The key to making the perfect sponge cake is in the technique. The batter must be beaten thoroughly in order to create volume. Sponge Cakes use the whole eggs, while Angel Food Cakes use only the whites. Sponge cakes contain plenty of eggs, but little or no butter although chiffon cakes contain a generous amount of oil. This makes it easier to beat more air into the cake batter, thus creating a lighter textured sponge. These cakes are made up of butter or lard, flour and eggs, then cooked in a bamboo steamer to give them their distinctive puffiness.
In the Philippines, they have mamon cakes, which are baked in distinctive cupcake-like moulds. They also have the ube cake, which is instantly recognisable from its vivid purple colouring. The name and colour come from the addition of the ube halaya mashed purple yams in the recipe.
These juices are also what gives this cake its distinctive green hue. Then there is the plava sponge cake, a traditional Jewish Passover cake made with Passover kosher ingredients such as matza meal or potato flour. In Latin America, you will find the deliciously sweet and rich Tres Leches cake, which is made by soaking the sponge cake in evaporated milk, condensed milk and whole milk.
Moving back into Europe, in Spain you will find the Bizcocho sponge cake. This is an old cake recipe that possibly originated during the Renaissance. This cake is typically flavoured with orange or lemon peel. The port city of Genoa in Italy also gave the world the Genoise sponge cake, which is similar in texture to ladyfingers and is the basis for many French layer cakes, and the Genoa cake, which is similar to the Victoria sponge cake.
As we mentioned earlier, Queen Victoria quickly became an ardent fan of afternoon tea. Food historian Alysa Levene reported in her book Cake: A Slice of History that the Queen was in fact particularly fond of this simple yet delicious sponge cake and enjoyed having a slice with her afternoon tea. However, it was the sweet and simple sponge cake that reigned supreme on her table above all others.
The way Queen Victoria would have enjoyed her cake was what we have come to recognise as the definitive Victoria sponge cake today. That is, two sponge cakes which are filled with cream and jam then dusted on top with sugar. This explains how the cake is also often referred to as a Victoria sandwich cake.
Of course, today there are innumerable debates over the best cooking method, what flavour of jam to use or whether fresh cream or buttercream works best as the filling. For the record, we prefer to use vanilla buttercream in our Victoria sponge cake. Eggs too are a given, but in what quantities are again a source for debate. The Victoria Sponge purists will even go as far as to weigh their eggs, to ensure consistency and quality. Some have also been known to add an extra yolk with the purpose of creating a golden colour to the sponge.
Some recipes add a splash of milk, with the intention of making the batter easier to spread in the pans, for a nice even cake. Another questionable addition is that of vanilla extract, which is often added in varying amounts to provide the gentle vanilla flavour to the sponge, although not always added by all.
Arguably the most traditional method is to cream the butter and the sugar, before adding the eggs one by one sometimes with a little of the flour , before folding in the dry ingredients. Variants on the hand beaten method include using melted butter and also first beating the butter and the flour together. The finished cake is hugely sensitive when it comes to oven temperature, so much so that some oven manufacturers actually use the cooking of a Victoria Sponge to test their oven's consistency.
The traditional filling is jam raspberry , however additional fillings have been added over time. One such debatable filling is the choice of butter cream or whipped cream, with some opting for freshly whipped cream, and others choosing a vanilla buttercream instead.
The flavour of jam has moved over time, with some opting for strawberry rather than raspberry. Fresh berries too have often been added in more modern versions, in addition to the jam. The cake can then be dusted with caster sugar or some icing sugar, dependent on preference. Back to Recipes Cheesecakes Cookies See more. Back to Recipes Family meals One-pot recipes See more.
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