A cherry and almond twist on a Victoria Sandwich Cake.
Perhaps my favourite cake of all time is a classic victoria sandwich cake
. Although I do really like red velvet ….. and carrot cake and lemon drizzle. OK all cake, I like all cake!
Ahem, as I was saying Victoria sponge is ONE of my favourite types of cake, but I decided to put a little twist on it for my Mum’s birthday. A little something special for her, as she’s one very special lady!
As it was a birthday cake, I made it a little fancy on top, but this would be just as nice without any icing on top at all, so I’ll leave that choice down to you. It does look pretty though!
Cherry & Almond Victoria Sandwich Cake
For the sponge:
- 4 eggs
- 230g caster sugar
- 230g self-raising flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 230g unsalted or lightly salted butter at room temperature
- 2 tsp almond extract
For the frosting (halve if you don’t want to ice the top):
- 350g icing sugar
- 150g slightly salted butter
- 2 tsp almond extract
- 1 -2 tbsp milk
- Pink food colouring
- 1/2 jar of cherry jam
Let’s bake it!
1# Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees, then grease 2x cake tins with butter and line the base with baking parchment.
2# Add all the sponge cake ingredients in to a bowl and mix until smooth and pale. I usually chop the butter in to small cubes so it combines more easily and mix by hand for a minute (to avoid a face full or flour) before switching to my electric mixer.
3# Pour the cake mixture in to each tin equally, no need to be too precise, but you can always weigh each tin if you like. Then pop in to the oven for around 25 minutes, you can check whether they are cooked by putting a knife in the top. If it comes out clean, they are ready.
4# Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then remove the sponges carefully and place them on a wire rack covered in baking parchment.
5# Time to make the frosting! If you only want to frost the centre you can halve the quantities. Add the butter and almond extract into a bowl and then gradually sift in the icing sugar. Mix together until the mixture is smooth, then add the milk bit by bit until you are happy with the consistency.
6# Place one layer of sponge on plate, add the jam and then it spread across the bottom layer. If you have made the full quantity of frosting, add half to the centre, spreading with a pallete knife and the then add the top layer of sponge.
7# Add a few drops of the pink food colouring to the frosting until you get the perfect shade and then add the frosting to the top of the cake with a palette knife. I created a pattern by running the palette knife over the frosting in diagonal lines and then finished off the cake with these cute roses.
And there you have it! A very simple cake, but a super tasty one. This cherry and almond Victoria sandwich cake certainly went down very well with the whole family. Eight of us had a slice and there was about one-third left, so I would say you could easily get twelve slices.
Do you love cake? What’s your favourite recipe? Let me know in the comments below.
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