Mini Victoria Sandwich Cakes

 

Even though I'm not from England I have to admit I'm a fan of the British royal family.  (Especially the Duke and Duchess of Sussex who are favorites of mine!)  I just love the history, traditions and pomp and circumstance that goes hand in hand with the institution.  In honor of Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee celebrations this weekend I made Mini Victoria Sandwich Cakes, named after the second longest reigning monarch, Queen Victoria.  She was known to enjoy a slice of cake along with her afternoon tea.

 

 

If you've been to England I'm sure you've seen this tempting cake at a tea salon or bakery. It's  comprised of two vanilla cake layers that are "sandwiched" with berry jam and buttercream or whipped heavy cream.   What makes it so appealing to me is its simplicity; there's no need to cover the entire cake with frosting or other embellishments.  In fact, you could say it was the original naked cake.   

 

 

Recipes abound on the internet and you'll have no trouble finding one, e.g., Mary Berry's.  Most call for self-raising flour, widely used in British baking, but I've found that cakes made with self-raising flour can be hit or miss because the type sold in the US isn't exactly the same as those sold in the UK.  Plus, I like being able to control the amount of leavening in a recipe.   

 

Luckily I found Nigella Lawson's Victoria sponge recipe, which used all-purpose flour (aka "plain flour"), cornstarch and baking powder.  Cornstarch was a new ingredient I hadn't seen before and was supposed to make the cake tender and light.  The process to make the batter couldn't be simpler either.  Just throw everything into a food processor and whiz it up for a few minutes until creamy.  

 

To mini-size the cake I used a nonstick cheesecake pan with removable bottoms, which made releasing the cakes super easy.  They did bake up with a bit of a hump on top, but I leveled them off with a serrated knife after they were cooled.  Baker's treat!  The cake gets a 5-star rating from me with it's tender, light crumb and delicious taste.  

 

I sandwiched the mini cakes with some leftover Swiss meringue buttercream that I had thawed from the freezer and homemade raspberry jam.  The smaller cake was the perfect portion and would satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.  All that remained was a light dusting of powdered sugar and a nice cuppa. 

Many congratulations to the Queen for her selfless years of service.  God Save The Queen!