Victoria Sponge Cake

How to Make Victoria Sponge Cake

Using Betty Crocker™ Super Moist™ French Vanilla Cake Mix makes putting together this Victoria sponge cake a breeze. Here’s a quick overview of how to make this Victoria cake, then read on for the full ingredient list and recipe.

Prepare the Pans

Coat two 8-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line with 8-inch rounds of cooking parchment paper to ensure the cakes come out perfectly after baking.

Make the Cake

In a large bowl, beat the cake mix together with milk, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla, pour into pans and bake. Transfer to cooling racks and cool for 15 minutes. Remove the cakes from pans to cooling racks and cool completely, about 1 hour.

Make the Buttercream Frosting

Beat the butter with an electric mixture until it is creamy. Add the powdered sugar in batches, beating after each addition until smooth.  Beat in the vanilla until light, fluffy, and creamy. Add cream, if necessary, until the frosting is spreadable.

Assemble the Cake

Place one of the cake layers on a serving platter or cake stand. Spread half of the frosting on top of the bottom layer of cake and top with thick strawberry jam. Sandwich the filling with the second layer of cake. Use a piping bag to pipe the remaining frosting on top of the cake and decorate with fresh berries before serving this Victoria sponge.

Victoria Sponge Cake Ingredients

All the ingredients for this Victoria sponge recipe are so easy to find, you might already have them on hand.

French Vanilla Cake Mix: This cake mix is a great way to cut some of the time and effort out of making this Victoria sponge. Because this mix already includes pudding, the texture and flavor is ultra-rich, which is exactly what you want for this traditional English dessert.

Whole milk: When you’re making a quick and easy dessert that takes so few ingredients, it’s important not to skimp on any of them, and in this case, that includes the milk. Whole milk, which has a higher fat content, gives the cake a fuller, richer flavor than low-fat or fat-free milk.

 Butter: We developed this recipe using salted butter, and we recommend you use it too. The salt in the butter gives loads of flavor to the recipe and often means adding extra salt isn’t necessary.

Eggs: We use an extra egg which makes the cake even denser and richer, much like a pound cake. This helps it hold up better to the heavier filling and topping.

Vanilla: Vanilla is an important flavoring for this cake. Make sure to use real vanilla extract as it will give the cake more vanilla fragrance and flavor.

Powdered sugar: Also called icing sugar, we use it, along with butter, vanilla, and a splash of heavy whipping cream, to make a luxurious buttercream. If you’re short on time, our Betty Crocker™ Whipped Vanilla Frosting is a great shortcut.

Strawberry jam: This key element gives the cake its signature fruity layer. We like to use the best quality jam for this showstopper dessert. Feel free to mix it up and try different varieties of fruit jam or even lemon or lime curd inside your Victoria sponge. 

Buttercream vs. Whipped Cream

Traditional Victoria cake often uses whipped cream instead of the buttercream we call for in our Victoria sponge cake. What’s the difference?

Buttercream is made by creaming butter and powdered sugar together, and often includes heavy whipping cream or milk along with vanilla. You can test the consistency of buttercream by lifting it out of the bowl with a spatula and looking for a slight curve in the peak. It’s richer, and slightly heavier than whipped cream. It is the perfect frosting to use to create beautifully decorated cakes with a piping bag.

Whipped cream is made by beating heavy cream with sugar, and sometimes vanilla, until it thickens. Heavy cream is a good choice for whipping because it retains its shape well. It is not as sturdy as buttercream.

Storing Victoria Sponge Cake

Because our Victoria sponge cake recipe calls for buttercream frosting made from scratch, we recommend storing the cake in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 4 days. If you are substituting our Betty Crocker™ Whipped Vanilla Frosting, and you haven’t garnished the cake with fresh berries, you can keep, covered, at room temperature for 2 days.

While you can certainly cover the cake loosely in plastic wrap or foil, if you have a cake storage container or carrier, this would be a good time to use it, as the lid won’t touch the buttercream that you’ve so beautifully piped onto the top of the cake. In a pinch, a large Dutch oven or stockpot can also be used to cover the cake.