It was during Queen Victoria's sovreignty that the British Empire made its enormous expansion to superpower, a water mould destroyed the potatoe crops of Ireland, and the country entered into the Crimean War. She was the first known carrier of haemophilia in the royal line--the disease that would not affect her, but her great-grandson Alexei, you know the one. She is famous for evading numerous assasination attempts and outliving three of her children; and she is remembered still for the white dress of her wedding--which sealed the tradition of white weddings, if it did not begin it--and the black she wore after her Albert died, til her death. Among other things.
And yet, when I think of her--the Empress of India, the Famine Queen, the Widow of Windsor, the Monty Python Skit--it is not her porcelain profile on a Red Penny postage stamp but a yellow sponge cake that floats to the front. The cake is sandwiched with raspberry preserves and served, if it be that time of the month for her majesty, with a cup of cannabis tea. The Victoria Sponge.
This isn't quite a traditional version, as I've added yuzu juice to the sponge and whipped cream to the filling (regarding which there are two opposing schools). The cake has a lovely, citrusy smell and flavour that goes perfectly with the sweet and sour filling. Tastes even better after ageing it overnight in the fridge...
For the cake:
3/4 cup caster sugar
6 tbs softened, salted butter
2 eggs
4 tbs yuzu juice
1 1/2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup whole milk
I made the batter by hand and still got a light, smooth result, but electic beaters or a stand up mixer would be even better. Cream together the sugar and butter. Once pale, add the eggs one by one, and the yuzu juice. Sift together the flour and baking powder, and alternate adding it with the milk. Once combined smoothly, pour into an 8 inch round cake tin that has been buttered and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until done.
If you're worried about cutting it evenly, you could divide the batter between two cake tins and then just sandwich those. But I prefer to let the cake cool, and then cut across it with a serrated knife to get two disks.
For the filling:
8 tbs raspberry jam
150 ml heavy cream
2 tbs icing sugar
Of course, you can use as little or as much jam and cream as you like. This made a little too much cream, so I just served up the extra cream with my slice of cake...
Spread the raspberry jam on both halves of the sponge. Whip the cream to a soft peak with the icing sugar, and spread on the bottom half of the sponge, almost to the edge. Place the top half on, dust with icing sugar, and serve with tea. It's best to slice this cake with a very sharp, serrated knife, so that the cream and jam do not squish out in a most undignified manner.
This looks delish! I actually had to do a google search to find out what yuzu juice and caster sugar were (LOL). I really like the combination of raspberry and lemon together. And for some reason, I like my cakes/cupcakes cold - must give this one a try soon...
oh dear, sorry about that Payal... =)
I used the word "caster sugar" sort of as a tribute to the Englishness of the cake, but as for yuzu, I've been considering doing a post about it along with other cool citrus things (Buddha's Hand fruit, Meyer lemons, Seville oranges...)