Description:
Mini version of the classic British cake, these jam and buttercream filled mini Victoria sponges are sure to be a hit!
PREPARATION TIME:
INGREDIENTS:
- For the cakes
175 g (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
175 g (¾ cup + 2 tbsp) caster sugar
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
175 g (1 cups + 1 tbsp) self raising flour
- For the filling
100 g (¼ cup + 3 tbsp) unsalted butter, at room temperature
200 g (1 ¼ cups + 2 tbsp) icing (powdered) sugar, plus extra to dus
0.5 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk, if needed
strawberry jam
DIRECTIONS:
For the cakes
Preheat the oven to 160C/320F. Butter the mini sandwich tin (or muffin tin), or line with muffin liners then it set aside whilst making the cake mixture.
In a large mixing bowl, or using a stand mixer, cream together the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix in, then sift in the flour and beat again to combine.
Divide the mixture evenly into the prepared tin, being careful not to overfill it. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-22 minutes until springy to touch and beautifully golden. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before decorating.
For the filling
To make the buttercream, beat the butter until pale and soft, then add the icing (powdered) sugar in two or three goes, mixing slowly to avoid a sugar cloud coating your kitchen. Add in the vanilla, mix to combine, then turn the speed up to make the buttercream really fluffy. If you need to loosen the mixture a little, just add a little milk until you get the consistency of buttercream you want. Transfer the buttercream into a piping bag fitted with a small star nozzle and set aside.
When the cakes are completely cool, split them in half then spread about ¾-1 tsp jam on the bottom half. Pipe some buttercream stars on top of the jam layer. I do this by piping one star in the middle and six surrounding it, like a flower. Doing this will also spread the jam further towards the edges of the cake, so no need to spread too far to start with. Top it off with the other half of the cake, then dust with extra icing sugar to finish. Enjoy!
NOTES:
Use ingredients at room temperature when making the cakes. The reason for this is simple: ingredients all at room temperature will combine better and make for a better bake.
If the butter is on the firmer/cooler side, I like to beat mine up a little before adding in the caster sugar, just to allow it to mix better together.
No loose bottomed pan as I have for these mini Victoria sponge bakes? No problem! You can use a regular muffin tin too. You can line it with cupcake cases, which will give you a little ridge all around the sides of the cakes. If you want to avoid the ridges, try laying two strips of baking paper in a cross shape in the base of each muffin tin before greasing and putting the cake mixture in. Then you can use the overhang to pull the cakes out of the tin.
Make sure the cakes are completely cool before decorating. This is especially important in this bake, as the buttercream will just melt if the cakes are still warm. I make cakes the evening before, so they cool completely overnight before being decorated.
If you prefer, you can use softly whipped cream instead of buttercream to fill the cakes. This however does make the cakes less stable and needing to be eaten quicker as double cream will spoil quicker than buttercream.
The dusting of icing sugar is totally optional, but I really love how it finished the cakes off, making them look extra special!
