The Bestest Queen Victoria Sponge Cake

• Vegetarian

• Refrigerated

  • 4 Eggs, large

• Condiments

  • 1/2 cups Raspberry or strawberry jam

• Baking & Spices

  • 2 1/3 cups All-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp Baking powder
  • 1 tbsp Cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp Powdered sugar
  • 2 1/4 tsp Vanilla, pure
  • 1 tbsp Vanilla or french vanilla instant pudding mix, powder
  • 1 1/4 cups White sugar

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 10 tsp Vegetable oil

• Dairy

  • 7 tbsp Butter, unsalted
  • 1 1/2 cups Heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup Whole milk and heavy cream

Found on food52.com

Description

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups All purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon Baking powder (yes, 1 tbsp which is 3 tsp)
• 7 tablespoons Unsalted butter, softened (100 grams or one stick of butter minus 1 tbsp)
• 1 1/4 cups White sugar
• 10 teaspoons or 3 tbsp + 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1/3 cup each whole milk and heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons Pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 to 3/4 cups raspberry or strawberry jam (my favorite is Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves)
• 1/4 cup each chopped strawberries, raspberries and whole blueberries. But fresh fruits are optional.
• 1 1/2 cups Heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons Powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon Vanilla or French vanilla instant pudding mix (the powder)
• 1/4 teaspoon Pure Vanilla extract

Directions

• Grease two 8 inch cake pans. Note that you can also use 9 inch cake pans. However, you will need o adjust baking time; and layers may be less high, which may not be a bad idea after all since layers of jam and whipped cream increase height of cake. You can line but you don’t have to. Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Beat eggs with a fork or whisk, and mix with the whole milk, heavy cream, oil and vanilla. Set aside.
• Place flour, cornstarch, sugar, and baking powder in electric mixer and stir by hand several times with a fork or whisk.
• Beat in butter (make sure it is soft), one piece at at time, until only pea sized pieces remain. It make take 1+ minutes. Since bowl on my electric mixer is not big enough, I had to start mixing by hand prior to using electric mixer in order to avoid splashes of flour as the electric mixer kicks in. You may have to do the same thing, depending on size of your bowl. Gradually and slowly pour in milk mixture while the machine is running on medium high speed. Beat for about 1 to 2 minutes. There may be some remaining pea sized pieces in the batter; that is ok.
• Pour into the two cake pans and bake for about 35-40 minutes or until a skewer inserted in middle of cake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes, then unmold and flip it over. Let cool for 1 hour or so.
• On top of first cake, place raspberry or strawberry jam, then the whipped cream filling. You may think it is too much but it is not. It complements well with the amount of cake and jam. If desired, add ¼ cup each chopped strawberries, whole raspberries, whole blueberries. Top with 2nd cake. Cake pictured has no fresh fruits.
• Optional - Sprinkle powdered sugar on top of cake, and, if desired, place a medley of berries all around the cake, and even on top if you want.
• If you are not serving within the next two hours (or weather is hot), you want to keep cake refrigerated, but let it reach room temperature for 30 to 60 minutes prior to serving. If you don’t want to be bothered with refrigerating the cake, replace the whipped cream frosting with a buttercream of your choice, but be careful as it is much sweeter than the whipped cream frosting. But I find that my whipped cream frosting remains stable for a couple of hours outside at room temperature.
• For the whipped cream filling, stir the heavy cream with powdered sugar, pudding mix and vanilla and beat till soft peaks form.