Saturday, June 13, 2020

Bake 2: Victoria Sandwich

Our first technical! GBBO went for a Victoria Sandwich which is essentially British and a wonderful cake for tea. Thankfully I was not in the tent for this technical because my first round of sponge sunk like... a less dramatic Titanic. Thankfully the second batch turned out well. 
 
(this is our GBBO goal!)

Ingredients
2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2-4 tablespoons warm water (as needed)

Filling:
2 cups raspberries
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Start with the jam, cook the raspberries and sugar in a pot, smushing the raspberries as you go. Once the mixture reaches 220 then you can put it on a sheet pan or jar to cool. A sheet pan doesn't fit in our fridge so I made the jam the day before so it had plenty of time to cool.

Heat the oven to 325 degrees and prep 2 - 8 inch cake pans. I use baking spray with flour, works like a dream. 

Cream the butter and sugar. Mix your flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Add your eggs one at a time, the vanilla, and then gently fold in the flour mixture. 

At this point, you will need to test the batter before you determine if you need any water. I ended up using a full 4 tablespoons because Denver is dry! You want the batter to be a dropping consistency, so when you hold the spoon up it slides off oh so slowly. 

Then spread the batter in the two prepared pans. Level the batter out with an offset spatula or your finger - no one is looking. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.



While the cake is cooling, put your whisk attachment and bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes. Then beginning on slow speed whisk your cream until it is soft peaks. Then add your confectioners sugar and vanilla and beat to stiff peaks. 


To assemble, put one layer, top side down (no trimming here!) and top with an ample amount of jam. Add the whip cream, and then the second layer of cake. Dust with confectioners sugar. When you are ready to serve cut gently with a serrated knife to prevent the whip cream from jumping ship. 



Next up: a Chocolate Cake Showstopper!



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