VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

Another birthday cake!

I had baked the Victoria Sponge Cake with Cream Cheese Icing two years back on Pappa’s birthday and Sky had liked it a lot. So this year, I baked him this cake on his birthday.

The Victoria Sponge Cake is named after Queen Victoria simply because she used to have a slice of Sponge Cake with her afternoon tea!

I got this recipe from Shugu, our Goddess of Cakes. You only have to drool over a picture of a cake and poof, at the next ‘meet-up’, Shugu has that cake ready, looking exactly like the one in the image shared.

Look at that lovely crust. I had been pre-heating the oven for almost 20-30 minutes to bake cakes and this is where I was going wrong. In my previous cake post, Orange Cake, the cake had developed a crack on top and I had mentioned excess heat being a reason. Shugu told me that ovens ought to be pre heated only for 5 to 10 mins! And voila, not a single crack (other than the holes where I inserted the chopstick to check if the cake was done)

This is one of my favourite cakes especially because it’s paired with cream cheese. Do not let the idea of cream cheese on a cake deter you from making this icing! I use Britannia Cream Cheese which is slightly salty. However the addition of icing sugar and butter levels the saltiness and makes for a wonderful combination of sweet, spongy cake with mildly savoury icing.

I had a teensy bit of extra icing remaining and piped a rose in the center.

I have sliced the cake into half and sandwiched the two layers with a Mixed Berry Jam and topped the cake with fresh cherries. You may use seasonal fruits – strawberries, litchis, mangoes, kiwis. You may also use tinned fruits or cherries to top the cake.

VICTORIA SPONGE CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

Ingredients: 

                                                                                    

For the cake

Flour- 175 gms

Butter- 175 gms

Castor Sugar- 150 gms

Eggs – 3

Baking Powder – 1tsp

Baking Soda – 1tsp

Vanilla Essence– 2 tsp

For the Cream Cheese Icing

Cream Cheese– 90 gm

Butter (unsalted) – 50 gm

Icing Sugar – 150 gm

Method:

1.      Preheat oven to 180 C and line your baking dish (8 inch pan).

2.      Cream butter and sugar until soft and fluffy.

3.      Add eggs one at a time beating well with each addition.

4.      Sieve flour, baking powder, baking soda and add to the above mixture. Mix well.

5.      Add vanilla essence.

6.      Bake for 20-25 minutes or till done.

7.      Let the cake cool and then slice it horizontally.

8.      Sandwich the two layers with a jam of your choice.

9.      To make the icing: Mix all ingredients for the cream cheese icing well and spread the icing on the cake. Top the cake with fruits of your choice.

10. Done.