The Victoria Sponge

Song choice to listen to: 'Dont sit under the apple tree' by Andrew Sisters
Tea Brewed: Earl Grey

Ok so living the life of Vintage and serving tea and cake a lot has meant i have had plenty of taste testing of cakes in my time. There are quite a few favorites for guests we see at events but the over all winner and most eaten is the Victoria Sponge.

History of the victoria sponge:

This Cake was created for the Queen Victoria in the 1800's. This cake was introduced by the Duchess of Bedford for Queen Victoria's afternoon tea (which was a new concept during this time) 

The Duchess invented tea-time initially as just a time of the day when her servants would sneak her a few edible treats, to last her until the evening meal. Around 4pm they would provide the Duchess with a pot of tea and some bread snacks. In due course the Duchess expanded her tea parties so that they included guests, small cakesand petite sandwiches.

By 1885 Queen Victoria was holding such parties herself and her guests were expected to wear formal dress. The Queen's sweet tooth soon guaranteed that the small cakes that were served became her favourites.

Fittingly these small cakes were called Victoria sponge cakes, and still are to this day.

My mum is the queen of the victoria sponge and it was the first cake i ever baked with her. She really knew how to get the most incredible light sponge. So here for you today i am sharing a few tips to get that perfect victoria sponge.

Sandra Finch's 5 top tips for Victoria Sponge

Dont over mix your mixture!
If eggs start to curdle, pop a sprinkle of flour into mixture
Too much baking powder can make the cake sink!
Use Eggs at room temperature not straight from the fridge
Spoon mix your mixture once when adding in your flour to keep the air in the mixture


So there we go but ssssssh dont tell everyone!  Im a firm believer that if you can master the victoria sponge you can get a basic understanding to all types of cake baking.


Now at Tea Vintage we have our very own Vintage baker Ewa Sparshott from 'Sugar and Chic' (i will be blogging about very soon) 
I met Ewa at our local children's toddler group with our little ones. Im so glad we met as she is the most amazing cook and so passionate about food and cake baking. Her attention to detail is perfect! 
When we were deciding on what cakes to bake for Tea Vintage we knew that the Victoria Sponge would be top of the list. We wanted to create something amazing to showcase this classic cake and after many taste testing and evening of research we ended up with Tea Vintage's 5 Tier Victoria Sponge!

This cake serves around 45 people and is perfect showcased in Tea Vintage's Travelling tea room. Its perfect for weddings as a great dessert for guests and also has been booked for lots of wedding cakes!

Covered in tons of fresh fruit and flowers is really is truely stunning. Ewa made use of my mum's brilliant tips for baking this cake and i have to say Ewa bakes the most lightest victoria sponger ever! 

We get such nice comments from our clients on not only the look of this cake but the lightness and taste  of it and Tea Vintage is very proud of it! Thanks ewa!

So when thinking of a cake to bake for afternoon tea or a cake to take over to visit a friend, consider the victoria sponge. You cant go wrong!

Until next time..

Everything stops for tea

Marie
Tea Vintage