VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE WITH CREAM AND STRAWBERRIES

     It's a real mystery how quickly time passes by. How one moment you are 12, thinking about your favourite male singing band, and the next moment you turn 28, having aged only physically, but still thinking like you are a teenage girl, full of dreams and expectations for the future. Not to be melodramatic, I am happy where I am today, proud of everything I have achieved and I feel wiser as to who I befriend, to think before I speak and care about important things in life. There are so many things ahead of me, so many trips I want to take, numerous cakes I want to bake and more love inside me I want to give to family and friends. The adventure is still on, a never-ending trip to unknowing places, tastes, languages and emotions. 

     Being alive and living in the moment is what's important to me right now. The past year I've learned how important self-care is, how useless are negative feelings and relationships and most importantly how to share experiences with different people, from foreign cultures and beliefs. 

     It's very intriguing how everything comes down to food in the end, the one thing (apart from religion) that can connect people together. Even people with different perspective than yours, nobody can deny the comfort of homemade food, made with love and passion, full of colours and flavours. Like this delicious Victoria sponge cake with cream and strawberries I made on Sunday to celebrate my 28th birthday. A royal cake was what I needed to spoil myself!

     Victoria cake or else known as Victoria sandwich, is supposed to take the name from no other else than Queen Victoria herself. It's said that Queen Victoria wasn't allowed to eat desserts when she was a little girl, so when she became a queen she would have every week  '16 chocolate sponges, 12 plain sponges, 16 fondant biscuits, one box of wafers…one and a half dozen flat finger biscuits…one princess cake and one rice cake', according to the Telegraph. There are different opinions as to how the Queen liked her cake. Some say that there was a simple layer of jam between the two cake layers and that the cream layer was added much later. 

     Whatever the tastes and likes of the Queen, this cake is a true delight to anyone that eats it. The recipe for the cake results in a sponge like consistency of soft and velvety texture when baked. The cream layer adds a tiny amount of indulgence and the strawberries give the cake a subtle sourness that sets all the flavours in complete balance. It takes a bit of work, but after all the work is done, you can simply devour this beautiful and royal cake!

Victoria Sponge Cake with Cream and Strawberries

ingredients (for a two layer cake)

115 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
190 gr all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
112 gr cup sugar
2 large eggs

2 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup or 120ml whole milk

for the cream

360ml heavy cream or 1 1/2 cup

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (liquid)

112 grams sugar

450gr fresh strawberries, washed and cut to slices

How do I make it?

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and set aside.

2. Start making the cake mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on high speed until fluffy. Add the eggs and yolks one at a time (one egg then one yolk), beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract. 

3. Lower the speed of your mixer and add flour mixture in 3 parts and milk in 2, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix well until combined, but not overmixed. Prepare a 22cm diameter round cake pan and preheat over to 175 C. 

4. Pour cake mixture into pan and bake for around 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove cake from oven and let cool completely.

5. With your electric mixer again, beat heavy cream with sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks are formed. DON'T overbeat, or your cream will be destroyed. Pay attention to your cream the whole time. Transfer into fridge to chill for at least half and hour.

6. Using a serrated knife, split cake in half horizontally and place bottom half, cut side up, on a serving plate. Pour on top half of the whipped cream you made in the previous step and spread on the surface of the cake. Put on top the slices of strawberries (keep some for the upper layer of cake) and then carefully put on top the other half of cake. Pour the remaining whipped cream with a spatula making sure to evenly cover the surface of the cake. 

7. Chill into fridge for an hour or up to a day ideally. When ready to serve, top cake with a few more strawberry slices or raspberries. Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee.