Sunday 26 May 2013

Raspberry and cream Victoria sponge

 



This was rather a last minute concoction.  I had planned on making raspberry ripple pavlovas and dutifully made my meringues last night and left them to cool in the oven.  Last night they looked amazing.  This morning, the raspberry swirl had turned to mush and I wasn’t so much left with mini pavlovas as pink swamp things!  At least it happened before I wasted any of the expensive ingredients...so what’s a girl to do when she has a basic store cupboard at her disposal and lots of raspberries and cream?



Glammed-up Victoria sponge was, of course, the answer!  I cut the sponge into four tiers and layered it with whipped cream and fresh raspberries.  And I might be being presumptuous but I suspect everyone enjoyed it more than they would have enjoyed the pavlovas (in truth, they were a selfish bake...my eatership isn’t really into fancy meringues!)



When I’ve made multi-tiered sponges in the past I find they can get a bit wobbly on the upper layers.  So I deployed my adjustable dessert ring to hold everything in place – it does give more precise sides and structure.


Having cut the sponge into four layers I then found I couldn’t use the fourth layer as it would have made the sponge too tall...and that’s me saying that.  I think when you come up to the top of the deep dessert ring it’s a good sign that you should stop.  It wouldn’t have fit on a small plate if I’d pushed on with the fourth tier...and cake served on dinner plates seems a bit much!  I will possibly use the spare disc of sponge for little trifles but, if my spidey-senses are correct, I suspect Mr CC will just polish it off with a cup of tea.



Ingredients
For the sponge:
4 eggs, at room temperature
Unsalted butter, at room temperature
Caster sugar
Self-raising flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk, if necessary
For the filling:
400g raspberries, washed and dried
600ml double cream
To assemble the cake:
Icing sugar or caster sugar, for dusting

Method
Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/gas mark 4.
Line two 20cm sandwich cake tins with baking paper; I put a disc of paper in the bottom and a strip around the side that comes up above the height of the tin.
Weigh the eggs in their shells – this will tell you the weight for the butter, sugar and flour. Mine weighed 263 grams.
Whatever the weight of your eggs (in their shells) weigh out the same amount of butter, sugar and flour.
Beat the butter until it is light and whippy, then beat in the sugar until light and fluffy. Don’t skimp on this stage as it’s the key way of getting air into your sponge.
Beat in the eggs one at a time; if you whipped the butter and sugar enough there shouldn’t be any curdling, but if there is add some of the flour to correct it.
Beat in the vanilla extract.
Fold in the flour.
If the batter is thick and won’t easily drop from the mixing spoon, fold in a tablespoon of milk. It may need a further tablespoon. Add enough milk to reach “dropping consistency”.
Spoon the batter into the prepared sandwich tins and gently smooth the tops with a knife.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the sponge comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for a couple of minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
When the sponges are cool cut each one through horizontally so that you have four discs of sponge.
Whip the cream until it holds firm peaks – somewhere between soft and stiff!  Don’t overbeat it.
Now you can build the cake: place a disc of sponge onto the serving plate.  If you have an adjustable ring mould it is useful to build the layers in that, as it keeps it upright and stops the cream squidging out the sides.  If you haven’t – don’t panic!  Just take care not to put too much cream at the edge of the sponge.
Spoon 1/3 of the whipped cream onto the sponge and spread.
Scatter 1/3 of the raspberries over the cream and top with a second disc of sponge.
Repeat until you have used all the cream and raspberries and have the final disc of sponge on top of the cake.
Refrigerate until serving, and dust with some icing sugar.
Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

29 comments:

Cakeyboi said...

That is one mighty cake CC - looks mahoosive and delish in equal proportions!

Laura Loves Cakes said...

Shame about your meringues but I think this more than makes up for it...your cake looks like a real treat and raspberries are my favourite! :-)

cupcake girl said...

That is a whopper of a cake! love fresh cream in cakes and your has loads.
My Cupcake Habit

Unknown said...

That is phenomenal! But how did you cut it without all the cream squelching out everywhere?

Gloria Baker said...

OMY this Victoria sponge is amazing!!!and georgeous and beautiful:)

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Kitchenmaid

The trick is to cut it straight from the fridge. Use a big knife and be bold!

Happy baking

Anonymous said...

This looks amazing! So neat and tidy too - my layer cakes never look that good, and that's even with just two sponge layers!

Kezia said...

Wow! That is massive! I love your style, bigger is always better when it comes to cake:) This actually looks like the Victoria Sponge cake of my dreams as I don't like jam!

Victory Rolls & Mixing Bowls said...

omg....get in my mouth!

Nom! x

Beenz said...

What a wonderful sight to wake up to on a Monday morning! (I live in Hong Kong which is 7 hours ahead of the UK) Makes me happy for the rest of the week.

Katie said...

Wow what a tall cake! There is almost more cream than cake! Great save from the merignues

Unknown said...

I'm so glad things like this happen to other people - fantastic recovery, though, the cake looks wonderful!

Debs Dust Bunny said...

Stunning! A show-stopper of a cake!

Ulla said...

Excellent choice! Sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do ;) Victoria sponge with home-made raspberry jam, fresh raspberries or both is my all time favourite.

Ellis said...

I love your cakes - I'm going to make your honey & oat cake very soon. How do you get your sponge cakes so big - mine never look as impressive (or delicious) as yours xx

Soo said...

That's the best looking Victoria Sponge I've ever seen!!!!

Lisa said...

OMG there's more cream than cake! My idea of a cream cake - wonderful. Bet it tasted great too.

Cakelaw said...

Holy smokes, that cake looks amazing! Its many layers take my breath away - and so perfect for summer.

Kate@whatkatebaked said...

Wowzaas!! That's one impressive summery bake! It's so cheering seeing raspberries popping up on blogs... A sure fire sign summer is just round the corner (other signs include convincing myself a Twister ice cream is one of my five a day and enjoying anther bank holiday...)

Baking Addict said...

That is an impressive looking sponge! You could name it a 'sky sponge' if you managed to get the 4th layer on top! :) Great save with the ingredients.

Caroline said...

Wow, stunning cake! I'd love a slice of that - raspberries have to be my favourite fruit and one of the few that I actually enjoy cream with too.

Anonymous said...

wow - that's hoooooge ! :-)

Lucy said...

This looks incredible - it's definitely a showstopper! I love getting to use fresh raspberries in baking during the summer.

Maggie said...

This cake is really a whopper of a Victoria Sandwich. A lovely layered cake.

Chocolate Shavings said...

Now that's a sponge cake - yum!

Hello said...

Ahhh WOW! A beautiful cake, especially when made at the spur of the moment x

Jo said...

WOW that a rather mighty, pimped up victoria sponge! I love the depth of whipped cream in each layer.

Pattern Patisserie said...

Beautiful - I just found your wonderful blog via Pinterest - I'd like to follow you by e-mail but don't see the widget - would you consider adding that please - keep up the great work!!

Pippi said...

oh ma è davvero bella..e buonissima!!beautiful end good!!