Mini Victoria Sponge Cake Recipe

A simple and easy to follow Victoria Sponge Cake recipe, made as little mini cakes, filled with freshly whipped cream and strawberry jam.

Funny story here for how I came up the idea of making a Victoria Sponge Cake. Or more precisely, Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes. My dad has this little habit of collecting mini jars of honey and jams at airport lounges and hotels. He goes on business trips and flies every single week, so you can imagine how many of these jars could easily stack up over time.

It has almost become a thing now. Every time he visits me in London, I can expect him to dish out a couple of these mini Tiptree or Bonne Maman strawberry jams from his travel bag. I was just clearing out my kitchen the other day and found so many of them hiding at the end of the cupboard!

I was eager to clear them out, but there are only this much butter and jam toasts I can stomach. How can I use them up quickly then? Victoria Sponge Cake is the answer.

What is a Victoria Sponge?

Victoria Sponge is a cake named after Queen Victoria of Great Britain! She was known to enjoy small cakes filled with jam with her afternoon tea, hence the name. The recipe has then evolved into the sandwich cake we see today, consisting of a regular sponge cake filled with whipped cream and jam.

Typically, you see Victoria Sponge Cake served as a big cake to slice up. You can totally follow the recipe below and make it as one big cake instead of twelve minis. If you’re doing that, make sure you extend the baking time to around 25 minutes or more until golden and cooked through.

I made them as mini cakes as I thought they looked cuter and can easily share it with other people. Personally, I like the elegance of how it looks while having to spend the least amount of effort to make it look good. If I were to host a tea party, I can totally see these cute-looking cakes being on the menu, adorably lined up on a tray by the counter.

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• Unsalted Butter (at room temperature)
• White Sugar
• Self-raising Flour
• Eggs
• Vanilla Extract,

For the filling:

• Double Cream
• Icing Sugar
• Strawberry Jam

How to Make Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes:

There are three parts in making the Victoria Sponge Cake – baking the sponge, making the filling, and assembling the cake. Below are a few key notes about the recipe before you get started.

Making the sponge cake:

To begin with, preheat your oven to 160C. I opted for a slightly lower oven temperature than usual because it helps with getting the cakes to rise more evenly, as well as creating a lighter and fluffier texture. But not too low that the surface of the sponge wouldn’t caramelise properly and gain colour. I find 160C works best for me.

Start by creaming together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This process helps to achieve that spongy texture for the cake. Let the butter rest at room temperature for about 30 minutes for it to soften before you start making the cake batter. Softened butter is much easier to handle when creaming it with sugar.

The next step is to mix in the eggs. Add them one at a time so that the mixture mixes more evenly.

I used self-raising flour here. But if you don’t have self-raising flour, simply substitute it with equal amounts of plain flour plus 1​¹⁄2 tsp baking powder and ¹⁄4 tsp salt. Sift the flour with a sieve to avoid any lumps when folding it into the wet ingredients. Lastly, add in the vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Divide the cake batter evenly into a greased muffin/cupcake tin (makes roughly 12 cakes for me). Bake for 20 minutes until golden and risen. Let them cool down in the cake tin for about 5 minutes before taking them out to further cool down on a cooling rack.

Making the filling:

Whilst the cake is cooling down, you can start on the filling. Since we’re using store-bought jam here, there’s only the cream filling we need to make.

Simply whisk together double cream and icing sugar until it thickens. Then add in a little drop of vanilla essence and continue to whisk until soft peaks form. To help with the process, place your mixing bowl in the fridge beforehand to help the cream set quicker!

Assembling the cake:

Once the cakes have completely cooled down and your filling is ready, split each cake horizontally into halves. Spread a layer of jam on the bottom half of the cake and then a layer of whipped cream on top. You can also use a piping bag to pipe the freshly whipped cream on top for better aesthetics if you like. Lastly, press the top half of the cake on top and dust the cakes with icing sugar. Serve them with a steaming cup of tea and that makes the best afternoon tea treat!

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