1 day Ago By Katherine McPhillips
A Victoria sponge cake is a classic British cake best eaten with a cup of tea, and it is incredibly easy to make yourself if you use the proper ingredients. Katalin Nagy, a baker and founder of Spatula Desserts , has shared that the best way to make a Victoria sponge is to ditch butter and make it with oil instead. She said: “The biggest disappointment I often have with traditional butter-based cakes is that they tend to firm up in the fridge and I like my cake soft and tender.
The oil not only adds moisture to the cake, but it coats the flour which prevents gluten formation therefore the cake will get super tender even straight out of the fridge, how cool is that?” Using butter or oil in cakes depends on your preference but oil will give the cake a much fluffier texture as it retains more moisture. Oil is easier to incorporate into the batter which makes baking with it a lot quicker and will also help keep a cake fresh longer. It tends to be better to use oil if you are baking a cake to give to someone as a gift, but if you are making a tall cake that needs a lot of structure, such as a wedding cake, it is better to use butter.
However, this incredibly tasty Victoria sponge also does not have any baking powder or baking soda as it uses eggs to help it have a even lighter and airer texture. Katalin said: “Believe me, if you beat your egg yolk for a minimum of eight [to] 10 minutes until very pale and fluffy, and in the meantime beat your egg white separately until shiny, stiff peaks, there is no need for an extra rising agent in the recipe .” Ingredients For the sponge cake: Three eggs 150g of granulated sugar Two teaspoons of vanilla extract 100g of whole milk 80g of vegetable oil 190g of pastry flour or all-purpose flour For the strawberry jam: 450g of strawberries 130g of granulated sugar 30g of lemon juice For the cream: 300g of heavy cream 50g of icing sugar Instructions To begin, take the ingredients out of the fridge to sit at room temperature.
Also grease up a 15 centimetre round cake tin and line with baking paper. Preheat the oven to 170C. In a mixing bowl, add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and half of the sugar (75g), then beat together until you have a creamy and fluffy texture.
Then, add the milk and oil to the mixing bowl. Add the egg whites, and then whip the egg whites in a separate bowl. Then, at a low speed, add the rest of the sugar (75g) to a cake mixer, one tablespoon at a time.
Meanwhile, carefully sift the flour into the egg mixture using a rubber spatula until completely combined. Then, fold the meringue eggy white mixture, but be careful not to overmix. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin.
Bake in the oven for one hour, and make sure not to open the oven door for the first 45 minutes. Once the cake is ready, turn it out onto a cooling rack and leave to cool down. To make the strawberry jam, all you need to do is cook the strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over a medium heat.
It will take roughly 30 minutes. Then, let the jam cool and put it in a piping bag when you are ready to use. To make the cream, whisk together the cream and icing sugar until it forms stiff peaks.
Place them in a piping bag when you are ready to use. Cut the sponge cake horizontally and then start piping half the cream around the edges and spread the jam in the middle. Place the cake in the fridge for 30 minutes to let it set, then add the cream around the top of the cake and spread the rest of the jam in the middle.
Decorate the cake with fresh strawberries, and your mouthwatering Victoria sponge will be ready to serve..
