pond). I'm shifting my weekly newsletter to Saturdays so that I can recap the Great British Baking Show and share my recipe for (or an interpretation of) a classic British bake. Spoiler alert: If you haven't watched the first episode, stop reading now!

Fluffy, buttery, (and tiny) Victoria Sandwich Cake.

Episode 1: Cake Week!

Hot Takes

• We adore Alison Hammond! If you haven't watched Alison as a contestant on the Celebrity Baking Show, you absolutely must (It's free to watch on The Roku Channel!). Her enthusiasm is contagious!

• A sweet batch of bakers: All of the new bakers are so cute I could pinch their cheeks! In one short episode we got to see a glimpse of everyone's personality and they all sparkle. Like Nirali said, I could hire the Baking Show casting folks to cast my friends.

• Paul gave nervous, adorable Saku a hug. While this act may have been shocking to some, Paul gave my buddy Susan a Hollywood hug on the Great American Baking Show.

• Great technical challenge. Everyone knew exactly what they were making, the components were relatively easy, so the result would come down to small decisions the bakers made. But the most important question: Include the missing raspberry or not? (I’m Team Not.) I made a version of this iconic cake, but with flavors inspired by Chicago's Original Rainbow Cone for an appearance on WGN (with Sarah and Nirali) back in May.

What happened to that raspberry?

Favorite Bakes

• Most of the signature bakes sounded scrumptious, but Dan's rhubarb & custard circus tent spoke to me. He had me at custard. I love decorating with fruit and those flavors can't be beat. So British, so perfect.

• Tasha's Robin stole my heart! Amongst a sea of great animal cakes, I loved the scale and proportions of hers, with the cute face and the frosting feathers. Plus a chocolate, ginger, and tahini moment makes my mouth water.

• The dam-building mammal cake: iconic. Nicky new exactly what she was doing.

  britishbakeoff

  

  A post shared by @britishbakeoff

For Heaven's Sake

• Rowan, you know that a cosmo is made with cranberry not cherry, right?  Lest we forget Ina's giant cosmo.

• Paul, you can only do the "I don't like it...I love it!" thing once per season.

• No one should go home the first week, it should really be a freebie. A warm-up.

I was tempted to do my version of the classic Baking-Show-title-screen cake, but I we just saw a dozen of those, so I decided to share a recipe for the classic Victoria Sandwich cake. This simple butter cake, to me, is the most British of cakes. I had to make six mini ones on TV once. I really love a simple cake, filled with jam and cream. And I like calling a layer cake a sandwich. That makes it seem like I can have it for lunch.

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Victoria Sandwich Cake

Americans don’t use enough self-rising flour enough. (It’s called self-raising flour in the UK.) Brands like King Arthur and White Lily make some great self-rising flours for making biscuits, scones, cakes and other risen goodies. Not only do these flours already have the proper proportions of raising agent, the flour has a much lower protein content (King Arthur’s is 8.5%)—closer to cake flour—giving you a lighter, much more tender cake. If you’re in the market for some simple weeknight cakes (or perfect biscuits), grab a bag of self-rising flour.

Victoria sponge is the simplest butter cake there is. On the Great American Baking Show, we had to make six mini Victoria Sandwich cakes as one part of the finale technical challenge. Luckily I could make this cake…even without a recipe. It’s a simple formula. The recipe is essentially equal weights, butter, flour, sugar, and eggs (weighed in their shell). A splash of milk and vanilla are totally optional, but I think they vastly improve the cake. Using self rising flour—I use King Arthur since I live up north here—gives you a light cake with perfect rise every time.

How should you finish this cake? My favorite way to eat this cake is simply filled with a layer of jam and a layer of unsweetened whipped cream. You can use vanilla buttercream instead of whipped cream if you must.

This recipe makes one six-inch sandwich cake (my preference) or one 8-inch single-layer cake. (It’s easily doubled to make a perfect 8-inch sandwich cake.)

113 g (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

113 g  (1/2 cup + 1 Tablespoon) sugar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt 

2 large eggs, room temperature

113 g (1 cup minus about 1 teaspoon) self-rising flour (or 113 g all-purpose flour plus 1 tsp of baking powder, whisked together)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 Tablespoons milk (any type)

Jam and whipped cream, for serving.

Preheat oven to 350F/180C.

Unwrap the stick of butter and put it in a medium mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Use the butter wrapper to grease two 6-inch round cake pans (or one 8-inch round baking pan). Line the bottom of the pans with a circle of parchment paper.

Add the sugar and salt to the butter and beat the mixture for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy. You can use a stand mixer fit with a paddle or a hand-held mixer…or a wooden spoon and lots of elbow grease (I've done all three). Beat together the two eggs in a measuring cup, and then add them to the butter mixture about one tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat to combine. Sift the measured flour over the butter mixture and fold gently with a rubber spatula to combine, just until no pockets of flour remain. Try not to overmix! Add one tablespoon of milk and stir through briefly. (If the batter seems impossibly thick, add another tablespoon of milk. The batter should easily drop off a spoon.)

Divide batter into the cake pans and spread it evenly. Bang the pans on the counter three times to knock out any big air bubbles and to help the batter settle. Bake at 350F/180C for 20-23 minutes (for an 8-inch cake: 24-28 minutes). Cake should spring back when touched in the center and be light golden brown on top

Let the cake cool for at least 15 minutes in the pan before turning out to cool on a wire rack. (Honestly, if you’re not in a rush, just let them cool completely in the pan.)

To make the sandwich: Place one cake (the least attractive one) on a serving plate. Top it with a generous amount of jam (it’s hard to have too much jam), and spread it an even layer. Whip some heavy cream to stiff peaks, and spread a thick layer of the whipped cream on top of the jam. Top with the second layer of cake and then dust the cake with a bit of powdered sugar. Serve immediately. (And always serve it at room temperature.) Great with a cup of hot tea. 

If you made one 8-inch cake, don’t worry, just top it with a layer of jam, then a layer of whipped cream. It’s just as lovely. 

Fun fact: For the photo at the top of the recipe, I ran out of regular heavy cream, so I used whipped cream from a can.

Happy Baking,
Martin

That good afternoon light.