Another Year Older

A friend invited me for tea and cake after a delicious birthday lunch.

Recently, I turned another year older and hopefully, a bit wiser!  My friends treated me to a couple of my favorite pastimes, drinking tea and eating out.  Not having to cook and clean up afterwards is always a wonderful gift.  So lunches at a few of my favorite restaurants with great conversation was a real treat.  Then receiving gifts related to tea was “icing on the cake.”

These little tins of loose tea are so cute!

I received this lovely cake stand that is so pretty as well as versatile.

I didn’t make or purchase a cake for myself this year so I decided to do a test-run on mini Victoria sponge cakes I would serve at this summer’s fundraiser afternoon tea.  I had never tasted a Victoria sponge cake before but I love the look of them. They would be perfect for the tea, with a nice bit of English history to share as well.

There didn’t seem to be a lot of batter in this recipe so I tried to fill each well evenly.

I ran into a few problems.  First of all, the oven at this house runs hot.  While I have an oven thermometer, the temperature isn’t always consistent.  Recipes will provide a baking range time or when the cake turns golden in color.  I always go with time first, usually going for less time to ensure I don’t over-bake.  However, I made the mistake of waiting for the golden color to appear.  I thought the cakes came out too dark around the outside and a bit dry.  I should have gone with the tried and true timed method!

Then, according to photos, Victoria sponge cakes tend to have a flat top so I was disappointed to see how much my little cakes rose in the center.  First of all, I should have leveled out the batter.  I didn’t see the recipe blogger do this among her photos so I didn’t think to do it myself.

I later learned turning down the oven temperature a bit and baking longer can produce a flatter cake.  When baking full-size cakes, damp baking strips wrapped around the exterior sides of the cake pans also produce a flatter cake.  However, this wouldn’t have been possible with a muffin tin. 

If the cakes tasted good, I didn’t think the rounded tops would matter, although I continued to think about my dilemma. The little cakes were quite small so cutting off the tops of the cakes was not an option.  And because muffin tin wells slope inward, the cakes wouldn’t have looked as nice with the narrow, flat bottoms facing upward.  So, I decided to leave the cakes as they were.

After the cakes cooled, I cut them in half and sandwiched them with raspberry jam, as that is historically the first flavor used.  Strawberry jam is the other most-used option if you prefer. I could have stopped there since the original cake only used jam (also called a Victoria Sandwich) but it has become customary to add either vanilla buttercream frosting or fresh whipped cream to the middle as well.  I decided to layer fresh whipped cream over the jam and dusted the tops with icing sugar, which is another add-on conceived over the years.  Yes, I am aware of the debate over buttercream frosting versus fresh cream in a Victoria sponge. My personal preference is fresh cream so I went with that.

My husband and friends said the little 3-bite cakes were enjoyable and they preferred the tangy flavor of the raspberry jam, which contrasted with the little bit of sweetness from the cake, whipped cream and icing sugar. I was still concerned with the dryness. I will either do another test try to bake flatter, less dry cakes or make something else entirely for the tea.  What do you think about mini jam tarts?  Would they be easier?  I will keep you posted.

My first attempt at a mini Victoria sponge cake.

Update April 5, 2024: I’ve been seeing more and more recipes for mini Victoria sponge cakes and they all have the rounded tops. I guess mine were just fine! Maybe I’ll give them another try.