Named after the monarch who enjoyed this treat regularly with her afternoon tea, the Victoria Sponge Cake is also known as a Victoria Sandwich. “Sponge cakes” were called such as a reference to their springy crumb, made even more light by the invention of baking powder in Victorian England. This scrumptious variation creates bite-size cakes for an afternoon tea when you want to skip the cake plates and forks. Take it from a hit-or-miss baker, this recipe is very doable for the novice baker and comes together quickly with a handful of basic ingredients.
Destination Tea Tips for Victoria Sponge Cake
- Cream sugar and butter for several minutes to get an airy, light mixture
- Gently spread batter in pans to retain air in the batter
- Make sure cake is completely cooled before spreading the fillers
- Assemble cakes onto your serving platter before dusting with confectioner’s sugar
- Only assemble as many cakes as needed for your event. Cake and whipped cream will keep for one week to be assembled and served at additional events.
What You’ll Need to Make Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes
Ingredients
- 2 sticks butter (at room temperature)
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- 1 ¾ cups and 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 pint heavy cream
- Raspberry or Strawberry preserves
- Confectioner’s sugar
Special Equipment
- Half baking sheet (I used this 11.25″x16.25″ from Nordic Ware)
- Parchment paper
- Spatula
- Electric mixer
- Sifter
- 1.5″ circular cutter (mine is from a discontinued sandwich maker set, the small circle in this set will work)
Makes about 35 mini Victoria sponge cakes.
Step One: Beat Wet Ingredients
Love the golden creamy taste of Irish butter 
I used granulated sugar, but the finer caster sugar will blend better into the butter 
Mix for several minutes until mixture looks fluffy 
Blend in one egg at a time
Step Two: Sift Dry Ingredients
Making my own self-rising flour (add baking powder to all-purpose flour) 
Sift the two ingredients over the wet mixture 
Gently fold the dry into the wet, mixing as little as possible to retain air in the batter
Step Three: Bake That Cake
Grease a baking sheet and line with parchment paper 
Gently spread to the edges, letting the center be a tad more shallow to create a level cake 
Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, cake should be golden and begin pulling away from sides
Step Four: Whip, Cut, Fill and Dust
I simply whipped the cream. You may add confectioner’s sugar and/or vanilla extract to taste. 
After cake has completely cooled, cut out 80 small circles. Remnants can make delicious parfaits. 
Spread jam on top sides of half of the circles 
Spread cream on undersides of half of circles
These Mini Victoria Sponge Cakes were a hit! One or two is plenty for each guest to have a sweet bite, but you may want to make extra to account for their popularity. Please tag us oon social media (#destinationtea) if you serve these and let us know how they turned out. Enjoy!
It looks so lovely! Thanks for all the helpful pictures on all the steps. That helps!
I rely on visual examples myself when cooking, glad you like the step-by-step in pictures!