Victoria Sandwich Cake

A Victoria Sandwich Cake is one of the most basic and easy to make cakes. It is fairly firm yet moist. It can be left plain or can be flavored with grated lemon or orange rind, coffee or cocoa powder.

I made this cake and coated it with a layer of apricot glaze. For a first attempt, the outcome was pretty good.

Ingredients (for the basic recipe or 3-egg recipe):

• 3/4 cup or 175g sugar
• 1 cup minus 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup self raising flour
• milk

Procedure:

• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. The mixture should drop easily from the spoon or whisk if tapped against the side of the bowl. 
• Add the beaten egg a little at a time, beating well between each addition, so that the egg is absorbed into the mixture. 
• Sift the flour and fold into the mixture. Add a little milk to give it a dropping consistency.
• Spoon the mixture into prepared tins. Level the surface, then make a slight dip in the centre.
• Preheat the oven at 180C.
• Put the prepared tins in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes or until the cakes are well risen, golden and firm to touch.
• Allow the cake to cool slightly in the tins, then transfer to a wire tray. Invert the tins over the cake and leave until completely cold. This helps keep the cake moist with cooling.

I layered the cake with a apricot glaze. The apricot glaze is frequently spread over sponge or sandwich cake before the layer of icing is applied. The sticky glaze ensures that there are no loose crumbs that could stick to the icing and spoil the finished effect. It can also be used to attach decorations to a cake, such as desiccated coconut or chopped nuts, to attach almond paste to a rich fruit cake, and as glaze for fresh fruits on a gateau.

Ingredients ( for apricot glaze) :

• 3/4 cup apricot jam
• 2 tbsp water
• squeeze of lemon juice

Procedure:

• Place the apricot jam, water and lemon juice in a small saucepan.
• Heat gently until the jam has dissolved, then boil for 1 minute.
• Strain and cool

As I was a little short of time, I left the cake with only the apricot glaze on and no icing. I had planned on making either a butter cream icing or glace icing for the cake but could not do so.

The Victoria Sandwich Cake with apricot glaze can be served as dessert along with vanilla ice-cream!

Hope you find this useful and easy to make :)